"Viva Forever" is a song by English girl group the Spice Girls from their second studio album, Spiceworld (1997). The song was co-written by the group with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, while production was handled by the latter two. It is a pop ballad with Spanish-style elements. The song's theme is about a summer romance during a holiday vacation, as the lyrics discuss recent experiences and memories. It was released as the album's fourth and final single on 10 July 1998 by Virgin Records. The single's commercial release was delayed several times and was poorly promoted, being affected by Halliwell's departure and the subsequent continuation of the Spiceworld Tour by the remaining members. The song received mixed reviews from music critics, obtaining divisive opinions for its production and garnering comparisons with Madonna's early work. Despite the lukewarm critical reception, the song was a commercial success. It debuted atop the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's seventh number-one single in the United Kingdom and staying at the position for two weeks. It has since been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The song was also successful on the music charts in the rest of Europe, as well as Canada and Oceania. An accompanying music video, directed by Steve Box, features stop motion animation of the group as fairies, and it took five months to be completed. The video was commissioned months before Halliwell's departure and as such, she is featured in it and on the accompanying artwork. Background In May 1997, the Spice Girls went on a promotional visit to the Cannes Film Festival in the south of France, where they announced their then-upcoming movie Spice World (1997). The group began shooting scenes for the movie in June. Meanwhile, Virgin Records started the first marketing meetings for the promotional campaign for their second album Spiceworld, which was set to be released in November 1997. No song had been written for the album at this point, so the Spice Girls had to do all the songwriting and recording at the same time as they were shooting the movie. Between takes and at the end of each filming day, the group usually went straight into a mobile recording studio set up in a Winnebago, which followed them between film sets. Their schedule was physically arduous with logistical difficulties, as Melanie Brown commented in her autobiography: "doing the two full-time jobs