Young was born in Wokingham, Berkshire, UK, with a non-identical twin, Rupert. He was educated at Horris Hill preparatory school and Wellington College.
He then attended the University of Exeter where he read Politics. At university, some of Young's old haunts included Timepiece, The Old Firehouse, and Harry's, where he used to work. In September 2001, he became a student at the Arts Educational School in Chiswick, London, starting a three-year course in musical theatre with a scholarship.
In February 2002, Young came to national prominence by singing in and winning the ITV singing contest/reality tv show Pop Idol.
Contrary to popular belief, Will was not a surprise winner when beating Gareth Gates in the final show; in fact, he gained the most votes nearly every week throughout the entire finals. A lot of 'casual' viewers of Pop Idol may have been surprised at Will's victory because Gareth had got a lot of publicity (partly) due to his stutter, perhaps creating the illusion that he was more likely to win than Will.
Young's first single was a double A-side featuring Westlife's song "Evergreen" and "Anything Is Possible", a new song written for the winner of the show by Cathy Dennis. This became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history selling 403,027 copies on its day of release. It went on to sell over 1.4 million copies and in the official list of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK issued later that year, it appeared 12th. Will subsequently made headlines by revealing he was gay. He went on to win the Brits Best Breakthrough Act Award and a plethora of other awards, including most recently Best Artist in the Digital Music Awards October 2004. Early singles of note include "Light My Fire" (done José Feliciano style), "Leave Right Now", and "Friday's Child". The latter is the title of his second album, which was largely self-penned, went five-times platinum, also receiving awards and critical acclaim.
Young received his second Brit Award in February 2005 for his co-written single "Your Game". Following sell out theatre and arena tours in 2004, he toured again at outside festival venues in Summer 2005. On July 6, 2005, he performed at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final concert of Live 8, where he did a duet with James Brown on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". His third album, Keep On was released in November 2005, together with the first single from same, "Switch It On".
On 29 September 2008, Young's fourth album, Let It Go, was released, and peaked at #2 in the UK albums chart. It was preceded by the single "Changes" on 15 September, which peaked at #10. His next single "Grace" was released on 1 December 2008, and peaked at #33 on the UK Singles Chart. Will's third single taken from the album will be "Let It Go", was released on 2 March 2009 in the UK, and peaked at #58 on the UK Singles Chart. The fourth and final single was "Tell Me the Worst", and was released on July 5, 2009 only in the UK. It served as a club promo, and featured some Fred Falke remixes.
A greatest hits collection, The Hits, was released on the 16th of November 2009. contains twelve songs from Young's first four studio albums, and two new tracks. The first is new single "Hopes & Fears", and the second is a ballad called "If It Hadn't Been for Love". The album will be released as a standard edition and a deluxe edition, which will include a DVD of all the music videos.
Songfacts reports that Jealousy, the first single from Young’s fifth studio album Echoes is a dance pop track produced by Richard X (Sugababes, Annie). The song will be released on August 21, 2011.
Young has been nominated for Ten BRIT Awards [4 x Best British Male - 4 X Best British single - Best pop Act- Best Breakthrough] . In May 2006, he was voted the UK's favourite artist ever in a poll conducted by commercial radio. In May 2007, he was voted the UK's favourite artist of all time for the second consecutive year.
Young has also broadened his repertoire by launching an acting career, taking a role in the BBC film, Mrs. Henderson Presents, starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins, with Will playing the character of 'Bertie'. The film went on release in the UK on 25 November 2005, and received excellent reviews, not least for Young's performance as actor and singer in the movie. It includes a scene in which he appears naked.
Will Young supports the charity Women's Aid, about which he wrote: "I am proud to put my name beside this cause and hope that I may be able to help more people affected by the terrors of domestic violence as well as help to create a wider awareness within our society."
Will also supports Mencap and Positive Action Southwest (PASW) for which he performed at his first solo concert in July 2003 at Killerton Hall, Exeter.
Official Website: http://www.willyoung.co.uk/global/home
Your Game
Will Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're making me feel like you and I could be real
But then you're flipping the game
You walk away and turn your back baby
Stop treading on me baby
'cause I'm mystified
And you know I've tried
I just can't get through to you
[Chorus]
What you gonna do
I don't know
What you gonna say
I ain't sure
Always the same
All the time
Every day
Played my mind
I can't keep wasting my time on your game
Ain't no doubt about it x4
I've taken all that I can
I've given to you my all
But you don't seem to respond baby
Oh I can't stand all this waiting
'cause I can't stand all this waiting
'cause my patience is fading
Pretty soon I'll be gone
Let's rectify it
You can't deny it
The way that you feel for me
Tell me
[Chorus]
I can't keep wasting my time on your game
No more, no more
No more wasted time
Playing your game
I've seen this all before
Time and time, no way
'cause I'm mystified
You know that I've tried
I just can't get through to you
[Chorus: x2]
I can't keep wasting my time on your game
No more, no more
No more wasted time
Playing your game
I've seen this all before
Time
Ain't no doubt about it
Ain't no doubt about it
Ain't no doubt about it
Ain't no doubt about it
The lyrics suggest that the singer is tired of playing a game with their partner. They appear to be frustrated because their partner's behavior is unpredictable and erratic, causing them to feel confused about their relationship. The singer is implying that their partner's actions are hurting them emotionally, and they can no longer keep playing this game. The chorus suggests that the singer is unsure of what their partner is going to do or say, but they know that their partner is always playing games with them. The song concludes with the singer vowing not to waste any more time playing their partner's game, no matter how fascinating or intriguing it may be.
The song "Your Game" was released in 2004 and became UK singer Will Young's fourth #1 single. The single has sold over 400,000 copies and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry. The single also appeared in many charts all over the world including top 20 in Scotland, Denmark and Ireland.
Despite achieving commercial success, there was a bit of controversy surrounding the song. Some critics felt that the lyrics were too repetitive, while others accused Young of trying too hard to be like American singer Justin Timberlake.
In a 2015 interview, Young revealed that "Your Game" was inspired by the end of a relationship. He said that the lyrics reflect his feelings of frustration and confusion during that time, and that writing the song was a way for him to cope with his emotions.
The song was co-written by Young and songwriting team Jem Godfrey and Karen Poole. Godfrey has worked with many artists in the industry including Leona Lewis and Steps, while Poole has co-written for numerous bands such as Sugababes and Kylie Minogue.
Interestingly, "Your Game" was used as the background music for a Fashion Show in the third series of the UK reality show, "The Apprentice."
Chords:
C G Am
I see you floating it constantly
F G C
You’re making me feel like you and I could be real
C G Am
Then you’re flipping the game
F G C
You walk away and turn you’re back baby
C G Am
Stop treading on me baby
F G C
’cause I’m mystified and you know that I’ve tried
C G Am
I just can’t get through to you
Chorus:
F G C
What you gonna do, I don’t know
F G C
What you gonna say, I ain’t sure
F G C
All the time, every day, played my mind
F G C
I can’t keep wasting my time on your game
*These chords are transposed into a key that suits the singer's range best*
Line by Line Meaning
I see you floating it constantly
I notice that you constantly float the idea of a relationship between us
You're making me feel like you and I could be real
Your actions are giving me the indication that we could have a real relationship
But then you're flipping the game
But then you change directions and are playing with my emotions
You walk away and turn your back baby
You walk away from us and ignore me
Stop treading on me baby
Stop treating me poorly
'cause I'm mystified
I am confused by your actions
And you know I've tried
You know I have put in effort to make this relationship work
I just can't get through to you
However, I am not able to communicate effectively with you
What you gonna do
What will you choose to do
I don't know
I am unsure
What you gonna say
What will you say to me
I ain't sure
I am not sure
Always the same
This situation keeps repeating itself
All the time
Every time we try to make progress
Played my mind
You have been manipulating me mentally
I can't keep wasting my time on your game
I cannot continue to spend my time on this relationship if you continue to play games
I've taken all that I can
I have given all I can in this relationship
I've given to you my all
I have put in my full effort into this relationship
But you don't seem to respond baby
But you do not seem to reciprocate
Oh I can't stand all this waiting
I cannot endure the waiting and uncertainty anymore
Pretty soon I'll be gone
Soon I will leave this relationship if things do not change
Let's rectify it
Let us fix things between us
You can't deny it
You cannot deny your feelings for me
The way that you feel for me
Your feelings for me are real
I can't keep wasting my time on your game
I cannot continue to spend my time on this relationship if you continue to play games
No more, no more
This has to stop
No more wasted time
I will not waste any more time on this relationship
I've seen this all before
I have experienced this type of behavior before
Time and time, no way
Repeatedly, this is not acceptable
Ain't no doubt about it
It is absolutely certain
Ain't no doubt about it
It is absolutely certain
Ain't no doubt about it
It is absolutely certain
Ain't no doubt about it
It is absolutely certain
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: WILL YOUNG, TAYO ONILE-ERE, BLAIR BACKICHAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Pacifica Northwest
The fact that this has got barely 600k views is shocking. It still sounds great 16 years later.
t FOOTBALL
amazing , should have millions
Rose Dyson
I absolutely agree!!! Not usually my kind of singer but I love this song and the video and dancing and choir are just brilliant!!! Joe McElderry is doing a George Michael tribute show but if it was Will Young I would be there I reckon he would do a fantastic show!!!!
Liz Freedman
Highly underrated song by Will. One of his best. The video is sublime
Marie Alicia
2020 and I still love this song ♥♥♥
rudik1988
2021 ❤️❤️❤️
Marie Alicia
OMG! I can't believe it's been almost 2 years. And yup 2022 and I still listen to this song 👍
Tracey Pendleton
I always want to start dancing 💃 around my lounge when I watch the video 😛
Harvey Williams
2022
owlis
Will Young made such a good career out of his tv debut. So impressive. Great songs, creative and different, great chap, tons of respect.