“The Final Countdown” is a song by Swedish rock band Europe, released in 1986. Written by Joey Tempest with lyrics inspired by David Bowie‘s “Space Oddity“. Originally made to just be a concert opener, it is the 1st single and title track from the band’s 3rd studio album. The music video by Nick Morris, made to promote the single, has become iconic with almost 1 billion views on YouTube and counting. The video features footage from the band’s 2 concerts at the Solnahallen in Solna, as well as extra footage of the sound checks and footage from Stockholm.
The song was based on a keyboard riff which Joey Tempest had written, as early as 1981 or 1982, on a Korg Polysix keyboard which he had borrowed from keyboardist Mic Michaeli. In 1985, bassist John Levén suggested that Tempest should write a song based on that riff. Tempest recorded a demo version of the song and played it for the other band members. At first, the members expressed mixed reactions to it, including guitarist John Norum who was put off by the synth intro but said that he was glad they didn’t listen to him. Tempest described their uncertainty: “Some of the guys in the band thought it was too different for a rock band. But in the end I fought hard to make sure it got used.”
When it was time to choose the first single from the album The Final Countdown, Tempest suggested the song “The Final Countdown”. The band had not originally planned to release the song as a single, and some members wanted “Rock the Night” to be the first single. “The Final Countdown” was written to be an opening song for concerts, and they never thought it would be a hit. When their record company Epic Records suggested, however, that it should be the first single, the band decided to release it
As Tempest stated:
It’s always a nice feeling. Sometimes you hear it on the streets or someone has it on their mobile phone or something… it’s a nice feeling! Actually, I did an interview about a year ago with a newspaper from America and they talked about how much it’s been used in sports in America… which I didn’t know so much about. Apparently it has been used a lot and it was nice to hear. The ironic thing, though, is that the song was actually written for the fans. It was over 6 minutes long and was never meant to be a hit or anything like that. It was meant to be an opening for the ‘live’ show. We were putting out our 3rd album and we wanted a really ‘grand’ opening for the show. So, I had that ‘riff’ tucked away in a drawer since my college years and I took it out, found a tempo for it, wrote lyrics, and it turned out to be a great opening for that album and for the show, as well. Nowadays, we don’t rehearse it, but when we play it live, it is still just so amazing! It does communicate so well with the audience and we really love playing it.
In 2009, Tempest told the BBC’s Liam Allen, “I can trace bands like UFO in it, sort of a galloping theme like Iron Maiden had on The Number of the Beast album on quite a few songs. I wanted to make a combination of guitars and keyboards. That was a statement on that and it sort of worked out nicely.”
“The Final Countdown” became an instant success on the charts worldwide upon its release, reaching #1 in 25 countries (including the UK), and is widely regarded as the band’s most popular and recognizable song. The single reached #8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and is the most successful song from the album on the Album Rock Tracks chart, peaking at #18.
The song is also the band’s highest charting single in Australia at #2 and Canada at #5.
The song has been a regular in Europe concerts ever since its live debut on the premiere of their Final Countdown Tour in April 1986.
The song was certified gold in the UK in 1986. In the US, the song peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #18 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.
