"Let Forever Be"
Single by the Chemical Brothers
from the album Surrender
B-side
  • "The Diamond Sky"
  • "Studio K"
Released23 July 1999 (1999-07-23)
StudioOrinoco (South London, England)
GenreAlternative rock[1]
Length
  • 3:56 (album version)
  • 3:40 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)The Chemical Brothers
The Chemical Brothers singles chronology
"Hey Boy Hey Girl"
(1999) 		"Let Forever Be"
(1999) 		"Out of Control"
(1999)
Noel Gallagher singles chronology
"Setting Sun"
(1996) 		"Let Forever Be"
(1999) 		"Keep What Ya Got"
(2004)
Music video
"Let Forever Be" on YouTube

"Let Forever Be" is a song by English electronic music duo the Chemical Brothers, released as the second single from their third studio album, Surrender (1999), on 23 July 1999 in Japan and on 2 August in the United Kingdom. It contains uncredited vocals from Noel Gallagher of Britpop band Oasis, who also co-wrote the song and previously worked with the Chemical Brothers on "Setting Sun".

"Let Forever Be" was the Chemical Brothers' fourth top-10 single in the United Kingdom, peaking at number nine on the UK Singles Chart. It was also successful in Hungary, where it debuted and peaked at number two, and it reached the top 40 in Ireland and New Zealand. In the United States, the single reached the top 30 on two Billboard charts: the Maxi-Singles Sales chart and the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Music video

The video for the track was directed by Michel Gondry, and utilized ground-breaking video and film effects in its depiction of a young woman's nightmares (the girl is played by actress and dancer Stephanie Landwehr[2]). The video, which drew visual inspiration from Ray Davies' 1975 Granada TV production Starmaker, received much media attention and became one of the most well-known videos from the band. The video also makes specific visual and thematic references to the dance sequence "I Only Have Eyes For You" (music by Harry Warren; lyrics by Al Dubin), choreographed by Busby Berkeley for the Warner Bros. musical Dames (1934) directed by Ray Enright. Pitchfork Media named the video the "quintessential Michel Gondry video" and ranked it at number seven in their list of the "Top 50 Music Videos of the 1990s".[3]

Track listings

Standard CD, 12-inch, and cassette single[4][5][6]

  1. "Let Forever Be"
  2. "The Diamond Sky"
  3. "Studio K"

European CD single[7]

  1. "Let Forever Be" (album version)
  2. "Studio K"

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the Surrender album booklet.[8]

Studios

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1999) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[9] 15
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[10] 37
Hungary (Mahasz)[11] 2
Ireland (IRMA)[12] 23
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 89
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 30
Scotland (OCC)[15] 7
UK Singles (OCC)[16] 9
UK Dance (OCC)[17] 9
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[18] 29
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[19] 18

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Japan 23 July 1999 CD
[20]
United Kingdom 2 August 1999
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [21]
United States 3 August 1999 CD Astralwerks [22]

References

  1. ^ "The Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1999". Spin. p. 7. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  2. ^ from "official Chemical Brothers site's forum" [1] Archived 19 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ "The Top 50 Music Videos of the 1990s - Page 5". Pitchfork.
  4. ^ Let Forever Be (UK CD single liner notes). The Chemical Brothers. Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records. 1999. CHEMSD9, 7243 8 95999 2 3.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ Let Forever Be (UK 12-inch single sleeve). The Chemical Brothers. Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records. 1999. CHEMST9, 7243 8 95999 6 1.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Let Forever Be (UK cassette single sleeve). The Chemical Brothers. Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records. 1999. CHEMSC9, 7243 8 95999 4 7.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ Let Forever Be (European CD single liner notes). The Chemical Brothers. Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records. 1999. CHEMSDE9, 7243 8 96114 2 7.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ Surrender (UK CD album booklet). The Chemical Brothers. Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records. 1999. XDUSTCD4, 7243 8 47610 2 8.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ "The Chemical Brothers – Let Forever Be" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 16, no. 34. 21 August 1999. p. 11. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 16, no. 35. 28 August 1999. p. 10. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  12. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Let Forever Be". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  13. ^ "The Chemical Brothers – Let Forever Be" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  14. ^ "The Chemical Brothers – Let Forever Be". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  16. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  17. ^ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  18. ^ "The Chemical Brothers Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  19. ^ "The Chemical Brothers Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  20. ^ "レット・フォーエバー・ビー | ケミカル・ブラザーズ" [Let Forever Be | The Chemical Brothers] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  21. ^ "New Releases – For Week Starting 2 August, 1999: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 31 July 1999. p. 27. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  22. ^ "Let Forever Be". Amazon. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
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