"100 Years" is a song written and recorded by American recording artist Five for Fighting (John Ondrasik). It was released in November 2003 as the first single from the album The Battle for Everything.
The music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy and premiered in January 10, 2004. It placed at number 30 on VH1's Top 40 Music Video Countdown of 2004, spending 18 weeks on VH1's weekly Top 20 countdown. In the video, images of Ondrasik singing and playing the song at the piano are intercut with fictional, idealized versions of himself as a fifteen-year-old boy, a man in his middle forties, and a ninety-nine-year-old man, reflecting the song's lyrics. At the end of the song, Ondrasik meets his older self.
In December 2004, on the Billboard end-of-the-year music chart, "100 Years" was ranked at number 77 for the year, though it peaked at number twenty-eight. "100 Years" was also the longest running number-one single of the year on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, staying at number-one for 12 non consecutive weeks.
100 Years is a film starring John Malkovich and directed by Robert Rodriguez that is due to be released on 18 November 2115.
Vladimir John Ondrasik III (born January 7, 1965), known by his stage name Five for Fighting, is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known for his piano-based rock, such as the Top 40 hits "Superman (It's Not Easy)" (2001), "100 Years" (2003) and "The Riddle" (2006).
Ondrasik was born in Los Angeles, a child of a musical family. In his early years, Ondrasik learned the piano, and in his teens he learned to play the guitar and started to write music. While he also learned to sing opera briefly, he soon decided that he would like to be a singer/songwriter. Ondrasik graduated from UCLA with a degree in applied science and mathematics. While in college he continued to pursue music in his spare time. He adopted the name "Five for Fighting", an ice hockey term that means a five-minute major penalty for participating in a fight. Ondrasik is a lifelong fan of the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings.
Ondrasik's first album, Message for Albert, was released by EMI in 1997. Capitol Records then re-released this album after the success of America Town.
The sun is warm as the day is long
Just got the feeling I can do no wrong
Got a long way to walk can't afford my next meal,
I tell a few lies, but my hunger is real and it...
Chorus:
won't mean thing in 100 years
no it won't mean a thing in 100 years
Mademoiselle tell me do you play
well if she shakes her head well
then that's OK
I watch her walk away in haste
there's just no accounting for
some people's taste
and it...
Chorus
Big angry men in the doorway there
Just keep on walking like I don't care
Why you giving such an evil eye
could it be you were ignored by
every passerby
and it...
Chorus
Play in the park for tobacco and food
then I excuse myself but they think I'm rude
Tourist don't want me to end his show
but this colorful attraction got
place to go
and it...
Chorus
Sit at the pier watch the sun go down
Another lost little boy in a big old town
I want to laugh, I want to cry
but no matter how hard I may try