"This Is the Life" is an indie pop

Indie pop

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

 / folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 song by Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Amy Macdonald

Amy MacDonald

Amy MacDonald is an American author of children's books. Her works include Little Beaver and the Echo, which has been translated into 28 languages around the world, and Rachel Fister's Blister. Her first book, a satire of Jill Krementz's children's books, was A Very Young Housewife.Amy MacDonald...

 from her 2007 album of the same title

This Is the Life (Amy Macdonald album)

-Deluxe edition:After the major success of "This Is the Life" across Europe, in the end of 2008 a deluxe version of the album was released. The 2-disc-set include the standard version of the album and a bonus-CD with several bonus tracks, live and acoustic versions.-Personnel:*Amy Macdonald -...

. It was released on December 10, 2007 in UK, and in April 2008 in most of European countries, becoming a major hit worldwide. It has so far been Macdonald's most successful single, topping six charts and reaching the top ten in 11 charts around the world. The music video consists of pictures of Macdonald and her friends' night out. As sign of popularity, the song and the music video were included on the famous double compilation NRJ Music Awards 2009

NRJ Music Awards 2009

-Disc 1:# "Womanizer" - Britney Spears — 3:45# "Hot n Cold" - Katy Perry — 3:42# "Lovers in Japan" - Coldplay — 6:53# "So What" - P!nk — 3:36# "Rain on Your Parade" - Duffy — 3:29# "C'est ma terre" - Christophe Maé — 3:51...

.

The song was used in a 2010 advert for the Fiat 500

Fiat 500

The Fiat 500 is a car produced by the Fiat company of Italy between 1957 and 1975, with limited production of the Fiat 500 K estate continuing until 1977. The car was designed by Dante Giacosa....

 shown across Europe. It was also used in the early 2011 as an advert in Norway and re-entered the chart directly at number one.

The track was also released in the U.S. on a vinyl 45 rpm single (Decca UCGR-00199-1) with unique picture sleeve, backed with "Let's Start A Band."

Charts performances

The song was first released in late 2007 in the UK, but achieved a moderate success, peaking at #28. In 2008, it was then successively released in many European countries, achieving huge success on The Dutch Mega Top 50

Mega Top 50

The Mega Top 50 is a Dutch music chart, originally started on May 23, 1969 as the Hilversum 3 Top 30. Throughout the years, the chart has had several names and lengths:*1969 - 1974: Hilversum 3 Top 30...

 and the Dutch Top 40

Dutch Top 40

The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...

 where it became the biggest hit of 2008 and the best selling single for a female artist , the Ultratop 50

Ultratop 50

Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995...

 (Belgium Flanders), the Ultratop 40

Ultratop

Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...

 (Belgium Wallonia), and on FIMI (Italian) chart, the German Singles Chart and the SNEP (France) chart, where it was #2. The song was also high ranked on the airplay and digital charts and had a long run in Austria, Switzerland and Belgium (Wallonia).

In Spain the song had an amazing radio success and a long run in the singles chart, peaking at #3 in the official Spanish Singles Chart compiled by PROMUSICAE

PROMUSICAE

Spanish Music Producers is a trade group representing the Spanish recording industry...

, and being certified 2x Platinum with sales over 80,000 units.

Track listings

CD single

1. "This Is the Life" — 3:05
2. "This Much Is True" — 2:44

Digital download

1. "This Is the Life" — 3:05
2. "This Is the Life (acoustic version)" — 3:06

Peak positions

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (2008)
!Peak
position
|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-
|European Hot 100 Singles
|align="center"|2
|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-
|U.S. Billboard Triple A

Adult album alternative

Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....

 
|align="center"|25
|-
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (2011)
!Peak
position
|-

|-

|-
|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (2008)
!Position
|-
|Austrian Singles Chart
|align="center"|8
|-
|Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart

Ultratop 50

Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995...

|align="center"|1
|-
|Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart

Ultratop 40

Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization...

|align="center"|3
|-
|Dutch Singles Chart
|align="center"|1
|-
|European Hot 100
|align="center"|9
|-
|French Airplay Chart
|align="center"|16
|-
|French Digital Singles Chart
|align="center"|4
|-
|French Singles Chart
|align="center"|29
|-
|German Singles Chart
|align="center"|8
|-
|Swedish Singles Chart
|align="center"|19
|-
|Swiss Singles Chart
|align="center"|5
|-
!Chart (2009)
!Position
|-
|Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart

Ultratop 50

Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995...

|align="center"|89
|-
|Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart

Ultratop 40

Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization...

|align="center"|74
|-
|European Hot 100
|align="center"|14
|-
|German Singles Chart
|align="center"|28
|-
|Hungarian Airplay Chart

Mahasz

Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary....

|align="center"|4
|-
|Italian Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|4
|-
|Spanish Singles Chart

PROMUSICAE

Spanish Music Producers is a trade group representing the Spanish recording industry...

|align="center"|6
|-
|Swiss Singles Chart
|align="center"|24
|-
|}

Decade-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! (2000–2009)
! Position
|-
|German Singles Chart
|align="center"|7
|-
|}

All-time charts

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!width="150px"|Country
!width="75px"|Position
|-
|Switzerland
|align="center"|2
|-
|}

Certifications and sales

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Country
!Certification
!Date
!Sales certified
|-
|Belgium
|align="center"|Platinum
|align="center"|October 18, 2008
|align="center"|40,000
|-
|Germany
|align="center"|Platinum
|align="center"|2008
|align="center"|300,000
|-
|Switzerland
|align="center"|Gold
|align="center"|2008
|align="center"|15,000
|-
|Spain
|align="center"|2x Platinum
|align="center"|2009
|align="center"|80,000
|}

Chart successions

External links

• "This Is the Life", music video