Five reasons why Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky' is song of the year

THE French house music duo Daft Punk’s main claim to fame used to be the metallic robot helmets they wore in their videos. Now Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo are certified international pop stars thanks to a song, Get Lucky, that has gone to No. 1 in more than 50 countries including the UK. Here are five reasons Get Lucky is the sound of the summer and most likely the year:

It features Nile Rodgers on guitar: The “infectious guitar riff” at the heart of Get Lucky is played by Rodgers, the 60-year-old guitarist from US disco-funk pioneers, Chic. Rodgers told The Observer he’s thrilled to be back in the charts. “It's like the summer of ‘78 has been duplicated,” he said in a reference to the year Chic released its big hit, Le Freak.

Guest vocalist Pharrell Williams sang Get Lucky three times in a row in New York: R&B artist Williams, who performs the falsetto vocal on Get Lucky, sang the song live for the first time at a gig in New York on 19 April. He liked the feeling so much he promptly sang it again two more times back-to-back. "Man, these guys [Daft Punk] that made this record, they're like so far beyond their time,” Williams told the audience.

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It appeals to several generations: The airy, retro funk grooves of Get Lucky make it that rare thing: a pop record that appeals to hipsters, their parents and their uncle Dave. “The song has a sort of all-encompassing timelessness to it – the sort of song that could work in a club and at a wedding reception (seriously, imagine uncle Dave getting down to this),” says The Guardian.

It's breaking records: When Get Lucky was released on 19 April it was streamed more times in a single day on the online music service Spotify than any previous single. The song went to No. 3 in the UK singles chart just 48 hours after going on sale and has now spent several weeks at No. 1.

There’s a version featuring goats … and it’s not bad: The mark of a truly great song is one that can incorporate the bleating of goats and still sound good. Adding goats to pop songs is a popular internet meme, but Get Lucky survives the transition far better than most recordings.