Second Chance (Shinedown song)

"Second Chance" is a song by American hard rock band Shinedown and the second single from their 2008 album, The Sound of Madness. However, the song is not included on the UK release of The Sound of Madness. It was released on September 9, 2008 and has become Shinedown's most successful single.

Ironically the song "that broke into everything" was one the band hated when they first wrote it.^[1]

The song has been used in promotion for the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and the 2008 WWE Tribute to the Troops show. In May 2009, "Second Chance" was used in a promo regarding the return of character Michael Corinthos on ABC's daytime drama General Hospital. It was released on DLC as part of a 3-song pack on Guitar Hero 5.

Two versions exist -- a rock version, which is the album version, and a pop version (notably played on Sirius XM Radio's adult top 40-formatted The Pulse satellite radio channel), which is a remix, although the harder guitars start in the second verse in the song rather than at the second half of the first verse.

Song meaning / music video

At Pointfest 22, lead singer Brent Smith told the audience;^[2]

"It's important for you to hear this... When I grew up, everyone was okay with being in a bubble. They were cool in their circle. That's fine. But no one should discourage someone if they have a dream, if they want something more [...] This song was difficult for me to write the lyrics to because it's about my mother and my father, and about the day I said goodbye to them, because I had to go try, and I'm still trying, every day, to become a man. So, this song is about that. It's about the moment that you wake up and you decide you want to go for every single dream you ever want."

—Brent Smith, Pointfest 22

The official music video for the song premiered on January 8, 2009 on MSN Music. It starts with a teenage girl sitting on a bench at night, and lead singer Brent Smith in the background. It shows that she has a job helping a fisherman. She also has a boyfriend. She aspires to be a ballerina, and wants to go to a dance school. She is seen dancing in her garage a few times in the music video. However, her family is somewhat dysfunctional, with her parents shown fighting all the time. She looks out for her younger brother, and often takes care of him. When she asks her mother for permission to go to the school one day, her mother immediately refuses, showing her bills, and shouting at her. The girl thinks about all the things in her life that make her happy, and decides to run away to attend the school. She leaves a note for her parents, and she looks in on her younger brother asleep, before leaving the house. She then goes to the bench where the music video began, bringing the music video to full circle. When her parents read the note, it makes them realize that they didn't make the best choices in raising her, but they have a second chance by choosing to let her go.

Lead singer, Brent Smith, is shown singing alone on a hill throughout the video, and the girl is shown practicing her dancing in the garage frequently. At the end of the video, the girl gets on a bus, where Brent Smith and the other members of the band are riding on as well.

The video was shot on Anna Maria Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It was shot at various locations on the Island, including Periwinkle Plaza in Anna Maria, the Silver Surf resort in Bradenton Beach and the Star Fish Company in Cortez. The video stars a couple of local people; the girl is played by Alanna Massey, of nearby Parrish FL, and the little brother is William Bernet who lives across the street from Corky and Brenda Parker’s house whose home is featured as the girl's home in the video.^[3]

Chart performance

"Second Chance" is, by far, Shinedown's biggest hit to date. It has reached #1 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, Hot Modern Rock Tracks, and Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks charts (their first #1 on this chart), making it the band's first song to top multiple charts. It is only the third song to top all three of those charts, the other two being "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day. On the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at #7, making it not only their first top-40 single to date ("I Dare You" was their first Hot 100 single in 2006), but also their first top-10 single. It's also their debut single on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, debuting at #29. On Mainstream Top 40 radio, the song has done exceptionally well for a rock song, peaking within the top three there at #3. It is their first charting single on the Canadian Hot 100 as well, so far peaking at #32.

Overall, "Second Chance" is Shinedown's third of six singles to top the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart to date, having spent 10 weeks at #1 beginning December 27, 2008. On the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, it is their only #1 single to date, having spent three non-consecutive weeks at #1 beginning February 14, 2009.

On March 29, 2009, "Second Chance" debuted at #20 on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown, becoming their first video to ever debut on the show, and on May 16, "Second Chance" hit #1; Brent & Barry, the guests on the show at the time, introduced it themselves. It was later #1 a second time on June 20.

"Second Chance" is also the band's first song to chart internationally, reaching #19 thus far on the Australian ARIA Charts, and #32 on the New Zealand RIANZ charts. It has also charted at #53 on the German Singles Chart. In Austria the song has reached the top twenty at #13.

"Second Chance" is also notable for being the final song the legendary disc jockey Casey Kasem played before signing off the air for the final time.

In addition to chart success, "Second Chance" has been certified Platinum by the RIAA – Shinedown's first single to achieve any certification.^[4]

"Second Chance" has since been certified 2x platinum by the RIAA

Charts

Year-end charts

References