1,227,171 plays (281,207 listeners)
“The Final Countdown” is a hard rock song by Europe, from their 1986 breakthrough album of the same name. The song’s musical-style and production were heavily inspired by glam metal, glam rock and hard rock from the 80s. Released as the album’s first single, the song entered the top five on the majority of the charts it appeared on. It is arguably the band’s most recognizable and popular song.
The song was based on an old keyboard riff that vocalist Joey Tempest had composed as early as 1981–82. In 1985, bassist John Levén suggested that Tempest should write a song based on that riff. The lyrics were inspired by David Bowie’s song “
Space Oddity”.
It continues to enjoy notable popularity in many sports arenas and stadiums; public address booths have often played the opening keyboard riff to rally the home crowd. It has also become a staple of high school and college pep bands for this same purpose.
The song has been covered by various artists, both local and famous; including Dannii Minogue, Gigatron, Geoff Downes, Laibach, Norther, Dispatched, the Toy Dolls, Immolation, Furillo, Vision Divine, The Delegates, and the Latvian cello band Melo-M. Contrary to popular belief, the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom has never done a cover version of the song — the wrongly credited versions are usually those by Norther and Dispatched.
The song was based on an old keyboard riff that vocalist Joey Tempest had composed as early as 1981–82. In 1985, bassist John Levén suggested that Tempest should write a song based on that riff. The lyrics were inspired by David Bowie’s song “
Space Oddity”.It continues to enjoy notable popularity in many sports arenas and stadiums; public address booths have often played the opening keyboard riff to rally the home crowd. It has also become a staple of high school and college pep bands for this same purpose.
The song has been covered by various artists, both local and famous; including Dannii Minogue, Gigatron, Geoff Downes, Laibach, Norther, Dispatched, the Toy Dolls, Immolation, Furillo, Vision Divine, The Delegates, and the Latvian cello band Melo-M. Contrary to popular belief, the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom has never done a cover version of the song — the wrongly credited versions are usually those by Norther and Dispatched.
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Europe - The Final Countdown Tour
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School Disco.com (disc 2)
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100% Rock, Volume 2 (disc 1)
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The Final Countdown
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Shouts
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davidthemugman wrote:
this is great i love this song never gets old
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davidbowiegirl wrote:
Memories... my childhood... :)
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Wallensteinfan wrote:
Klasse Stück !!
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schmoove wrote:
my youth manifesting in one song
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Vicpolfer wrote:
es la pjolaannn d cancion xDDDDDDD
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Atomkraftwerk wrote:
great song
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Peavey11 wrote:
Perfect composition
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Saggia1 wrote:
This will now always be "Gob's Theme" from the ingeniously funny but little watched serices "Arrested Development." How could you not love that?
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MadRangerMan wrote:
LMAO!! Quit baggin' on GNR!!! They were a great band with a serious ego problem!! They definitely rocked and I think they made just a dollar or two more than Europe..........
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GrungeJammer87 wrote:
I heard that the real reason that GNR broke up wasn't because of Axel, but because they couldn't make a song better then this. It's just what I heard.
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rg_gapa wrote:
genius
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funkybeats556 wrote:
this song is own
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chancellor69 wrote:
start counting
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onetruephoenix wrote:
This song has such epic music. Lyrics are rather blah.
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Varsun wrote:
How is this a horrible song your the one who listens to guns n roses, motley crue, and marilyn manson
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DownWithForever wrote:
[This song helps me get through finals.] 2
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Timtab wrote:
It's the final, final countdown!
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davidthemugman wrote:
@TZPEAZOA fuck right back up your hole this is a tune!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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TZPEAZOA wrote:
god, this is such a horrible song hahaha
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jungle_of_music wrote:
nice cover :P http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjeMDvCdrtc
Europe
The Final Countdown
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dadonjohn, majoxxx, bo_svejstrup and 2 other people loved Europe – The Final Countdown. 9 minutes ago
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pejoratywna added The Final Countdown to pejoratywna’s library. 58 minutes ago
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MidNyteDrifter, budblaze03, spb34 and 3 other people loved Europe – The Final Countdown. 2 hours ago
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xLilStrawberryx, GRIMKDS, damags and 5 other people loved Europe – The Final Countdown. 3 hours ago
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telimena05 tagged The Final Countdown with ‘hard rock’. 4 hours ago
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coopdalahoop, slinkything, horniehilted and 9 other people loved Europe – The Final Countdown. 5 hours ago
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Papi54 added The Final Countdown to Papi54’s library. 10 hours ago
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Papi54 added The Final Countdown to the playlist Papi. 10 hours ago
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wildmerlyn69 added The Final Countdown to their Loved Tracks. 11 hours ago
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