Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Composition

"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" features a robotic vocal performance by Daft Punk. As mentioned in the Discovery liner notes, "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" contains a sample of "Cola Bottle Baby" by Edwin Birdsong.

A live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was recorded at Bercy in Paris from 14 June 2007. It was released as a digital 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.

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 later performed live at the 2008 Grammy Awards with Daft Punk in their trademark pyramid while West was on stage rapping. Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo clarified that "Stronger" was "not a collaboration in the studio, but the vibe of the music we do separately connected in what [West] 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."

Music video

The animated music video for "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was produced by Daft Punk and directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi, a veteran director for Toei Animation, under the supervision of Leiji Matsumoto. It features the four characters shown on the single cover in a vast electronic facility. The victims are transformed by various machines to resemble humans. 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. 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.

"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is featured in a popular YouTube video titled "Daft Hands", which later appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The video was ranked among the top viewed YouTube videos in the "All Time" category. "Daft Hands" was referenced in Weezer's "Pork and Beans" music video along with the variant "Daft Bodies" and multiple other Internet viral videos.

Track listing

1. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (album version) – 3:43
2. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (Breakers Break remix) – 4:38
3. Remixed and edited by Dominique Torti
4. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (The Neptunes remix) – 5:12
5. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (Pete Heller's stylus mix) – 9:14

Alive 2007 digital single track listing

1. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (Alive 2007) – radio edit
2. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (Alive 2007) – extended
3. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (Alive 2007) – video

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. 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.