In Too Deep (Sum 41 song)

"In Too Deep"
Cover used for the Canada single release.
Single by Sum 41
from the album All Killer No Filler
ReleasedSeptember 4, 2001 (2001-09-04)
RecordedJanuary 2001
GenrePop-punk
Length3:27
LabelAquarius
Songwriters
ProducerJerry Finn
Sum 41 singles chronology
"Fat Lip"
(2001)		 "In Too Deep"
(2001)		 "Motivation"
(2002)
Alternative cover
Cover used for the US single release.
Alternative cover
Cover used for the Europe single release.
Audio sample
"In Too Deep"
Music Video
"In Too Deep" on YouTube

"In Too Deep" is a song by Canadian rock band Sum 41. It is the seventh track on their debut studio album All Killer No Filler (2001), and was released as the second single in September 2001.

History

According to Ben Cook of Fucked Up, No Warning and Young Guv, "In Too Deep" was originally a reggae song, to be released by writer Greig Nori's band Treble Charger and feature rapper Snow in the verses. This was later confirmed by drummer Steve Jocz in a YouTube video on the history of the song.

Singer Deryck Whibley told Kerrang! that one night when he was 18, he and his friend, guitarist Dave Baksh, were going to drive to downtown Toronto to hang out. Baksh was very late in picking Whibley up, and Whibley started playing around with his guitar while sitting by the window and waiting. The riff came first, and he started improvising verses and the chorus, and within three or four minutes, had come up with everything but the guitar solo and bridge. He recorded it on his small recorder before Baksh finally arrived, and didn't think much of it. He finally got around to finishing the whole song a few months later.

He said, "the words were based on very basic-level relationship stuff that I'd gone through in high school, because that was my reference point". Specifically, the inspiration was a bad relationship he'd had in 10th grade, which at the time had made him never want to have another girlfriend again. "I guess I was able to sort of tap into those early relationships, and it's universal, so I was milling the simplicity in that. There's something magical about that era in your life", he said.

Music video

The music video was directed by Marc Klasfeld and premiered in September 2001. It is a parody of the diving competition scene from the Rodney Dangerfield film Back to School. Sum 41 face another dive team, represented as stereotypical high school "jocks" with muscular bodies and red Speedos. Each band member takes their turn diving off the board in comical fashion as they dive against their opposition, who dive with mocking perfection. After guitarist Dave Baksh completes his dive, he then rises out of the water to play his guitar solo (Baksh and bassist Jason "Cone" McCaslin have both confirmed this scene was inspired by the video for Guns N' Roses' "Estranged"[citation needed]). After each dive, the video cuts to a scene of the band playing in an empty pool surrounded by fans. For the last dive, drummer Steve Jocz does a comically dramatic dive similar to the dive done by Dangerfield's character in Back to School (known as the 'Triple Lindy' in the film) in which he bounces off of every diving board and lands perfectly in the water. Jocz is rewarded with near-perfect marks from the judges, the band wins the competition, and the judges and some of the audience jump into the pool in celebration.

The diving scenes were filmed at the since-demolished Industry Hills Aquatic Club in the City of Industry, California, the very same site as where the Back to School movie was shot. The pool scenes were shot at the Cadillac Jack's and Pink Motel in Sun Valley, California.

The video reached #1 on MuchMusic Countdown.

Cover performances

The song has been covered live by other bands & artists with Deryck Whibley often being brought out to support. Most notable covers include:

Track listings

Single

  1. In Too Deep (3:27)
  2. Fat Lip (Live) (2:55)
  3. All She's Got (Live) (3:02)
  4. It's What We're All About (Live, With Tommy Lee on drums) (2:47)

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Germany (BVMI) Gold 300,000‡
Italy (FIMI) Gold 35,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) Platinum 30,000‡
Spain (Promusicae) Gold 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA) 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States September 25, 2001 Alternative radio Island
United Kingdom December 3, 2001
  • CD
  • cassette
 Mercury
Japan January 23, 2002 CD Island
Australia February 11, 2002

References

  1. ↑ "In Defense Of The Genre: 5 Seconds Of Summer's favorite pop-punk songs". Alternative Press. August 5, 2014. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2025.
  2. ↑ Murphy, Sara (March 8, 2018). "Sum 41's "In Too Deep" Was Nearly a Reggae Song with Treble Charger and Snow". Exclaim!. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  3. ↑ "HISTORY OF SUM 41'S "IN TOO DEEP" - ORIGINAL DRUMMER SPEAKS!". September 7, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2024 – via YouTube.
  4. 1 2 McLaughlin, David (September 4, 2019). "How I Wrote In Too Deep, By Sum 41's Deryck Whibley". Kerrang!. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  5. ↑ "VIDEOS : MuchMusic Top 30". December 7, 2001. Archived from the original on March 1, 2002.
  6. ↑ Shanahan, Andrew (June 3, 2024). "Watch Avril Lavigne perform 'In Too Deep' with Sum 41's Deryck Whibley". Kerrang!. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Good Charlotte put on one hell of a show and shocked fans with a very special surprise guest, Sum 41's Deryck Whibley for a performance of Fat Lip and In Too". October 6, 2025. Retrieved December 2, 2025 – via YouTube.
  8. ↑ "In Too Deep (Sum 41) - Jonas Brothers Live at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington 9/22/2025". September 24, 2025. Retrieved December 2, 2025 – via YouTube.
  9. ↑ "American Pie 2 (2001) - Soundtracks - IMDb". Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  10. ↑ Meenan, Devin (February 19, 2023). "One Of Two-Face's Best Jokes In Harley Quinn Season 3 Almost Got Cut". Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Malcolm in the Middle - Driver's Ed Course Police Chase" on YouTube
  12. ↑ "Taco Bell TV Spot, 'Decades: Y2K Faves Are Back' Song by Sum 41". iSpot. September 10, 2025. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Sum 41 – In Too Deep". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Sum 41 – In Too Deep/Fat Lip" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Sum 41 – In Too Deep" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  16. ↑ "The Hits Charts (Airplay) : Top 100 singles". Broadcast Data Systems. Archived from the original on January 6, 2002. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Sum 41 – In Too Deep" (in French). Le classement de singles. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  19. ↑ "In Too Deep | IRMA". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 10, 2002" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Sum 41 – In Too Deep" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Sum 41 – In Too Deep". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  23. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart on 15/12/2001 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Sum 41 – In Too Deep/Fat Lip – hitparade.ch". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  25. ↑ "Official Singles Chart on 15/12/2001 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  26. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart on 15/12/2001 – Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  27. ↑ "Sum 41 Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  28. ↑ "The Official UK Singles Chart 2001" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Most-Played Modern Rock Songs of 2001". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 9, no. 51. December 21, 2001. p. 40.
  30. ↑ "Most-Played Modern Rock Songs of 2002". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 10, no. 51. December 20, 2002. p. 44.
  31. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Sum 41; 'In Too Deep')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  32. ↑ "Italian single certifications – Sum 41 – In Too Deep" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  33. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Sum 41 – In Too Deep". Radioscope. Retrieved December 29, 2024. Type In Too Deep in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
  34. ↑ "Spanish single certifications – Sum 41 – In Too Deep". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  35. ↑ "British single certifications – Sum 41 – In Too Deep". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 9, 2024. Select singles in the Formats field. Type In Too Deep Sum 41 in the "Search:" field.
  36. ↑ "American single certifications – Sum 41 – In Too Deep". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  37. ↑ "Alternative: Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1420. September 21, 2001. p. 82. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  38. ↑ "New Releases – For Week Starting December 3, 2001: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. December 1, 2001. p. 23. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  39. ↑ "新譜発売日一覧 2002年 1月分" [New Release Date List for January 2002] (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan. Archived from the original on August 8, 2002. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  40. ↑ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 11th February 2002" (PDF). ARIA. February 11, 2002. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 20, 2002. Retrieved June 5, 2021.