| Anything | |
| Cover: | Anything - Single by Hedley.jpg |
| Alt: | A rainbow-filtered image of naked Barbie dolls being cooked on a grill. |
| Caption: | Canadian single cover |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Hedley |
| Album: | Wild Life |
| Recorded: | 2013 |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Prev Title: | Kiss You Inside Out |
| Prev Year: | 2012 |
| Next Title: | Crazy for You |
| Next Year: | 2014 |
"Anything" is a song recorded by Canadian pop rock band Hedley for their fifth studio album, Wild Life (2013). The song was written and produced by Jacob Hoggard and Brian Howes, with additional writing by Jason Van Poederooyen. It was released to Canadian radio on August 19, 2013, through Universal Music Canada as the album's lead single.[1] "Anything" was serviced to alternative radio in the US through Capitol Records in November 2013 as the band's fifth American single.[2] [3]
Upon release, "Anything" was met with mixed reviews from music critics, but performed well commercially. The song peaked at number 5 on the Canadian Hot 100 and reached the top 10 on three national airplay charts. It also charted at 18 in New Zealand. In September 2016, "Anything" was certified 4× Platinum by Music Canada, making it the band's fastest and best-selling single to date.[4] The group performed the song at the 2013 Grey Cup half-time show.[5]
"Anything" is an upbeat pop song with a duration of three minutes and eleven seconds. It is composed in the key of G and set to a BPM of 76.[6] Its lyrics convey a message of defiance and believing that one can do anything they set their mind to, regardless what people may tell them or expect of them. With its anthemic nature, "Anything" expands upon themes found in previous Hedley singles including "Invincible" and "One Life".[7] Lead singer and co-writer Jacob Hoggard explained that the song is, to him, about finding the strength to rise above life's hardships.[8]
Emma Garland at Alter The Press! gave the song a mixed review, feeling that although "Anything" is "insanely catchy", the "uh-uh, fuck that" hook is "awkward" and "quickly gets irritating".[9] Philip Lickley at UK music blog All-Noise described the song as "a stadium-friendly chanting song... with a strong message" that "screams out for radio play", and rated it a 7 out of 10.[10] The single was nominated for two awards at the 2014 Juno Awards: Video of the Year and Producer of the Year.[11]
The music video for "Anything" was directed by JP Poliquin and was shot at The Great Hall in Toronto, Ontario.[8] It premiered on the band's VEVO channel on September 10, 2013.[12] Speaking about the video, Hoggard stated, "In the spirt of the concept of the song, we were like, 'Hang on, f--k, this, let's just do whatever the f--k we want. I think that would almost be the truest form of expressing the sentimentality of that song in video form.'"[13]
| Year | Organization | Award | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | MuchMusic Video Awards | Video of the Year | [14] | |
| Director of the Year | [15] | |||
| Pop Video of the Year | ||||
| Your Fave Video of the Year | ||||
| 2014 | Juno Awards | Video of the Year | [16] | |
| Producer of the Year | [17] |
| Chart (2013–14) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[18] | 5 |
| Canada AC (Billboard)[19] | 6 |
| Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[20] | 6 |
| Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[21] | 5 |
| Chart (2013) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[22] | 68 | |
| Chart (2014) | Position | |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[23] | 42 | |
| Canada AC (Billboard)[24] | 37 |
| Date | Format | Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | August 19, 2013 | Radio airplay | Universal Music Canada | |
| September 17, 2013 | Digital download | |||
| Worldwide | November 12, 2013 | Capitol Records | [25] | |
| United States | November 18, 2013 | Alternative radio | ||
| December 3, 2013 | Digital extended play | |||
| United Kingdom | June 2, 2014 | CD single | Universal Music Canada | [26] |