As 3 Doorways Down as soon as sang, “tonight, girl, it’s only you and me…” plus a billion others. The video for the group’s hit single “Here Without You” has reached one billion YouTube views simply over 20 years after its 2003 launch.
The video for the facility ballad retains issues fairly easy; after opening with a shot of what seems to be a break-up, we observe the band to their studio coated in previous images and letters. We then watch the songwriting journey unfold from brainstorming, to training, to recording alongside an orchestra.
Lead singer Brad Arnold has shared that the principle inspiration for the tune was his relationship along with his ex-wife. As he instructed Songfacts: “The song’s about being away from someone, or missing them. And it really doesn’t matter if you’re here without them all day or all month. It’s about the loneliness and missing of somebody. In a way, people take that as a little bit of a sad song, and I kind of meant it as a happy song, because… she’s still with me in my dreams… being in a state of peace, because you’ve got that person there with you in your sleep. In that way I kind of meant for it to be a little bit of a happy song.”
“Here Without You” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 in November 2003, turning into the band’s third high 10 hit. As of December 2024, the only was licensed six-times platinum by the RIAA.
The tune’s success was partly helped by its reputation amongst members of the U.S. navy throughout the Iraq Struggle. Arnold commented on the connection, sharing that the sentiments expressed within the tune have been one thing he believed “a lot of people can identify with, whether they’re apart for eight hours or eight months while (someone) is away overseas.”
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