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"If Today Was Your Last Day"
Single by Nickelback
from the album Dark Horse
ReleasedNovember 11, 2008 (iTunes)
November 2008 (CAN radio)
March 31, 2009 (US radio)
June 15, 2009 (UK)
RecordedMarch–July 2008
StudioMountain View Studios, Abbotsford, British Columbia
GenrePost-grunge
Length4:08
LabelRoadrunner
Songwriter(s)Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Mike Kroeger, Daniel Adair
Producer(s)Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Nickelback singles chronology
"Something in Your Mouth"
(2008) 		"If Today Was Your Last Day"
(2008) 		"I'd Come for You"
(2009)
Music video
"If Today Was Your Last Day" on YouTube

"If Today Was Your Last Day" is the third single from Nickelback's sixth studio album Dark Horse. It was originally planned as the first single, to hit all U.S. radio formats September 30, 2008,[1][2] but was scrapped as the first single in favour of "Gotta Be Somebody".[3] Instead it was released on March 31, 2009. It was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who produced the entire album. The song was released as a digital download in the U.S. on November 11. "If Today Was Your Last Day" was released in the UK on June 15. The song was performed live for the first time on May 22 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

In the US, the song has sold over 1,500,000 downloads, as of February 2010. According to Roadrunner Records UK, the song is "dynamically swelling our bank accounts". The song has also apparently been around with Nickelback for a while, but had never been finished. The song received Gold certification in Australia.[4]

Lead vocalist/guitarist Chad Kroeger has mentioned the song as his personal favorite from Dark Horse. He had described the middle part of the song as "very motivational, and very positive".[5]

The song was used for promotional videos in the Winter Olympics in 2010, and was used as the closing song during NHL Tonight's 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs coverage.

Music video

The music video was shot with director Nigel Dick in March 2009. Performance portions of the video were shot at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska and in New York City. The other portion was shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The music video premiered on 23 April.

In the video, two teenage boys dressed in black seem to be up to some sort of business in Philadelphia. They record their journey on a camcorder and carry mysterious black bags with them. They stand on top of a bridge ready and open the bags to confetti with quotes from the song such as "Forgive your Enemy," "It's Never Too Late," "Call a Friend and Reminisce", and "Fall in Love" fall over the people beneath them. This inspires two women to hand out coats with messages similar to those on the colored paper, a well-dressed man to hand money to everyone he meets, an arguing couple make up, and a man presumably arguing with his boss to quit. All of the quotes refer to lines in the song "If Today Was Your Last Day".

Track listing

  1. "If Today Was Your Last Day" (album version) – 4:08

Charts

In November 2008, "If Today Was Your Last Day" debuted at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US based on downloads only. After its release as an official single, it re-entered the Hot 100 and reached a new peak at 19. It is their second top twenty hit on the Hot 100 from Dark Horse, and their ninth top twenty hit on the chart overall. In Canada, it debuted at 91 on the Canadian Hot 100 also based on just downloads, and after its physical release in Canada and receiving airplay it made a re-entry on the chart at number 67 and would go on to reach number 7.

Weekly charts

Chart (2008–10) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[6] 26
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7] 31
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[8] 7
Canada AC (Billboard)[9] 12
Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[10] 5
Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[11] 3
Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 31
Luxembourg Digital Songs (Billboard)[13] 3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[14] 16
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[15] 58
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 32
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] 30
UK Singles (OCC)[18] 64
UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[19] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[20] 19
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[21] 14
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[22] 2
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[23] 32
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[24] 12

Year-end charts

Chart (2009) Position
Australia (ARIA)[25] 80
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[26] 22
Russia Airplay (Tophit)[27] 60
US Billboard Hot 100[28] 70
US Adult Contemporary Songs (Billboard)[29] 33
US Adult Pop Songs (Billboard)[30] 13
2011 year-end chart performance for "If Today Was Your Last Day"
Chart (2011) Position
Russia Airplay (TopHit)[31] 161

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[32] Gold 35,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[33] Silver 200,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Nickelback Currently Recording New Album Archived 2008-09-12 at the Wayback Machine Nickelback.com. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
  2. ^ Nickelback announce new album Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved September 21, 2008.
  3. ^ Mainstream Top 40 Add Dates Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine FMQB.com. Retrieved September 25, 2008.
  4. ^ "The ARIA Report: Issue 1035" (PDF). webarchive.nla.gov.au. 2006-08-23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
  5. ^ NICKELBACK - Dark Horse Album: If Today Was Your Last Day on YouTube
  6. ^ "Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  7. ^ "Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  8. ^ "Nickelback Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  9. ^ "Nickelback Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  10. ^ "Nickelback Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  11. ^ "Nickelback Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  12. ^ "Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  13. ^ "Luxembourg Digital Songs - February 20, 2010". Billboard.
  14. ^ "Tipparade-lijst van week 13, 2010" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  15. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200919 into search.
  16. ^ "Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day". Singles Top 100.
  17. ^ "Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day". Swiss Singles Chart.
  18. ^ "Nickelback: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  19. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  20. ^ "Nickelback Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  21. ^ "Nickelback Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  22. ^ "Nickelback Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  23. ^ "Nickelback Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  24. ^ "Nickelback Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  25. ^ "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2009". ARIA. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  26. ^ "Canadian Hot 100 - Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  27. ^ "Airplay Detection Tophit 200 Yearly – 2009". Tophit. Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  28. ^ "Hot 100 Songs - Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  29. ^ "Adult Contemporary Songs - Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  30. ^ "Adult Pop Songs - Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  31. ^ "Top Radio Hits Russia Annual Chart 2011" (in Russian). TopHit. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  32. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2009 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  33. ^ "British single certifications – Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
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