Young (Hollywood Undead song)

Background

Prior to release, several seven-second teaser videos of the music video appeared online. The song was included as one of 20 free downloadable tracks for purchasers of new copies of Rock Band 2, and it was used in the trailer for the Xbox 360 and PC game Velvet Assassin.

Music video

The official music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, was released on iTunes on April 13, 2009, and later posted on the band's website. It shows the band performing in a narrow hallway lined with photographs of fans wearing homemade Hollywood Undead masks, with quick cuts and fast camera movements. Johnny Three Tears raps the first and second verses while Deuce sings the chorus; after the second verse, a breakdown features choir girls singing angelic lines as the band raps between them.

Intercut with performance footage are clips of various people and places. The video opens with a distorted clip of an older man giving a speech behind a pedestal with a phonograph microphone, in front of three banners bearing a grenade symbol reminiscent of World War II-era imagery. Subliminal advertising and hate campaigns blaming youth appear, later spray-painted over with doves—the dove being part of Hollywood Undead's "Dove and Grenade" symbol.

The video culminates with close-ups of fan masks on the walls, then the band tearing them down and breaking free. It ends with Johnny 3 Tears removing the speech giver from his pedestal and taking his place.

Reception

Brian Rademacher, reviewing Swan Songs, called "Young" the track that would elevate Hollywood Undead to superstar status, noting its aggressive yet chart-friendly qualities and the addition of two choir girls. New Music Reviews scored it eight out of ten, calling it "Hard rock music at It's finest." Palmer Eldritch of Die Shellsuit, Die! gave it one out of ten, describing it as "airbrushed nonsense." The single reached number thirty-four on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and spent eleven weeks there starting April 25, 2009.