"100 Years" is a song by American singer Five for Fighting. It was released on November 17, 2003, as the first single from his third studio album, The Battle for Everything (2004). The single reached number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2007, the song earned a Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for more than 1,000,000 copies sold. It also charted in Australia and New Zealand, peaking at number 32 in both countries.

Background

Ondrasik was trying repeatedly to write a follow-up hit to 2001's "Superman (It's Not Easy)", with little luck. As he sat with his toddler son, he kept reminding himself to appreciate the moment, rather than worry. He said, "“100 Years” was a little post-it note saying, “Dude, just chill and appreciate the moment, recognize the moment.” Once I had the lyric, “There’s never a wish better than this,” and I had the piano theme, I had this concept of let’s let this song be a lifetime. Let’s have each verse be the stages of our lives, let’s move through the song. “100 Years” is different than “Superman” in that, for me, it’s always relevant because I’m always somewhere in the song. I wrote it when I was the beginning of the second verse, now I’m in the bridge, you know? Pretty soon I’ll be in the vamp."

Chart performance

"100 Years" peaked on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles charts at number 28, for the week ending May 24, 2004. In December 2004, on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2004 chart, "100 Years" was ranked at number 77 overall for the year. "100 Years" peaked at number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for the week ending May 7, 2004. It went on to be the longest-running number-one single of 2004 on the Adult Contemporary chart, staying at number one for 12 non-consecutive weeks. The song spent a total of 52 weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Music video

The music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy and premiered on January 10, 2004. It placed at number 30 on VH1's Top 40 Music Video Countdown of 2004, spending 18 weeks on VH1's weekly Top 20 countdown. In the video, images of Ondrasik singing and playing the song at the piano are intercut with fictional, exaggerated, idealized versions of himself as a 15-year-old boy, a 22-year-old, a 33-year-old, a man in his middle 40s, and finally a 99-year-old version of himself, reflecting the song's lyrics. At the end of the song, Ondrasik meets his older self.

Track listing

Australian CD single

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history