Songfacts®:

• "When We Were Young" finds Architects drummer and lyricist Dan Searle reflecting on growing older. Having reached his mid-30s, he no longer has the naivety of youth where he thought he "had the whole world figured out." Instead, the inevitability of death becomes more pertinent as he gets older, bringing on a defeatist attitude.
  
  But, rather than seeing life as "a losing game," Searle determines on focus on being grateful for his existence.
• Searle said the message behind the song is recognition that we lose our youthful innocence but appreciate our lives more as we get older. "As the world unfolds around us, we can become overwhelmed by its endless complexity," he stated, adding that at 20 he thought he had the whole life thing sorted. Now, he accepts he'll "never understand reality."
  
  So though "fatalism and cynicism" can inch in, Searle is moving his attention towards showing appreciation for being alive and the presence of his loved ones.
• Architects wrote "When We Were Young" themselves. Dan Searle co-produced the track with guitarist Josh Middleton.
• The band released the thumping song on April 20, 2022, their first new material since their UK chart-topping album For Those That Wish to Exist.
• Dan Searle directed the video, which sees perform the track in the center of a rotating camera rig.