"Anything" is a song recorded by Canadian pop rock band Hedley for their fifth studio album, Wild Life (2013). The song was written and produced by Jacob Hoggard and Brian Howes, with additional writing by Jason Van Poederooyen. It was released to Canadian radio on August 19, 2013, through Universal Music Canada as the album's lead single. "Anything" was serviced to alternative radio in the US through Capitol Records in November 2013 as the band's fifth American single.
Upon release, "Anything" was met with mixed reviews from music critics, but performed well commercially. The song peaked at number 5 on the Canadian Hot 100 and reached the top 10 on three national airplay charts. It also charted at 18 in New Zealand. In September 2016, "Anything" was certified 4× Platinum by Music Canada, making it the band's fastest and best-selling single to date. The group performed the song at the 2013 Grey Cup half-time show.
Composition "Anything" is a pop song composed in the key of G and set to a BPM of 76. Building on the motivational themes of earlier Hedley singles like "Invincible" and "One Life", its lyrics convey a message of resilience and self-belief, encouraging listeners to pursue their goals regardless of societal pressure. The song's bridge features a quote from Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky: "You miss a hundred percent of the shots you never take."
Critical reception Emma Garland at Alter The Press! gave the song a mixed review, feeling that although "Anything" is "insanely catchy", the "uh-uh, fuck that" hook is "awkward" and "quickly gets irritating". Philip Lickley at UK music blog All-Noise described the song as "a stadium-friendly chanting song... with a strong message" that "screams out for radio play", and rated it a 7 out of 10. The single was nominated for two awards at the 2014 Juno Awards: Video of the Year and Producer of the Year.
Music video The music video for "Anything" was directed by JP Poliquin and was shot at The Great Hall in Toronto, Ontario. It premiered on the band's VEVO channel on September 10, 2013. Speaking about the video, Hoggard stated, "In the spirt of the concept of the song, we were like, 'Hang on, f--k, this, let's just do whatever the f--k we want. I think that would almost be the truest form of expressing the sentimentality of that song in video form.'"
Awards and nominations +Awards and nominations for "Anything" Year Organization Award Result Ref(s)2014MuchMusic Video Awards Video of the Year Director of the Year Pop Video of the Year Your Fave Video of the Year 2014 Juno Awards Video of the Year Producer of the Year 2014 SOCAN Awards No. 1 Song Award
Track listings
Charts
Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for "Anything" Chart (2013–14) Peak position Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 5 Canada AC (Billboard) 6 Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard) 6 Canada Hot AC (Billboard) 5
Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for "Anything"Chart (2013)Position Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 68Chart (2014)Position Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 42 Canada AC (Billboard) 37
Certifications
Release history + Release dates and formats for "Anything" Region Date Format Label Canada August 19, 2013 Radio airplay Universal Music Canada September 17, 2013 Digital download Worldwide November 12, 2013 Capitol Records United States November 18, 2013 Alternative radio December 3, 2013 Digital extended play United Kingdom June 2, 2014 CD single Universal Music Canada
References