"Everything Is Awesome" is the theme song to the 2014 Warner Bros. Pictures film The Lego Movie. It was written by Shawn Patterson,[1] Jo Li,[2][3] and The Lonely Island. The single and pop version featured in the end credits of the movie was produced by Mark Mothersbaugh[4] and performed by Tegan and Sara in collaboration with The Lonely Island. The version of "Everything Is Awesome" featured in The Lego Movie scene, official trailer,[5] TV spots,[6][7][8] video game, and featurette[9] was produced by Bartholomew[10] and performed by Bartholomew and Lisa Harriton under the name Jo Li. A third version appears in The Lego Batman Movie, performed by Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine. On January 26, 2014, the song received its first US radio airplay via Anything Anything with Rich Russo on WXPK-FM, WRAT-FM and WDHA-FM.[11] Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara said in a Billboard interview: We want to be a "serious" musical band, while also being humorous people, but this was so adorable, and the movie looked great, and the opportunity to do something with Mark Mothersbaugh and the Lonely Island ... it was sort of a no-brainer, and it's turned out to be this really cool moment.
We feel like it was a win-win. In an interview to Fox News, Mark Mothersbaugh says the song "was supposed to be like mind control early in the film. It's totally irritating, this kind of mindless mantra to get people up and working." The music video features Lego versions of Tegan and Sara as well as The Lonely Island's Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone. Parts of the video were made using brickfilming. "Everything is Awesome" debuted at No. 7 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart, with 34,000 downloads in its first week (Nielsen SoundScan) and 11 on the Irish Charts. It also charted 35 on the Canadian Hot 100. The song charted 17 on the UK Charts and charted 3 on the UK Indie. In the US Billboard Hot 100, the song charted 57.[15] As of June 2014, the single had sold 418,000 copies in the United States. International Business Times described the song as a parody of creeping fascism, saying that the song "seems little more than an infectiously catchy parody of watered-down radio pop, right down to the faux-dubstep breakdown.
There’s a lot more happening under the surface, however." As one of the songs nominated for Best Original Song at the 2015 Oscars, "Everything is Awesome" was performed as a large-scale musical number featuring not only Tegan and Sara and The Lonely Island, but also on-stage appearances by Mothersbaugh (paying homage to his 1970s group Devo by wearing a LEGO version of the distinctive Devo energy dome), DJ Questlove, and comic actor Will Arnett dressed as Batman (in the film, Arnett provides the voice of Batman and sings the mocking heavy metal composition "Untitled Self Portrait", an excerpt of which was incorporated into the "Everything Is Awesome" performance).[18] According to LEGO Movie co-director Christopher Miller, for this on-stage appearance, Arnett wore the Batman costume originally worn by Val Kilmer in the 1995 film Batman Forever.[19] Arnett also lip-synced to the song on the Reality TV Show Lip Sync Battle, while dressed as Emmet, the character voiced by Chris Pratt in The Lego Movie.
^ [1] "Playlists for 1/26/14" ^ a b 'The Lego Movie': Why Tegan & Sara Went Chirpy for 'Everything Is Awesome' (Video). ^ Devo lead singer dishes on creating catchy 'Lego' song. ^ How 'The Lego Movie' And 'Everything Is Awesome' Parody Creeping Everyday Fascism. ^ WATCH: ‘Everything is Awesome’ at the Oscars Thanks to Will Arnett’s Batman and Oprah, Variety. accessed February 25, 2015 ^ Nick Romano, Will Arnett Wore A Piece Of Batman History At The Oscars. ^ ARIA Australian Top 40 Digital Tracks | Australia's Official Top 40 Digital Downloads. ^ "Tegan and Sara – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Tegan and Sara. Retrieved February 23, 2014. ^ "Chart Track: Week 09, 2014". Retrieved February 24, 2014. ^ ".nz – Tegan And Sara feat. The Lonely Island – Everything Is Awesome". ^ "Archive Chart: March 1, 2014". Scottish Singles Top 40. ^ "1, 2014/ Archive Chart: March 1, 2014" UK Singles Chart. ^ "1, 2014/ Archive Chart: March 1, 2014" UK Indie Chart.
^ "Tegan and Sara – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Tegan and Sara. ^ Comedy Digital Tracks : Feb 15, 2014. ^ Hot Dance/Electronic Songs : Mar 1, 2014. ^ Tegan and Sara - Chart history for Heatseekers Songs. . Retrieved February 23, 2014. ^ If necessary, click, then click, then select, then clickLego told 'everything is not awesome' in viral Greenpeace video. Retrieved January 28, 2015."Whether you think it's funny or annoying, there's no denying that it's a ridiculously hooky thing," said Sara Quin of her band's Lonely Island collaboration. Although diehard fans of The Lego Movie are disappointed that the animated comedy didn't make the best animated film category during this morning's Academy Awards nominations announcement, the film did score a best original song nod for its chirpy anthem "Everything Is Awesome." Performed by Tegan and Sara featuring the Lonely Island, the song was co-produced by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh and written by Shawn Patterson, the latter of whom will compete for the gold at the Feb. 22 ceremony.
The insanely upbeat track does not exactly fit into the nuanced indie-pop catalogue of Tegan & Sara, but that's what attracted the veteran sister duo toward the project, the group's Sara Quin told Billboard when the song debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 chart last February.2015 Oscar Nominations: Nods for Common & John Legend, But Nothing for Lorde"We want to be a 'serious' musical band, while also being funny people," said Quin. "But this was so adorable, and the movie looked great, and the opportunity to do something with Mark Mothersbaugh and the Lonely Island... it was sort of a no-brainer, and it's turned out to be this really cool moment. We feel like it was a win-win."Tegan & Sara signed on to record "Everything Is Awesome" after hearing an early version of Patterson's song, which didn't yet have the Lonely Island delivering the rap breakdown. Although the duo typically writes its lyrics, the song's cleverness and catchiness pushed Tegan & Sara to cut vocals for a new version of the "Awesome" song.
"It's a crazy earworm," said Quin. "As someone who prides myself on being able to write things that are memorable and hooky, the second that we heard this song, I was astounded. Whether you like the song or not, whether you think it's funny or annoying, there's no denying that it's a ridiculously hooky thing. As soon as you hear it, it never leaves your brain." Quin said that her sister Tegan went into the studio with Mothersbaugh -- the leader of Devo who composed music for films like 21 Jump Street and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs -- to record the song's main vocals, while Sara sent in backing vocals from her apartment. Although the pair was never in the studio with the Lonely Island, Quin said that the final product is a "fun, spontaneous" combination of their pop stylings and the Andy Samberg troupe's off-the-wall antics. Tegan & Sara recently released a 10th anniversary deluxe edition of their 2004 breakout album So Jealous, and Tegan Quin recently told Billboard that the duo is "absolutely gonna write and record a record" in 2015.