“I Ain’t Worried” by OneRepublic

OneRepublic’s “I Ain’t Worried” was written with the plot of a certain movie in mind. More specifically, it was composed for a scene therein in which the characters in the film are chillin’ on a beach. As indicated by the title, a sentiment of relaxation is also the one which is meant to define this track.

That noted, some of the lyrics presented here are pretty deep – for lack of a better word. And contrary to how such songs usually go, they aren’t so much about partying as they are centered on adopting a mindstate where positivity thinking is preferred over the reality of the situation, in a manner of speaking. 

In other words, the vocalist does acknowledge that he is surrounded by “problems”. He even likens his current circumstances to being in a “flood”. But instead of ‘worrying about it right now’, he has rather opted to be positive. And does so by keeping ‘dreams alive’ and relishing the present moment under the further acknowledgment that “time is running out”. He therefore encourages us to enjoy life while the opportunity is ripe, so to speak.

So conclusively, it’s almost as if this song is optimistic and pessimistic at the same time. The vocalist seems to understand that thinking positively is not going to physically alter a less-than-ideal reality. But on the other side of the coin, it can also be said that with such an understanding in mind, then it also wouldn’t be profitable to harp on the negative.

Release of “I Ain’t Worried”

This song is from the soundtrack of Top Gun: Maverick – the long-awaited sequel to the original Top Gun (1986) – which proved to be one of the biggest hit movies of 2022. More specifically “I Ain’t Worried” was issued as the second single from that soundtrack. The song’s release was made possible via Interscope Records on 13 May 2022.

Credits

Concurrently there are six members of OneRepublic, with two of them, vocalist Ryan Tedder and bassist Brent Kutzle, getting writing and production credit for this song. 

Tyler Spry, a regular collaborator of the band, is also credited in both regards. Meanwhile, “I Ain’t Worried” was further co-produced by Simon Oscroft and co-written by the below:

• John Eriksson
• Björn Yttling
• Peter Morén

The aforenoted Yttling and Morén are actually the writers of “Young Folks”, a 2006 song that is sampled into “I Ain’t Worried”.

Success

This song was a major critical success internationally. It was so successful that it charted in 30 countries overall. Indeed “I Ain’t Worried” proved to be sort of a comeback song for OneRepublic, marking their biggest hit since the mid-2010s. 

And with that said, this track also scored within the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart. As if that wasn’t enough, it appeared on four different Billboard lists stateside and has been certified gold in Canada and New Zealand. The song also reached number one on what is known as the UK Official Trending Chart.

Some More Interesting Facts about “I Ain’t Worried”

This tune was written specifically for Top Gun: Maverick. It was actually granted the hard-earned approval of Tom Cruise himself before making it onto the soundtrack.

Copeland Tedder, as in Ryan Tedder’s (currently) 12 year old son, provided background vocals to the track.

“I Ain’t Worried” was recorded in Budapest during November of 2021. 

The first time OneRepublic performed it live was a few months later, in May of 2022. This performance took place when the band appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The music video to this piece was directed by an American filmographer Isaac Rentz.