She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired debut album, Whoa, Nelly! (2000), which was a critical and commercial success that spawned two top-10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, "I'm Like a Bird" and "Turn Off the Light". The first of the two singles won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Furtado's introspective folk-heavy 2003 second album, Folklore, explored her Portuguese roots. Its singles received moderate success in Europe, but the album's underperformance compared to her debut was regarded as a sophomore slump.
Furtado's third album, Loose (2006), was a smash hit and became her bestselling album, with more than 10 million copies sold worldwide, also making it one of the bestselling albums of the 2000s. Considered a radical image reinvention, Furtado continued to explore her Portuguese heritage while leaning heavier into hip hop. The album spawned four successful number-one singles worldwide; "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "Say It Right" and "All Good Things (Come to an End)".
She released her first Spanish-language album, Mi Plan, in 2009, which won her a Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album. In 2012, Furtado released her nostalgia-inspired fifth album The Spirit Indestructible. Furtado split with her management and went independent thereafter, releasing her indie-pop sixth album, The Ride, in 2017 under her own label Nelstar Entertainment.
She has won many awards throughout her career, including one Grammy Award from seven nominations, one Latin Grammy Award, ten Juno Awards, one BRIT Award, one Billboard Music Award, one MTV Europe Music Award, one World Music Award, and three Much Music Video Awards. Furtado has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame, and was awarded Commander of the Order of Prince Henry on February 28, 2014, by Aníbal Cavaco Silva, the then-President of Portugal.
Night Is Young
Nelly Furtado Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Visions of me
Everything we wanted
I wanna be frozen in time
Forever in this moment
How you wanna live?
What you wanna feel?
So alive
What you wanna do
What you wanna feel
I know you wanna live your life right
The night is young, and so are we
We can do anything
I wanna baby
The night is young, and so are we
We can be anyone
We wanna be babe
'Cause we are
Free free free free, free free
And life is
Free free free free, free free
Don't worry baby, I'll be here
To make sure you're feeling fine
You can let go of all your fears
'Cause you're not going home tonight
How you wanna live
What you wanna fee
Don't you know u make me feel
So alive
What you wanna do
What you wanna feel
I know you wanna live your life right
The night is young, and so are we
We can do anything
We wanna baby
The night is young, and so are we
We can be anyone
We wanna be babe
'Cause we are
Free free free free, free free
And life is
Free free free free, free free
Baby it's all good
(Baby it's all good)
When I look at you
(When I look at you)
And I see that you
(And I see that you)
Made it through everything
(Made it through everything)
After all of the ups and downs
(All of the ups and down)
We figured it out
(We figured it out)
And I will know
How to ride it out
The night is young, and so are we
We can do anything
We wanna baby
The night is young, and so are we
We can be anyone
We wanna be
'Cause we are
Free free free free, free free
And life is
Free free free free, free free
Free free free free, free free
Free free free free, free free
Free free free free, free free
The lyrics of Nelly Furtado’s “Night is Young” seem to be an invitation to live in the moment, to forget about the past and the future and just enjoy the present. The opening lines, “Visions of you, visions of me, everything we wanted” suggest that the singer is seeing herself and someone else in a perfect and ideal state, but in the present moment. She wants to freeze this moment in time and focus on the here and now.
The chorus of the song is a celebration of youth and freedom. “The night is young, and so are we” is repeated several times, emphasizing how they can do whatever they want, be whoever they want to be, and live life to the fullest because they are young and unafraid. The bridge of the song reflects on the ups and downs of life, but ultimately ends on a positive note that they have both “figured it out” and can ride it out together.
Overall, the song is a call to action to embrace life and enjoy the present moment, embracing youth and freedom while overcoming any obstacles one may face.
Line by Line Meaning
Visions of you
I am thinking about you
Visions of me
I am imagining myself
Everything we wanted
Our desires and dreams
I wanna be frozen in time
I want to stay in the present moment
Forever in this moment
Never wanting to leave this moment
How you wanna live?
What kind of life do you want?
What you wanna feel?
What emotions do you want to experience?
Don't you know you make me feel
You make me feel this way
So alive
Full of energy and excitement
What you wanna do
What activities do you want to engage in?
I know you wanna live your life right
You want to live your life in a positive way
The night is young, and so are we
There is plenty of time and we are still youthful
We can do anything
There are no limits to what we can achieve
I wanna baby
I desire to have a good time
We can be anyone
We can be whoever we want to be
We wanna be babe
We want to enjoy ourselves
'Cause we are
Because we are
Free free free free, free free
We are free to act as we please
And life is
Our existence is
Don't worry baby, I'll be here
Do not fret, I will be present
To make sure you're feeling fine
I will ensure that you are happy
You can let go of all your fears
You have the freedom to let go of all uncertainties
'Cause you're not going home tonight
You don't have to go home yet
When I look at you
As I gaze at you
And I see that you
And I notice that you
Made it through everything
Survived all hurdles
After all of the ups and downs
Despite the highs and lows
We figured it out
We resolved everything
And I will know
I am confident
How to ride it out
How to persist
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: HERNST BELLEVE, HERNST BELLEVUE, NELLY FURTADO, SALAAM REMI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Ghostflowers
This is honestly one of her most underrated gems. I remember the day it premiered a decade ago - it felt triumphant. It still remains one of my favourite songs of hers.
@soundofnellody262
Unfortunately a lot of her songs are very underrated imo
@90sbaby1
its weird how underrated this is.... shows how ungrateful people are to ignore this song, I remmeber when it came out and it played on MTV Hits and Music Choice pretty regularly during the smartphone and twitter era (I mention those to say that accessibility of music and music videos was totally easy and free) so...idk how people missed this song, its a personal favorite. Oh well. The people who deserve it know it.
@BrayZap
I was like 7-8 when my mom bought me Whoa, Nelly! in 2000, she loves Nelly and raised me around her. Every time in the car to school or wherever she'd play Nelly, all the way up until i could drive lol. Haven't touched a radio dial since 2009, really a shame how she stopped promoting, but on the same part, only real people who follow her not only for a social status and love (or actually know about) The Spirit Indestructible.
@seankennelly69
Your EVERYWHERE!
@BrayZap
Sean Kennelly
gotta get it out someway!
@Juandomngz
@Bray Zap that album was amazing and so was The Ride.
@JulesKel1
I love this song, so catchy. Sometimes i find myself just randomly singing the chorus.
@WesleyCornelio
This song makes me feel so good. It makes me think about going out on adventure in the night, kinda like the people in this video do. So much happiness and positivity! Great song.
@brynear
agree with you here