ht ag ▁# west l if el ighth ouse ▁became ▁a ▁tr ending ▁topic ▁world wide ▁on ▁Twitter . ▁An ▁official ▁ 9 0 - second ▁official ▁preview ▁of ▁the ▁song ▁was ▁released ▁via ▁Sound Cloud ▁on ▁ 4 ▁October ▁ 2 0 1 1 . ▁On ▁ 7 ▁October ▁ 2 0 1 1 , ▁the ▁single ' s ▁art work ▁was ▁un ve iled ▁by ▁the ▁band ' s ▁official ▁website . ▁On ▁ 1 4 ▁October ▁ 2 0 1 1 , ▁they ▁launched ▁a ▁new ▁pre - order ▁system ▁for ▁the ▁single ▁by ▁text ing ▁' West life ' ▁to ▁ 8 0 1 1 5 . ▁This ▁service ▁is ▁only ▁open ▁to ▁users ▁in ▁England ▁and ▁is ▁not ▁compatible ▁with ▁Apple ▁iPhone ▁hand sets . ▁The ▁full , ▁high ▁quality ▁radio ▁edit ▁of ▁the ▁song ▁was ▁posted ▁on ▁their ▁YouTube ▁site ▁on ▁ 1 0 ▁October ▁ 2 0 1 1 . ▁The ▁pre - order ▁service ▁was ▁released ▁on ▁ 2 3 ▁October ▁ 2 0 1 1 . ▁ ▁Crit ical ▁reception ▁Robert ▁Cop sey ▁of ▁Digital ▁Sp y ▁claimed : ▁" E ar lier ▁today , ▁your ▁trust y ▁Digital ▁Sp y ▁music ▁scri bes ▁were ▁played ▁the ▁new ▁West life ▁single , ▁' L ighth ouse ', ▁in ▁full , ▁three ▁times ▁over , ▁and ▁at ▁a ▁perfectly ▁respect able ▁volume . ▁The ▁song ▁is ▁about ▁how ▁their ▁partners ▁have ▁stuck ▁by ▁them ▁through ▁the ▁difficult ▁times ▁and ▁now ▁they ▁want ▁to ▁sett le