Staind - It's Been Awhile

Staind - It's Been Awhile (Video)

It's Been Awhile

"It's Been Awhile"
Single by Staind
from the album Break the Cycle
Released	April 14, 2001[1]
Format	CD single
Recorded	2001
Genre	Post-grunge
Length	4:25
Label	Elektra
Producer	Josh Abraham, Staind
Staind singles chronology
"Home" (2000) "It's Been Awhile" (2001) "Outside" (2001)

"It's Been Awhile" is a song by American alternative metal band Staind. It was released in April 2001 as the lead single from their album, Break the Cycle.

The song is Staind's most successful and probably their best-known song, becoming a #5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100,^[2] their only song to reach the pop Top 10. The song spent a second-best 20 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart^[2] (behind only "Loser" by 3 Doors Down) and a then-record 16 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart,^[2] beaten in 2007 by Foo Fighters with "The Pretender". The song is stylistically different from the other tracks on the album, which are nu metal/alternative metal songs and is considered by many critics and fans to be the first sign of Staind's transition from a nu metal to post-grunge band which would evolve on the band's next three albums. The song, along with another hit Outside, was originally recorded with J-CAT, another band formed by Lewis. The only difference in the J-CAT version is that there is no chorus.

Content

In "It's Been Awhile", singer Aaron Lewis sings of someone who takes stock of his life. He makes references to his previous drug addiction problem and failed relationships. Lewis mentions his father, though he believes he has only himself to blame for his problems.

Track listing

1. "It's Been Awhile" (LP Clean Edit)
2. "It's Been Awhile" (Acoustic Version)
3. "Suffocate" (LP Version)

Music video

The music video begins with Aaron Lewis going through some old photographs, one of which happens to be the picture of an old girlfriend. The video then switches between him writing a letter to his girlfriend and the band performing casually in a room full of candles. There are brief shots of Aaron alone in the streets and looking at himself in the mirror while having second thoughts. Throughout the video, Aaron is seen continuously smoking cigarettes. At the end of the video, one of those cigarettes falls onto the floor and burns down his apartment.

The video was directed by Limp Bizkit frontman, Fred Durst.

Charts

Certifications