Higher (Creed song)

Last updated

"Higher"
Creed Higher Single.jpg
Single by Creed
from the album Human Clay
ReleasedAugust 24, 1999 (1999-08-24)
Genre
Length
  • 5:16 (album version)
  • 4:44 (radio edit)
Label Wind-up
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) John Kurzweg
Creed singles chronology
"One"
(1998)		"Higher"
(1999)		"What If"
(2000)
Music video
"Higher" on YouTube

"Higher" is a song by American rock band Creed. It was released on August 24, 1999, as the lead single from their second studio album, Human Clay . The song became the band's breakthrough hit as it was their first song to reach the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at number 7 in July 2000. It spent a total of 57 weeks upon the survey, the longest stay for any Creed song on the Hot 100. "Higher" also became the band's second chart-topping hit on rock radio as it topped both the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts, for a then-record of 17 weeks.

Contents

Writing and recording

According to an interview with Loudwire , in an episode of "Wikipedia: Fact Or Fiction", Mark Tremonti revealed that the song was a culmination of improvising live onstage. During their earliest shows, vocalist Scott Stapp would placate the audience by goading his bandmates to come up with a song live on the spot. Drummer Scott Phillips was the first to begin playing the drum set piece, with Mark later entering the chord progression associated with the song. After reviewing the tapes of the show, as they had always recorded their performances for later review, they decided that the song was worth working out in the studio. [3]

Music and lyrics

Vocalist Scott Stapp and long-time friend Steven Harang wrote the song about the power of lucid dreaming. [4] In another episode of Loudwire's "Wikipedia: Fact Or Fiction?" Stapp stated that the inspiration for the song came from a recurring dream that he had. In the endlessly present nightmare, Stapp would be hunted down and killed by an unknown assailant brandishing a firearm. Once he took up studying lucid dreaming, he was able to escape the gunman, and subsequently wrote the song as a memento towards the dream. [5]

Musically the song has an anthemic and uplifting sound, often drawing comparisons to one of the band's later hit singles, "My Sacrifice". [6] [7] The song is written in the key of D major, with Tremonti playing in drop D tuning and Stapp singing in baritone. [8] [9] "Higher" has been described as post-grunge, [8] hard rock [1] and alternative rock. [2]

Music video

The video begins with the band sitting backstage before heading out to perform the song in front of an audience on stage. The video features slow motion and pause scenes of the band and the crowd, along with Stapp hanging in mid-air with his arms out while wearing his signature leather pants. At the end of the video, the camera pans back to the band backstage as they are seen once again walking to the stage to perform as they did at the beginning of the video, leaving the viewer to wonder if the original live performance was a dream or not. Director Ramaa Mosley, who also directed the video for "What's This Life For", recalls coming up with the idea after listening to the song with the record label. The first idea she had was of an epic performance that is later questioned to have ever happened. It was the only idea she pitched for the video. [10]

The music video was shot in Orlando, Florida, at the Hard Rock Cafe. [11] According to Mosley, filming the video was a "creative struggle", as Creed had only a short time to shoot the video before they went on tour in Japan. Over 300 extras were used in the video as members of the audience as well as the people seen with the band backstage. For the pause scenes, Mosley had the band and the audience freeze while the camera rotated around them, and also used multiple cameras set up around the band that were then joined with hovering objects added later in post-production. Cables were also used for scenes where Stapp is hovering over the audience. For the final scene, a 360 degree photography spin technique is used, a relatively new technique at the time, which required an array of cameras and sophisticated software to interpolate the still images into what appears to be one continuous shot of Stapp and the band backstage before heading off to play on stage. [10]

Stapp himself has stated that he is embarrassed by the video and that it has not aged well. During a 2017 interview with GQ , Stapp said in regard to the video that "Sometimes I cringe when I see it. Like, 'What was I thinking? Look at those pants.'" [12]

Release and reception

Released as the lead single to the band's second album, Human Clay, "Higher" would prove to be Creed's major breakthrough hit when it peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated July 22, 2000. It spent a total of 57 weeks upon the survey, which is the longest stay for any Creed song on the Hot 100, and finished on the Hot 100 year end chart for 2000 at number 11. Furthermore, it topped both the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock tallies in the process, which gave the band their fifth consecutive chart-topping hit on rock radio. "Higher" remained in the top spot on the Mainstream Rock chart for a then-record of 17 weeks until it was surpassed by 3 Doors Down's song "Loser". The song would finish at number 4 on both the Mainstream and Modern Rock year end charts for 2000. Internationally the song topped the UK Rock and Metal (OCC) chart for four weeks in early 2000, and also peaked at number 2 on the Canada Rock/Alternative ( RPM ) chart. To promote the Human Clay album, the band also released a free digital download of "Higher" a full month before the records release. [13] On May 10, 2019, nearly 20 years after its original release, the song was given Gold status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 certified digital units. [14]

"Higher" placed at number 95 on VH1's "100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs" in 2009. [15] It won the Song of the Year award at the 2000 My VH1 Music Awards, and was also nominated for the Best Rock Video award at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff". [16] [17]

A four-song EP was sold in December 1999 during the band's tour through Europe. It included a concert performance of "Roadhouse Blues", written by the Doors, recorded by Creed in July at Woodstock '99.

"Higher" EP
No.TitleLength
1."Higher"5:18
2."To Whom It May Concern"5:10
3."Roadhouse Blues" (The Doors cover; live at Woodstock 1999)5:52
4."What's This Life For" (Acoustic version)4:22
Total length:20:42

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [39] Gold500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref.
United StatesAugust 31, 1999 Wind-up [40]
United KingdomJanuary 3, 2000CD
 [41]
United Kingdom (re-release)September 17, 2001
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [42]

Appearance in media

See also

Related Research Articles

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