Songfacts®:

• This folk-dance number features uncredited vocals by Nicholas "RAS" Furlong. The American songwriter and producer's first commercial success was in 2010, when he co-wrote Big Time Rush's "Count On You." He came to the attention of well-known songwriter, producer, and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, who signed him to a publishing deal that year. Since then, Furlong has worked with such artists as Colbie Caillat ("All of You"), Jordin Sparks ("I Am Woman") and 5 Seconds of Summer ("Everything I Didn't Say").
• This ode to living life began as a Furlong song written as an ode to his father, whom he told Yahoo had always encouraged him to pursue his creative dream and 'live a life I will remember." Furlong sent the original demo, titled "My Father Told Me," to Ash Pournouri, Avicii's manager, who recognized it had that same sense of euphoria which characterizes so much of the Swedish DJ's music. "It made absolute sense to work on it with RAS," Pournouri said, "to make it more 'us' and that's what I did. Then I presented it to Tim (Avicii) and sat with him to finish the production and music."
• The video was produced, directed by, and stars "professional life liver" Rory Kramer (Dream Maker). The clip takes the track's message to heart by containing an action-packed recollection of Kramer's own life. Avicii said: "The video for 'The Nights' is awesome…it is EXACTLY what I feel when I play the song live and it is the perfect representation of the lyrics. It is so much fun."
• The song was used to soundtrack SportsCenter's "Images of 2014" segment on ESPN, which recapped 2014's best moments in sports.