With the Glee version having success on the charts, the song was licensed for use in a Chevrolet Sonic commercial that aired during Super Bowl XLVI.

Peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 through airplay on contemporary hit radio stations, the song topped the charts for six weeks straight.

It is also the first song to log seven weeks of 300,000 or more in digital sales, surpassing a record previously held by Eminem and Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie" (2010).

The song also topped the Hot 100 Airplay chart with 120 million impressions in seven weeks, becoming the first group since Destiny's Child's "Survivor" (2001) to do so.

[1] An accompanying music video was directed by Marc Klasfeld at David Sukonick Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

[2] After the poor commercial performance of their debut album, Aim and Ignite, Fun decided to put Jeff Bhasker as producer for their second studio effort.

[3][4] Ruess was anxious about meeting Bhasker, so he arrived early at the bar in the Bowery Hotel on the Lower East Side "and had a little to drink just to make sure [he] was loosened up.

"[4] According to Bhasker, he did not want to meet the band, as he "was working with Beyoncé, and also with Alicia, Kanye [West] and Jay-Z, and doing this had been a big goal in my life.

"[3] Bhasker has stated that the instrumental for the song was "an inch" away from being included on West and Jay-Z's collaborative album Watch the Throne (2011).

[6] On the first day of recording at Jungle City, Bhasker programmed the drums on his Akai MPC3000 machine, a Moog bass, and "maybe using my little [Roland] Juno 106, and we added vocals and piano.

"[8] Guitarist Jack Antonoff called "We Are Young" the "bull's-eye center" of the sound the band was striving for while producing Some Nights.

[16] Tim Jonze of The Guardian described the chorus as anthemic and compared it to work done by Arcade Fire and stated that the lyrics were "life-affirming and fit for a teen movie soundtrack.

Ruess told Rolling Stone that he was kicked out of a taxi cab for vomiting all over it, saying "the cabbie was demanding all this money, and all I could do was stand on the corner with my head against the wall.

Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone called the song "rollickingly catchy", writing that "Ruess' knack for the anthemic is matched by Gen-Y humor – emo self-deprecation that leavens the bombast.

[21] Al Shipley of The Village Voice agreed with this comparison, attributing the song's success to the changing music industry as a result of advertising and iTunes.

[9] RJ Cubarrubia of Billboard commended the band for taking their "warm retro sound into soaring ballad territory," calling the track a "bold statement."

"[23] However, Luke Lewis of NME gave a highly negative review of the song, giving a 5 out of 10, stating: "It's not clear what compelled Janelle Monáe to work with these New York-based Panic!

The song had another surge in popularity in February of 2012 due to its appearance in a Super Bowl commercial spot, which helped it explode at radio and at retail.

[36] The music video, directed by Marc Klasfeld, was filmed at David Sukonick Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

A couple kiss with food spread all over their faces, and Janelle Monáe walks into the center of the bar and sings the first half of her bridge in real time and the second in slow motion.

The performance began with the band pounding away in a tiny red-lit cube, dressed in white tuxedos, with frontman Nate Ruess bounding back and forth in the enclosed space.

[29] The track was given to Glee music supervisors by John Janick, head of Fueled by Ramen, "about five months" before its release, according to Ruess.

Bloom called the cover of "We Are Young" one of "the pinnacle song moments of the entire series," and continued, "For Fun, Glee provided a launching pad for much of the success to come.

[22][29] As Glee's version of "We Are Young" gained popularity before the original did, Ruess e-mailed the musical director of the program, writing, "You guys are #1 right now, but we are coming for you, we're going to reclaim the spot!

"We Are Young" was selected as the soundtrack of a one-minute Chevrolet advertisement for the Chevy Sonic, aired during Super Bowl XLVI on February 5, 2012.

"It's a beautiful song, with a number of different projections in that driving beat and very sweet melody," said Andrew Bancroft, associate creative director for Chevrolet.

[48] On the June 6, 2012, episode of Conan, the song was parodied in a "Basic Cable Name That Tune" sketch as their "slightly different" version "We Have Pubes."

"[9] John Janick, president/CEO of Fueled by Ramen and co-president of Elektra Records, states that everyone involved felt like "We Are Young" was a special song.

"[29] The band's extensive touring, which has included playing Coachella, ensured that the groundwork was already in place for the act to grow, according to Fun's manager, Dalton Sim of Nettwerk Records.

"[29] In addition, influential Los Angeles-area alternative station KROQ put "We Are Young" in rotation before the Super Bowl appearance based on its anthemic sound and lyrical relatable nature.