"Hanging by a Moment" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Lifehouse | ||||
from the album No Name Face | ||||
B-side |
| |||
Released | September 9, 2000 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:36 | |||
Label | DreamWorks Nashville | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jason Wade | |||
Producer(s) | Ron Aniello | |||
Lifehouse singles chronology | ||||
|
"Hanging by a Moment" is a song by American alternative rock band Lifehouse. It was the first single released from their debut studio album, No Name Face (2000), issued through DreamWorks Records. The track was written by lead singer Jason Wade, who said that he wrote the song in about five minutes without thinking about what would happen to it. It was produced by American record producer Ron Aniello and was mixed by Brendan O'Brien. Musically, "Hanging by a Moment" is a post-grunge song that contains influences of alternative rock. [1]
The song was first released as a radio single on September 9, 2000, rising slowly on the US charts and eventually peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's most successful single on the chart and the most successful song of 2001 in the US. The track became an international success as well, peaking atop the Australian Singles Chart for five weeks and reaching the top 40 in the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In 2001, the song was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and was the most-played radio track of that year in Canada. The song received positive reviews from critics, who applauded its instrumentation.
The official music video for the song premiered on Vh1.com on December 7, 2000. In the video, Wade is seen singing the lyrics of the song in many locations around a town. The band went on tours with Matchbox Twenty and 3 Doors Down as an opening act before going on their first headline tour that featured rock band the Calling and singer Michelle Branch.
"I was eight songs into finishing the record, doing a vocal, and I heard the melody in my head before it was written. I couldn't tell if it was a song on the radio that I had heard or if it was a song my friend wrote or something. I picked up a guitar and it was kind of creepy, because the song was almost already written by itself. Within five minutes, the lyrics and everything else were finished. We tracked it the next week and it ended up being the first single. It was funny, because I felt there was another song that needed to be written during the project that was more upbeat and less moody."
—Wade talking about the development of "Hanging by a Moment". [2]
The song was written by Lifehouse lead singer Jason Wade. [3] It was produced by American record producer Ron Aniello and was mixed by Brendan O'Brien. [4] When asked about the song in an interview with Billboard, Wade said, "It was the most uptempo, radio-friendly song. We all decided it was the right choice to release it as the first single." He went on to describe his expectations when writing songs, saying, "My ultimate goal in writing songs is to connect with people. In the lyrics, you don't tell the whole picture: You give a road to start on that people can relate to. We're honest, nice guys and I hope that comes across in everything we do." [5] After being asked how he wrote the song in an interview with Launch, Wade explained, "I wrote that song without thinking about what was gonna happen to it and then it just kinda took over from there." He also said in the interview that he wrote "Hanging by a Moment" in about five minutes. [6]
"Hanging by a Moment" was described as a post-grunge and alternative rock song that contains a strong melody. [1] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is set in common time with a "moderate rock" tempo of 124 beats per minute. [7] It is composed in the key of D-flat major. [8] In an interview with Billboard , lead singer and guitarist of Lifehouse, Jason Wade, described the song as an "uptempo, radio-friendly song". [9] Bill Lamb of About.com called the song "one of the biggest rock hits ever by a Contemporary Christian band crossing over into the mainstream. The song was the biggest hit of summer 2001 and was eventually named the most played song of the year on the radio." [10] Sean Rizzo of Sputnikmusic says that the song "presents one of the best with the guitar's plucking during the verses and a chorus infectious enough to infiltrate your brain for a few days." [11] In a 2017 interview with Billboard on the core theme of the song, Wade said, "I didn't really think about it when I was writing it. I knew at the end of it that it was a love song, and I kind of come from that world, so it can be interpreted as a spiritual song or a love song." [12]
"Hanging by a Moment" debuted at number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of February 10, 2001. [13] It gradually ascended on the chart and eventually peaked at number two on June 16, 2001. It was left hanging outside the number one spot for three weeks by Christina Aguilera's version of "Lady Marmalade". [13] After peaking, it gradually descended and left the chart after 54 consecutive weeks. [13] The song was also a hit on rock radio, holding number one for three weeks beginning on January 27, 2001. [14] On the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, the song debuted at number 36 for the week of October 28, 2000, and eventually peaked at number one, remaining on the chart for 35 weeks. [15] The song debuted at number 32 on the Billboard Pop Songs chart during the week of March 3, 2001. [16] After moving around the chart for 37 consecutive weeks, the song peaked at number two on May 19, 2001. [16] The song debuted at number 37 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart for the week of February 24, 2001. [17] It eventually peaked at number one on June 23, 2001, spending 74 consecutive weeks on the chart. [17]
Despite not peaking at number one on the weekly Hot 100, "Hanging by a Moment" was the most successful single of 2001 according to Billboard. [18] In 2009, Billboard named "Hanging by a Moment" as the 26th-most-successful single of the 2000s decade. [19] Even though it never peaked at number one, it was one of only four songs in the history of the Hot 100 to be named the number one single of the year without making it to the top of the chart on any of the weekly surveys. (The first was "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1965, the second was "Breathe" by Faith Hill in 2000, and the fourth was "Levitating" by Dua Lipa in 2021. [20] [21] )
The song also achieved international success. In Australia, the song debuted at number 36 on the ARIA Charts during the week of June 17, 2001. On August 12, 2001, it peaked at number one, staying on the chart for 24 consecutive weeks. [22] Because of its success in Australia, "Hanging by a Moment" was certified double platinum by the ARIA in 2001. [23] The track debuted on the Netherlands' Single Top 100 chart at number 95 for the week of June 9, 2001, and reached number 31 the following month. [24] On the New Zealand Singles Chart, "Hanging by a Moment" debuted at number 48 for the week of March 11, 2001. After climbing for 16 consecutive weeks, it peaked at number six for five weeks. [25] The song debuted at number 25 on the UK Singles Chart for the week of September 8, 2001, which became its peak position, and it spent four weeks on the chart. [26]
The music video, directed by Gavin Bowden, was first released on December 7, 2000, on Vh1.com. [27] It served as an official video for the song, after an unofficial version was released by DreamWorks as a "temporary video" that was played on MTV2. [5] In an interview with MTV Radio, Wade explained the process of making the music video, and said, "We shot the video at this really cool place in Crenshaw, in L.A., that was a bowling alley upstairs and a roller rink downstairs. It had this really weird, retro vibe to it. When they were setting up the different sets, we'd have to stop every 10 seconds because a bowling league would walk in. It was the coolest thing. At night, we got all of our friends to come down." [28]
The video begins with Wade singing and playing his guitar in a hotel room. While singing, Wade is seen packing his clothes into a suit case in separate camera shots. He then leaves the hotel room and it shows a time-lapse scene of a car going down a highway. Then, the video cuts to a restaurant, where Wade is seen lying on a restaurant booth and singing the lyrics of the song. After this, Wade is seen with the rest of Lifehouse in a concert setting in a restaurant. It then splits to shots of Wade singing the lyrics of the song to the camera. Toward the end of the video, it switches to Lifehouse playing the song in front of a crowd while showing shots of Wade in a car going down a highway. It ends with the scene of Lifehouse in a restaurant and then switches to a camera shot of all of the band members with the video fading out on Wade.
On January 10, 2001, MTV confirmed that Lifehouse would serve as an opening act on a fourteen-day tour for Matchbox Twenty, who were promoting their album Mad Season (2000). [29] The tour started February 27, 2001, in Minneapolis and ended on March 29, 2001, in Universal City. [29] While on tour with Matchbox Twenty, Lifehouse went on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for the first time and performed "Hanging by a Moment" on March 28, 2001. [30] Several months later, the band performed the song at the River Rave Festival in Foxboro Stadium on May 26, 2001. [31] In July 2001, Lifehouse went on tour, opening for 3 Doors Down on twelve select dates, and performed songs from No Name Face, including "Hanging by a Moment". [32]
Credits are adapted from AllMusic. [37]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Decade-end charts
| All-time charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [23] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | September 25, 2000 | DreamWorks | [66] | |
January 30, 2001 | Contemporary hit radio | [67] | ||
Australia | April 16, 2001 | CD single | [68] | |
United States | April 24, 2001 | [22] | ||
Japan | July 18, 2001 | [69] | ||
United Kingdom | August 27, 2001 |
| [70] |
Lifehouse is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California comprising Jason Wade, Rick Woolstenhulme Jr., Bryce Soderberg, and Steve Stout. The band came to mainstream prominence with their 2000 single "Hanging by a Moment," which led their debut studio album, No Name Face (2000). The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, won a Billboard Music Award for Hot 100 Single of the Year—having spent 20 weeks within the top ten and over a cumulative year on the chart—and was named the best-performing single of 2001 despite not reaching the top position, making it the fourth song in the chart's history to do so.
No Name Face is the first studio album by American rock band Lifehouse. It was released on October 31, 2000, by DreamWorks Records and it produced the hit single "Hanging by a Moment" which went on to be the most played song on radio the following year. This album launched Lifehouse into the limelight, and produced many radio-friendly hits. It has sold over four million copies worldwide, with 2,670,000 copies sold in the US alone.
"Warning" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It is the second single and title track from their sixth album of the same name. The song was a number-three modern-rock hit in the United States. The song also entered the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.
"How You Remind Me" is a song by Canadian rock band Nickelback. With lyrics written by lead singer Chad Kroeger and music composed by the band, the track was released on July 17, 2001, as the lead single from their third studio album, Silver Side Up (2001). A "Gold Mix" was made for latter editions of the single, with the heavier guitars edited out of the chorus.
"Fallin'" is the debut single of American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys from her debut studio album, Songs in A Minor (2001). Written and produced by Keys, "Fallin'" is generally considered her signature song. It was released as the lead single from Songs in A Minor on April 10, 2001, by J Records. The official remix features rappers Busta Rhymes and Rampage.
"You and Me" is a song by American alternative rock band Lifehouse. It is the first single released from their third studio album, Lifehouse (2005). The track was written by lead singer Jason Wade and American record producer Jude Cole. It was recorded and produced by John Alagía at his home studio in Easton, Maryland. The song was first released via digital download on January 28, 2005. It was then solicited to mainstream radio on March 15, 2005. An extended wedding version of the song was then released on July 26, 2005.
"Drive" is a song by American rock band Incubus, released on November 14, 2000, as the third single from their third album, Make Yourself (1999). It is the band's biggest hit and breakthrough single, eventually reaching the top of the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart on March 3, 2001, and number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 28, 2001. It also reached number four in Portugal, number 13 in New Zealand, number 34 in Australia, and number 40 in the United Kingdom. In 2001, "Drive" won a Billboard Award for Modern Rock Single of the Year. Director Bill Draheim documented the making of "Drive" in Save Me from My Half-Life Drive.
"Teenage Dirtbag" is a song by American rock band Wheatus. It was released on June 20, 2000, as the lead single from their eponymous debut album (2000). The song was written by guitarist and vocalist Brendan B. Brown and was inspired by a childhood experience of his.
The discography of the Smashing Pumpkins, an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, consists of thirteen studio albums, four live albums, one digital live album series, seven compilation albums, five extended plays, 55 singles, four video albums, 37 music videos, and contributions to five soundtrack albums. This list does not include material recorded by the Smashing Pumpkins members with other side projects.
"There You'll Be" is a song by American country music singer Faith Hill. Written by Diane Warren, produced by Trevor Horn and Byron Gallimore, and orchestrated by David Campbell, the song was released on May 21, 2001, and was included on the Pearl Harbor soundtrack. The track also appears on Hill's greatest hits albums There You'll Be and The Hits. "There You'll Be" is about remembering deceased acquaintances and reminding oneself that they will always be with them. The power ballad was first offered to Celine Dion, who turned it down because she did not want to record another romantic ballad for a soundtrack album.
The discography of Kings of Leon, an American rock band, consists of nine studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, two video album, five extended plays, 26 singles, one promotional single and 26 music videos. As of 2016 the band has sold over 21 million albums worldwide and 38 million singles. The band released their debut extended play Holy Roller Novocaine in February 2003, followed by the release of the extended play What I Saw in May. Their debut studio album, Youth and Young Manhood, was released in July 2003, peaking at number 113 on the US Billboard 200 and number three on the UK Albums Chart. The album has since been certified two times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and three times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Three singles were released from the album, including the UK top 40 hit "Molly's Chambers". In November 2004, Kings of Leon released their second album, Aha Shake Heartbreak. The album peaked at number 55 on the Billboard 200 and number three on the UK Albums Chart. It has been certified double platinum by the BPI and the ARIA. The album's first single, "The Bucket", peaked at number 16 in the UK; it also became the band's first single to chart in the United States, where it peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart.
"Kryptonite" is the debut single of American rock band 3 Doors Down. It was originally released as a demo for local play by 97.9 WCPR-FM in Biloxi, Mississippi, then was picked up by several radio stations during November and December 1999 and was officially serviced to radio on January 18, 2000. The song first charted on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, reaching number one for nine weeks, then topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 11 weeks; it was 2000's most successful song for both rankings. It also reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, the band's highest-charting single on the listing.
The discography of Foo Fighters, an American rock band formed in 1995 by Dave Grohl, consists of eleven studio albums, fourteen extended plays (EPs), six video albums, one live album, and 57 singles. The current Foo Fighters line-up consists of Grohl, Rami Jaffee (keyboard), Nate Mendel (bass), Chris Shiflett (guitar), Pat Smear (guitar) and Josh Freese (drums).
"First Time" is a song by American alternative band Lifehouse and it is the first single released from their fourth studio album, Who We Are (2007). The song was written by lead singer Jason Wade alongside Jude Cole, who produced the song. Wade felt it was urgent to write the track and said that he had to think deep to write it. Musically, "First Time" is a power pop song that contains alternative rock with a theme about the early stages of romance. The track was first released as a digital download on May 7, 2007, by Geffen Records. It was then solicited to mainstream radio on May 15, 2007.
"Spin" is a song by American alternative rock band Lifehouse from their second studio album, Stanley Climbfall (2002). It was written by Jason Wade and produced by Ron Aniello. The song received positive reviews from music critics and peaked at number 71 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was a top-thirty success in New Zealand, reaching number 25 on the RIANZ Singles Chart in January 2003.
"Sick Cycle Carousel" is a song by American alternative rock band Lifehouse. It is the second single released from their debut studio album No Name Face (2000). The track was written by Lifehouse lead singer Jason Wade and Scott Faircloff, who says he felt freedom when writing songs for the album. American record producers Ron Aniello and Brendan O'Brien produced and mixed the song, respectively. The song was released on April 24, 2001, by DreamWorks Records.
The discography of American alternative rock band Goo Goo Dolls consists of 14 studio albums, five live albums, seven compilation albums, nine EPs, 38 singles, one video album, and 43 music videos.
American alternative rock band Lifehouse has released seven studio albums, three extended plays, one DVD, and sixteen singles. The band's debut single, "Hanging by a Moment", was named Billboard's song of the year in 2001. After signing to DreamWorks Records in 2000, the band released their debut studio album, No Name Face, which has been certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA.
"Broken" is a song by American alternative band Lifehouse. It is the third single released from their fourth studio album, Who We Are (2007). Lead singer Jason Wade was inspired to write the song after he visited a friend in Nashville who needed a kidney transplant. Originally released on June 18, 2007, as the fifth track on Who We Are, the song was then edited for radio to give it more of a "rock" feel. The new radio version of the song was released via digital download on July 8, 2008.
"Halfway Gone" is a song by American band Lifehouse. It is the first single released from their fifth studio album, Smoke & Mirrors (2010). It was first released via digital download in the United States and Canada on October 26, 2009. It was then solicited to mainstream radio on January 12, 2010. Several remixes of the song were later released on iTunes on April 6, 2010 in an album called Halfway Gone Remixes. The song was a commercial success, charting in Canada, the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. The accompanying music video portrays Lifehouse lead singer Jason Wade singing most of the lyrics in a park, and also features band cohorts and various people lip-syncing the lyrics as the song plays.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)