The main keyboard riff in the song was composed by lead singer Joey Tempest 5 years earlier. Mic Michaeli had lent him the keyboard.
On VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders, Joey Tempest said: "It was quite a surprise that the song 'The Final Countdown' became such a big hit because it was written for the band, it was written for our concert, it was written to be the opening song in our concert. It was almost 6 minutes long, it was never intended to be a short Pop hit or anything, it was very much a surprise and it's been used for all kinds of events, anything from Formula 1 to boxing. It's been used for a lot, sort of like an anthem. I know there's been some cover versions of it as well and I know when the Berlin Wall (fell), at the same time that all thing happened I know a lot of other people from that area saw the song as an anthem. I get a lot of letters about that. So it's been interpreted in many ways."
Tempest: "We were putting out our third 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." (Courtesy: www.rockeyez.com)
The song is used as the introduction theme at the UK soccer team Blackburn Rovers and it's the theme song for the NBA team Detroit Pistons.
Trivia[]
This was #1 in 26 countries including Germany and over 8 million singles were sold worldwide.
This was voted #1 on VH1's 40 Most Awesomely Bad Metal Songs. (Thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for all above)
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"Enjoy The Silence" • "We Got the Beat (Previously from Rock Band 2)" • "Torn (Ednaswap song)" • "Open Water" • "Shy (HUNNY song)" • "Bloodhands (Oh My Fever)" • "Who's Your Lover" • "Radio (No Small Children Song)" • "I Remember You (Skid Row song)"" • "Here I Go Again (Previously from Rock Band 3)"" • "
