#58

#58. Daft Punk (feat Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers) - Get Lucky (#3, 2013)

12th of 2013

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I'm sorry, it's not a Friday. It would not be appropriate for me to tell you to check out Daft Punk's new single "Get Lucky" if you get the chance. You will need some other sort of device or indicator to let you know when it's Friday, and perhaps then, you'll be able to enjoy the experience that is the sound of the summer. In any case, Daft Punk have not made many more new songs since this one, so on that level, we've still got something here. I'll admit though that by my standards, I'm nowhere near up all night to write about "Get Lucky". It's definitely a mantra that describes my experience of getting all the achievements in Balatro though.

It feels a little uncommon that you get to experience this kind of arrival, especially nowadays. I'm writing this in late June and we're still trying to find a new hit song that asserts itself fully as a force that isn't a song that came out last year, or just a typically popular artist doing the pass mark to get a high chart peak without really sticking the landing. Incredibly this hasn't really changed in late September although I suppose ADÉLA is doing pretty well. The idea of "Get Lucky" is the kind of song that shifts everything aside to make room for it, instantly becoming the big thing, and promising that it'll be a fixture for the rest of your life and beyond that. On some level it's earned hype, because Daft Punk had only grown more esteemed in the years after their legendary live shows and being generally quiet on the release front. Easy to forget how modest the duo's popularity was previously. They didn't even the most popular turn of the century Eurodance hit called "One More Time". "Get Lucky" was the sound of Daft Punk cashing in on their reputation with a hit that just couldn't be denied. Admittedly they'd end up feeling like a side story to Pharrell's monster hit streak that started with "Get Lucky", but for a good while, all attention was back on those two robot heads and just what they'd been cooking up.

I was very on board with this right away. As a chart nerd, it's the kind of redemption story you can't help but love, one that feels like it rewards the very history that's being built up. You don't want to see the top spot exclusively held by new upstarts and previous tenants. There's something optimistic about seeing a seemingly closed off story get a new chapter, and it makes you wonder who else could one day have this same experience. Arguably we'd have a full year of those very two examples with no exceptions until Daft Punk etched themselves into another history book. It also helped that I liked the song a lot. I understand a lot of people got very burned out on it, and I understand that, but I still find myself admiring the full product of it. A very effortless song where everything feels like it's doing what it was always meant to do. "Get Lucky" is a song that was always destined to exist, something like that.

I must admit I do find myself listening to the album version of the song more than the single lately. When you hit play on the single version, you're instantly hit with the song's distinctive riff and maybe the dread sets in before you can actually appreciate it. The album version lets it build up just a little bit longer and it feels more special. I think there's a risk in making the song so workmanlike that it takes the actual personality out of it, and so I love the decision to re-introduce the classic Daft Punk 'vocals' on the bridge. It's like a stamp of ownership, but also a welcome inclusion to remind you that despite all the new elements, this is still the Daft Punk you remember.