Meant to Live

"Meant to Live"
Single by Switchfoot
from the album The Beautiful Letdown
ReleasedJanuary 27, 2003 (2003-01-27)
GenrePost-grunge
Length3:27
Label
Songwriters
ProducerJohn Fields
Switchfoot singles chronology
"You Already Take Me There"
(2000)		 "Meant to Live"
(2003)		 "More Than Fine"
(2003)
Music video
"Meant to Live" on YouTube

"Meant to Live" is a song by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released to radio on January 27, 2003, as the lead single from their fourth studio album, The Beautiful Letdown (2003). The song peaked at number five on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's first entry to chart and their second-highest charting song. On October 22, 2004, the song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

"Meant to Live" was also included on the UK version of the soundtrack for the film Spider-Man 2. In 2023, an orchestral version of the song featuring vocals by singer-songwriter Jon Bellion was released under the title "Meant to Live (Jon Bellion Version)" and included on the reissue The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version).

Background

Lyrically, "Meant to Live" was inspired by T. S. Eliot's poem "The Hollow Men". Singer/writer Jon Foreman has said, "Maybe the kid in the song is me, hoping that I'm meant for more than arguments and failed attempts to fly. Something deep inside of me yearns for the beautiful, the true. I want more than what I've been sold; I want to live life." According to Foreman, this song was also inspired by U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".

This track refers to C.S. Lewis's novel Out of the Silent Planet with the lyric "Maybe we're bent and broken."

It also refers to John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, in the lyric "Dreaming about Providence and whether mice or men have second tries."

Composition

"Meant to Live" is an alternative rock song that lasts for a duration of three minutes and twenty seconds. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Capitol CMG, it is written in the time signature of common time, with a heavy, moderately slow rock tempo of 76 beats per minute. "Meant to Live" is composed in the key of B minor, while Jon Foreman's vocal range spans one octave and three notes, from a low of D3 to a high of G♯4.

The song has a incensed post-grunge riff driven by heavy guitars.

Critical reception

Heather Phares of AllMusic wrote that the song "has its cake and eats it too, musically and lyrically speaking ... [its] sympathetic, idealistic (not preachy) viewpoint, combined with its powerful guitars, make[s] the song successful as both an alternative CCM and [a] modern rock single."

Music videos

There were three music videos made for this song. The first video features live performance footage, the second is a concept video depicting the band playing inside a house while the walls and insides are slowly being torn down, showing a resemblance to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" music video, which the "Meant to Live" video has been compared to, and a third video is mixed into clips from Spider-Man 2, and was released exclusively in the UK.

The first two videos featured audio mixed a key higher than the album version.

Awards

In 2005, the song was nominated for a Dove Award for Song of the Year at the 36th GMA Dove Awards.

Track listing

UK CD single

  1. "Meant to Live" (album version)
  2. "On Fire" (live)
  3. "The Beautiful Letdown" (live)
  4. "Meant to Live" (video)

Charts

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "Meant to Live"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA) Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Meant to Live"
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref(s).
United States January 27, 2003 Alternative radio
June 16, 2003
February 2, 2004 Hot adult contemporary radio
Denmark July 12, 2004 CD Columbia
Australia July 26, 2004
United Kingdom August 2, 2004

References

  1. ↑ Graves, Wren (May 20, 2024). "50 Best Post-Grunge Songs". Consequence. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  2. ↑ Kim Jones. "Switchfoot – Behind the Songs – The Beautiful Letdown". About.com Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 18, 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2006.
  3. ↑ Ken Phillips Publicity Group – Switchfoot Archived October 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 3 Foreman, Jonathan. "Switchfoot 'Meant To Live' Sheet Music in B Minor – Download & Print". Musicnotes.com. Capitol Christian Music Group.
  5. 1 2 Maginnis, Heather (February 25, 2003). "Switchfoot Meant to Live – Song Review by Heather Phares". AllMusic.
  6. ↑ 2005 Dove Awards – 36th Annual Dove Awards Archived December 20, 2007, at the Wayback Machine on About.com; Jones, Kim
  7. ↑ "The ARIA Report, Issue 760". ARIA Top 100 Singles. National Library of Australia. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  8. ↑ "The Hits Charts (Airplay) : Top 100 singles". Archived from the original on August 12, 2004. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  9. ↑ "R&R Canada CHR/Pop Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1565. July 23, 2004. p. 25. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  10. ↑ "RR Canada Rock Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1551. April 16, 2004. p. 59. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Switchfoot – Meant to Live" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  12. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart on 14/8/2004 – Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  13. ↑ "Official Singles Chart on 14/8/2004 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Switchfoot Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Switchfoot Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Switchfoot Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Switchfoot Chart History (Mainstream Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Switchfoot Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  19. ↑ "The Year in Charts 2003: Most-Played Modern Rock Songs". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 11, no. 51. December 19, 2003. p. 43.
  20. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 – 2004". billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Year-End Charts – Hot Adult Top 40 Singles & Tracks – 2004". Billboard.biz. 2004. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Year in Music & Touring". Billboard. Vol. 116, no. 52. December 25, 2004. p. YE-75. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  23. ↑ "2004 The Year in Charts: Most-Played Modern Rock Songs". Billboard Radio Monitor. Vol. 12, no. 51. December 17, 2004. p. 29.
  24. ↑ "American single certifications – Switchfoot – Meant to Live". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
  25. ↑ "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1488. January 24, 2003. p. 30. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  26. ↑ "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1508. June 16, 2003. p. 26. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  27. ↑ "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1540. January 30, 2004. p. 23. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  29. ↑ "Uge 28+33" [Week 28+33] (PDF) (in Danish). Sony Music Denmark. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2004. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  30. ↑ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 26/07/2004" (PDF). ARIA. July 24, 2004. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2004. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Meant to Live". Amazon. Retrieved July 2, 2021.