To be fifteen in Britain in 2013 was to have “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams everywhere, Despicable Me 2 on every screen, and The Great British Bake Off on after school. That year, gas cost £1.36/L and the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was the new thing. Born in 1998? You turned 15 in 2013 — a teenager from 2011 to 2017, right in the window a soundtrack bonds to you for life.
Compiled by the Original Lore archive from period charts, box-office and price records. How we build these · sources noted throughout.
Get Lucky — Daft Punk feat. Pharrell WilliamsDaft Punk and Pharrell bottled pure sunshine-funk; you heard that guitar lick and instantly felt lucky to be alive.
Blurred Lines — Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & PharrellInescapable and faintly grubby, it blared from every festival and paddling-pool garden whether you wanted it or not.
Wake Me Up — AviciiFolk banjo colliding with festival EDM, Avicii making thousands of muddy fields feel briefly, gloriously infinite.
La La La — Naughty Boy feat. Sam SmithNaughty Boy's brooding stomp that introduced Sam Smith's voice, huge on car radios and every long summer drive.
Let Her Go — PassengerThe busker-gone-massive one; you only knew you loved her, and quietly worried he meant your first real ex.
That Nile Rodgers guitar and Pharrell's silk vocal were the sound of summer 2013, spilling out of every open car window and back garden. If you were 15 that year it felt effortlessly cool, disco reborn, the soundtrack to the good weather and the long nights.
the year-end #1 was the UK's second best-selling single of 2013.
the movies you are watching in 2013
Despicable Me 2
Les Misérables
Iron Man 3
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Gravity
the tv shows you are binging in 2013
The Great British Bake Off
Broadchurch
Doctor Who (50th anniversary)
The X Factor
Peaky Blinders
the games you are playing in 2013
Grand Theft Auto V
FIFA 14
Minecraft
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
The Last of Us
what things cost in 2013
What things cost in 2013
a litre of petrol
£1.36
a pint of lager
£3.14
a 1st-class stamp
60p
a gallon of gas
£1.36/L
minimum wage
£6.31/hr
a movie ticket
£6.80
the average income
£27,000
trending this year
Dennis Cortés (@cortes on Unsplash), via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (public domain) · CC0 1.0VineAI-generated illustrationSnapchat storiesPhoto by Netflix (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Netflix_(2000).svg · Public domainNetflix binge-watchingPattaya Patrol, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Candy Crush SagaPhoto by Tim.Reckmann (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Google_Glass_Front.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0Google Glass buzz
the gadgets you just got
Vu Hoang (Flickr), via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0PlayStation 4Evan-Amos (Vanamo Media), via Wikimedia Commons, public domainXbox OneDennis Cortés (@cortes on Unsplash), via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (public domain) · CC0 1.0iPhone 5SSamsung Galaxy S4Photo by ROTFLOLEB (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GoProHero3BlackEdition.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0GoPro Hero3
what everyone is snacking on
Photo by Rerrj at English Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greggs_sausage_rolls.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0Greggs sausage rollBananasoldier, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0DoritosPhoto by Hullian111 (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Briggate_Nando%27s,_Leeds_Feb24.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0Nando's cheekyWikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cadbury-Twirl-Split.jpg · Public domainTwirlAI-generated illustrationHaribo Tangfastics
what everyone is drinking
AI-generated illustrationCapri-SunBxxiaolin, edited by Pittigrilli, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Can_of_Monster_Energy_drink_sold_in_China_(0.33_l),_on_white_background.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0Monster EnergyAI-generated illustrationInnocent smoothieAI-generated illustrationRubicon MangoAI-generated illustrationLucozade Energy
what made the news in 2013
Prince George is born, third in line to the throne
Baroness Thatcher, Britain's first female PM, dies aged 87
Fusilier Lee Rigby is murdered on a Woolwich street
Andy Murray becomes the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years
Photo by Maggie Jones (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armed_Metropolitan_Police_with_guns_Outside_the_Lindo_Wing,_St._Mary%27s_Hospital,_Paddington.jpg · Public domainPrince George is born at St Mary's, PaddingtonPhoto by Marion S. Trikosko (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thatcher-loc.jpg · Public domainMargaret Thatcher dies aged 87Photo by Robbie Dale (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AndyMurrayWimbledonTrophyCropped.jpg · CC BY 2.0Andy Murray ends Britain's 77-year wait for a Wimbledon championPhoto by Stephen Craven (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tributes_to_Lee_Rigby_outside_Woolwich_barracks_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3487407.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0Fusilier Lee Rigby murdered in WoolwichPhoto by goodjon (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All_out_of_horse_burgers_-_Tesco_supermarket_-_8_February_2013.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0The horse-meat scandal spreads across supermarket shelves
what everyone is saying
"selfie"Oxford's Word of the Year, taking your own photo
"twerk"the dance that entered the dictionary after Miley's VMAs
"YOLO"you only live once — at its peak in 2013
"bae"before anyone else, the term of endearment of the moment
"cheeky Nando's"the very British ritual that became a meme
