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"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"
Single by Daft Punk
from the album Discovery
Released	13 October 2001 (2001-10-13)
Genre	French house
Length	3:45
Label	Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Thomas Bangalter Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo Edwin Birdsong
Producer(s)	Daft Punk
Daft Punk singles chronology
"Digital Love" (2001) "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (2001) "Face to Face" (2003)
Audio sample
Daft Punk – "Harder Better Faster Stronger" (album version) file help
Music video
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" on YouTube

"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)"
Single by Daft Punk
from the album Alive 2007
Released	15 October 2007
Recorded	14 June 2007
Genre	House
Length	4:43
Label	Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Thomas Bangalter Edwin Birdsong Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
Producer(s)	Daft Punk
Daft Punk singles chronology
"The Prime Time of Your Life" (2006) "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)" (2007) "Derezzed" (2010)
Music video
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)" on YouTube

"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is a song by French duo Daft Punk, released on 13 October 2001 as the fourth single from their second studio album Discovery. A live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was released as a single from the album Alive 2007 on 15 October 2007. This version won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2009. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 132 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

Composition

"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is built around a "bouncy" keyboard riff sampled from the 1979 track "Cola Bottle Baby" by the funk musician Edwin Birdsong. In 2016, Birdsong said: "I recorded 30 years ago, and here come some guys from France. I asked them, 'Where did you find the music?' And they said, 'I was going through bins and it popped out.' ... I'm blessed and I continue to be blessed by opening my arms to God every day." The track also features vocoded vocals. It is set in the key of F♯ minor.

Reception

In 2016, Daniel Jeakins wrote for HuffPost: "For all the gifts electronic deities Daft Punk have bestowed upon pop music, no track feels quite as iconic or ingenious as 'Harder Better Faster Stronger' ... Fifteen years on from its release and it’s hard to think of a dance track that’s as prominent in popular culture or influential to modern electronic music." In 2021, Billboard ranked the song number two on its list of the 20 greatest Daft Punk songs.

Music video

The animated music video for "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was produced by Daft Punk and directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi, director for Toei Animation, under the supervision of Leiji Matsumoto. It features the four alien characters shown on the single cover in a vast electronic facility. There, they are cosmetically changed by various machines to resemble humans, and have their memories replaced. The video was first released as an individual episode in promotion for the single release. It later appeared as a scene in the feature film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem.

A music video for the live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was directed by Olivier Gondry. It contains footage shot by the audience on 250 cameras at Daft Punk's Brooklyn performance in KeySpan Park (now called Maimonides Park) in Coney Island. The video was inspired by the Beastie Boys concert film Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!. The video had its world premiere online on 26 October 2007, at Webcastr.

Live performances

A live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was recorded at Bercy in Paris from 14 June 2007. It was released as a download single on 15 October 2007, for the live album Alive 2007. The track also contains a part of the "Television Rules the Nation / Crescendolls" segment of the Bercy performance that features elements of the songs "Around the World", "Steam Machine", "Television Rules the Nation". This version of the song won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Grammy Awards.

Other versions

Diplo released a remix of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" titled "Work Is Never Over". It appeared in his compilation album Decent Work for Decent Pay. The title of the song was also parodied in an episode of The Cleveland Show called '"Harder, Better, Faster, Browner", which was a part of season two. Neil Cicierega used the "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" instrumental, along with Smash Mouth's songs "Walkin' on the Sun" and "All Star", for the mashup "Daft Mouth" as part of Cicierega's Mouth Sounds album.

Philippe Uminski of the band Circus released a cover version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" in 2004. Mike Tompkins released an a cappella version of the song in May 2012.

Kanye West's song "Stronger" from the album Graduation prominently features a sample of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". Two actors who wore the robotic Daft Punk costumes in the film Daft Punk's Electroma appear in the music video for "Stronger". It was performed live at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards with Daft Punk in their trademark pyramid while West was on stage rapping. Daft Punk member Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo said that "Stronger" was "not a collaboration in the studio, but the vibe of the music we do separately connected in what did with the song". He later clarified that the live version was "truly a collaboration from the start. We really did it all hand in hand."

Norwegian YouTube singer Per Fredrik Pellek Asly, or "PelleK", released a power metal version of the song in July 2013. Steam Powered Giraffe covered the song in May 2014.

Usage in media

"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is featured in the 2007 YouTube viral video Daft Hands, which shows a pair of hands moving to reveal each word of the song's lyrics. The video was performed by Austin Hall, who later appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In 2010, Time magazine included Daft Hands in a list of "YouTube's 50 Best Videos". The video inspired numerous remakes including the variant Daft Bodies; both videos, along with other viral videos, were referenced in Weezer's "Pork and Beans" music video. It also appeared in the trailers for Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and the 2025 film adaptation of Dog Man.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

References

1. ^ Live Album To Chronicle Daft Punk Tour Archived 21 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine Billboard.com. Retrieved on 17 August 2007.
2. ^ Daft Punk's official YouTube channel's channel on YouTube. Retrieved on 13 October 2007.
3. "150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years". NME.COM. 6 October 2011. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
4. ^ Savage, Mark (23 January 2019). "Funk musician sampled by Daft Punk dies". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
5. ^ "Harder Better Faster Stronger: The Song That Proved Daft Punk's Genius | HuffPost UK". 23 June 2017. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
6. Thomas, Bangalter; Edwin, Birdsong; Punk, Daft (18 February 2014). "Harder Better Faster Stronger". Musicnotes.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
7. Bein, Kat (22 February 2021). "Daft Punk's Best Songs (Updated 2021)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
8. webcastr.com - Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger Archived 2007-12-08 at the Wayback Machine
9. Daft Punk Alive 2007 Archived 6 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine ilikemusic.com. Retrieved on 14 October 2007.
10. MTV News Staff (8 February 2009). "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
11. Uminski - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger Archived 9 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine - YouTube
12. "Harder Better Faster Stronger - Daft Punk - Mike Tompkins - A Capella Cover". YouTube. 22 May 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
13. Daft Punk Make Surprise Grammy Appearance with Kanye West Archived 2016-04-02 at the Wayback Machine nme.com. Retrieved on 10 February 2008.
14. Cohen, Jonathan (14 August 2007). "Exclusive: Live Album to Chronicle Daft Punk Tour". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on 21 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
15. Blurt, "Encounters of the Daft Kind" Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine (September 2008) pgs. 28-29. Retrieved on July 26, 2009.
16. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Metal Cover)". YouTube. 10 July 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
17. "Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Cover by Steam Powered Giraffe)". YouTube. 13 May 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
18. "Daft Hands" video on YouTube. Retrieved on 1 December 2007.
19. "The 100 Greatest YouTube Videos of All Time, Ranked". Thrillist. 14 June 2018. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
20. ^ Cole, Samantha (23 February 2021). "'Daft Bodies' Was TikTok Before Trend Dances Were a Thing". Vice Motherboard. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
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30. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
31. "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved Jan 23, 2020.
32. "Daft Punk Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
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External links

• Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger at Discogs

• 2001 singles
• 2001 songs
• 2007 singles
• Animated music videos
• Daft Punk songs
• Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording
• Live singles
• Songs written by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
• Songs written by Thomas Bangalter
• Virgin Records singles