| "Meant to Live" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Switchfoot | ||||
| from the album The Beautiful Letdown and Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man 2 | ||||
| Released | July 28, 2003 | |||
| Format | CD | |||
| Recorded | 2002 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 3:25 | |||
| Label | Columbia/Sony BMG | |||
| Writer(s) | Jon Foreman Tim Foreman |
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| Producer | John Fields | |||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA)[1] | |||
| Switchfoot singles chronology | ||||
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"Meant to Live" is a single by alternative rock band Switchfoot. It peaked at #5 on the US Modern Rock chart, #6 on U.S. Top 40 radio, and #18 on the U.S. Hot 100. It is the first track on the group's 2003 major-label debut album The Beautiful Letdown, and was also featured in a UK version of a Spider-Man 2 "inspired by" album. In April 2005, the song was certified gold in the United States.[1] The single is generally regarded as the song that helped the band achieve mainstream success.
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Lyrically this song was inspired by T. S. Eliot's poem "The Hollow Men." About the song, singer/writer Jon Foreman has said, "Maybe the kid in the song is me, hoping that I'm meant for more than arguments and failed attempts to fly. Something deep inside of me yearns for the beautiful, the true. I want more than what I've been sold; I want to live life."[2] According to Foreman, this song was also inspired by U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."[3]
This track refers to C.S. Lewis's novel "Out of the Silent Planet" with the lyric "Maybe we're bent and broken."
It also refers to John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, in the lyric "Dreaming about Providence and whether mice or men have second tries."
The song is well known for its main guitar riff, positive lyrics and overall heavy aggressive sound.
There were three music videos made for this song. The first video features live performance footage, the second is a concept video depicting the band playing inside a house while the walls and insides are slowly being torn down, and a third video is mixed into clips from Spider-Man 2, and was released exclusively in the UK.
The first two videos featured audio mixed a key higher than the album version.
This song was also released on a 7" vinyl record. On the B-side is the song "Monday Comes Around," which was cut from The Beautiful Letdown and is otherwise an unreleased song.
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 52 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 18 |
| US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 5 |
| US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 6 |
| US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 36 |
| US Billboard Pop 100 | 5 |
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
| Dutch Singles Chart[4] | 92 |
| UK Singles Chart[5] | 29 |
In 2005, the song was nominated for a Dove Awards for Song of the Year at the 36th GMA Dove Awards.[6]
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