You Only Live Once (song)

You Only Live Once (song)

"You Only Live Once" is the opening track and third single from First Impressions of Earth, the third album from American rock band The Strokes. They have performed this song on several programs, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

A cover of Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me" was recorded as a B-side and features Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam sharing vocals with Julian Casablancas, while Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures and Eagles of Death Metal) plays drums alongside Fabrizio Moretti.

When the song was released as a single, The Strokes launched Operation You Only Live Once prompting all of their fans to call and request the single on radio stations. Their goal was to try to get out the word of the new single as fast as possible, by spreading the song by word of mouth. The Strokes Myspace page asked all users to put the song in their profile in an attempt to spread the single among the online community.