| "If Everyone Cared" | ||||||||
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| Single by Nickelback | ||||||||
| from the album All the Right Reasons | ||||||||
| B-side | "Too Bad"/"Someday" | |||||||
| Released | November 28, 2006 (see Release history) |
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| Format | CD single, airplay, digital download | |||||||
| Recorded | 2005 in Abbotsford, BC, Canada | |||||||
| Genre | Alternative rock, post-grunge | |||||||
| Length | 3:38 | |||||||
| Label | Roadrunner EMI Records (Canada) |
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| Writer(s) | Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Mike Kroeger, Daniel Adair[1] | |||||||
| Producer | Nickelback / Joey Moi[1] | |||||||
| Nickelback singles chronology | ||||||||
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"If Everyone Cared" is the title of a song recorded by Canadian rock group Nickelback. It was released in November 2006 as the sixth single from the album All the Right Reasons, and the single released in Australia and the US respectively ("Animals" was only released in Australia and the US, and "Rockstar" only in the UK and U.S.). It was released first in the UK, in 27 November 2006 then in the US in 28 November 2006. The song entered inside the Top 40 on the ARIA Singles Chart on January 7, 2007. The song was then released in most other parts of the world in the beginning of 2007. It debuted at #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late January 2007, and climbed to #17. This makes All the Right Reasons the first Nickelback album to feature more than three top 20 singles in the United States. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Chart. The single cover is similar to The Beatles's Please Please Me album cover.
It was announced that 100% of all digital sales for the song will be donated to the charities of Amnesty International, and the International Children's Awareness Canada.[2] This ties into the theme of the song and video of caring about something to work towards the improvement of human civilization.
It is currently in use on Animal Planet's TV series I'm Alive as the show's theme.
Contents |
The song is bookended by references to a couple's romantic evening. The first of these transitions quickly into the chorus which lays out the message fairly directly. "If everyone cared and nobody cried/If everyone loved and nobody lied./If everyone shared and swallowed their pride/then we'd see the day when nobody died."
This message is left standing by itself until the final verse which gives it context additional meaning when it concludes with the lines "If they could love like you and me/Imagine what the world could be."
The last two lines leave open the possibility that the entire song is a testimony to the strength of the person's love for the unnamed second person (or persons) referred to periodically throughout. There are two types of love expressed in this song: romantic love (love between two persons) and compassionate love (love for all people).
The song was dedicated to a Canadian-based Charity called ICA Canada (or International Children's Awareness Canada), a Charity with 0% administration costs which does a lot of volunteer work building sustainable communities in third-world locations. Revenues generated by the song were donated to ICA Canada.
The music video was directed by Dori Oskowitz, and Produced by Justin Cronkite. Shot in Vancouver, Canada, then returning to Los Angeles for the post production process. It begins with Nickelback in the studio playing the song. Scenes of this are intercut with images and videos of past social justice and human rights events, essentially when an individual "cared" and ended up changing the world. The people shown are Betty Williams, who led a march of 35,000 women to the gravesites of three Northern Irish children after witnessing their deaths, Bob Geldof starting up Live Aid, Peter Benenson igniting what would become known as Amnesty International, and Nelson Mandela leading South Africa to its first democratic election, (which would end the racist apartheid régime that had divided the country for 46 years). The video ends with a quote from Margaret Mead that reads "Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| Australia | November 28, 2006 |
| Europe | December 2006 |
| United States | January 7, 2007 |
| Chart (2006–07) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[3] | 32 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[4] | 12 |
| Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[5] | 7 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[6] | 7 |
| Germany (Media Control AG)[7] | 21 |
| Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[8] | 99 |
| European Hot 100 Singles[9] | 59 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[10] | 19 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[11] | 17 |
| US Pop Songs (Billboard)[12] | 8 |
| US Adult Pop Songs (Billboard)[13] | 1 |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[14] | 17 |
| Year | Chart | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | German Singles Chart [15] | 95 |
Chad Kroeger - lead vocals, lead guitar
Ryan Peake - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Mike Kroeger - bass
Daniel Adair - drums
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