To be fifteen in Britain in 2014 was to have “Happy” by Pharrell Williams everywhere, The Lego Movie on every screen, and The Great British Bake Off on after school. That year, gas cost £1.28/L and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge flooding your timeline was the new thing. Born in 1999? You turned 15 in 2014 — a teenager from 2012 to 2018, 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.
Happy — Pharrell WilliamsPharrell demanding you clap along, that impossibly relentless cheer papering over every teenage worry for four sunlit minutes.
Rather Be — Clean Bandit feat. Jess GlynneStrings, house beat and Jess Glynne's breakout, the sound of coach trips and the sea and being seventeen.
All of Me — John LegendJohn Legend's every curve, sobbed at every wedding first dance and slow-danced to at every leavers' ball.
Waves — Mr. ProbzThat woozy deep-house drift that felt like watching the tide go out on a summer you didn't want to end.
Ghost — Ella HendersonElla Henderson's ghost of an old flame, big-voiced heartbreak that turned every X Factor Saturday into a good cry.
You could not escape it in 2014, and you didn't want to. Pharrell's clap-along, that ridiculous hat, the 24-hour video — it was the sound of assemblies, wedding discos and school corridors, a daft, unstoppable burst of joy that pinned that whole optimistic year in place.
the year-end #1 was the UK's best-selling single of 2014.
the movies you are watching in 2014
The Lego Movie
The Inbetweeners 2
Guardians of the Galaxy
Paddington
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
the tv shows you are binging in 2014
The Great British Bake Off
Sherlock
The X Factor
Gogglebox
Peaky Blinders
the games you are playing in 2014
FIFA 15
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Minecraft
Grand Theft Auto V
Destiny
Dark Souls II
what things cost in 2014
What things cost in 2014
a litre of petrol
£1.28
a pint of lager
£3.19
a 1st-class stamp
62p
a gallon of gas
£1.28/L
minimum wage
£6.50/hr
a movie ticket
£7.00
the average income
£27,200
trending this year
Photo by slgckgc (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doing_the_ALS_Ice_Bucket_Challenge_(14927191426).jpg · CC BY 2.0The Ice Bucket ChallengePhoto by Mybloodtypeiscoffee (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple-payment-square.jpg · CC BY 4.0Apple Pay (unveiled)AI-generated illustrationAmazon Prime videoPhoto by daveynin (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flappy_Bird_arcade_game_(32956457128).jpg · CC BY 2.02048 and Flappy BirdWikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Logo-Tinder.svg · Public domainTinder taking off
the gadgets you just got
Photo by Beamish4 (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_iPhone_6_(Gold)_-_Front.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0iPhone 6Vu Hoang (Flickr), via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0PlayStation 4Photo by bfishadow (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amazon_Echo_(49383182891).jpg · CC BY 2.0Amazon Echo (unveiled)Photo by MorePix (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fitibit_Flex.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0FitbitPhoto by thomersch (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_Watch_Sport.jpg · CC BY 4.0Apple Watch (revealed)
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 rollAI-generated illustrationPom-BearPhoto by Tiia Monto (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kinder_Bueno.png · CC BY-SA 4.0Kinder BuenoPhoto by cumi&ciki (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cronut.jpg · CC BY 2.0Cronut / cruffin crazeAI-generated illustrationNakd bar
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 illustrationRubiconAI-generated illustrationCloudy lemonadeAI-generated illustrationLucozade Sport
what made the news in 2014
Scotland votes No to independence in a record-turnout referendum
The Tour de France's Grand Départ starts in Yorkshire
888,246 ceramic poppies fill the Tower of London moat
England crash out of the World Cup in the group stage in Brazil
Photo by Brian McNeil (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scottish_IndyRef_2014_07.jpg · CC BY 3.0Scotland votes No to independencePhoto by Oast House Archive (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tower_of_London_Poppies,_Blood_Swept_Lands_and_Seas_of_Red_-_geograph.org.uk_-_4119720.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0Ceramic poppies fill the Tower of London moatPhoto by Winniepix (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tour_de_France_-_chasing_to_catch_the_peloton_(14610980363).jpg · CC BY 2.0The Tour de France's Grand Départ launches from YorkshirePhoto by Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz (Mariordo) (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CRI_ENG_24_06_2014_9651.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0England exit the Brazil World Cup at the group stagePhoto by slgckgc (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doing_the_ALS_Ice_Bucket_Challenge_(14927191426).jpg · CC BY 2.0The Ice Bucket Challenge sweeps social media
what everyone is saying
"vape"Oxford's Word of the Year as e-cigarettes boomed
"bae"before anyone else, still the term of endearment of the year
"on fleek"perfectly on point, the year's compliment
"basic"the withering put-down for the unoriginal
"banter (bantz)"the very British obsession with having a laugh
