"Why I'm Here"
Single by Oleander
from the album February Son
ReleasedJanuary 25, 1999 (1999-01-25)[1]
GenrePost-grunge[2]
Length3:58
LabelUniversal
Songwriter(s)Thomas Flowers, Oleander
Producer(s)Steven Haigler
Oleander singles chronology
"Why I'm Here"
(1999)		 "I Walk Alone"
(1999)

"Why I'm Here" is a song by American hard rock band Oleander. It was released the lead single from their major label debut album, February Son, in January 1999. The track was previously included on Oleander's eponymous EP in 1996 and their independent LP, Shrinking the Blob, in 1997. Despite comparisons to Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box," or perhaps because of them,[3] "Why I'm Here" would become Oleander's highest-charting song in the United States. The promotional CD single of "Why I'm Here" includes both the album version and a "No Strings Attached" version that omits the violin.

Composition

The melancholy power ballad features various hallmarks of post-grunge. A simple, clean guitar pattern strikingly similar to "Heart-Shaped Box" begins the song; the first three notes, as well as the dynamic contour, of both songs are indeed identical and largely responsible for its criticism. An additional guitar melody and drums enter shortly after with lonesome singing. The pre-chorus introduces a bittersweet violin and eventually enters an aggressive, heavy chorus. Lyrically, "Why I'm Here" describes people's vague resentment toward the narrator as well his/her indifference toward a significant other, singing "I can't love you anymore/I'm scared of the sound of it."

Reception

AllMusic's Heather Phares named "Why I'm Here" one of three AMG Album Picks in her review of February Son. She regarded it as among the band's "finest post-grunge-isms." However, Noel Murray of The A.V. Club viewed the song more negatively, regarded Oleander as "[arriving] too late for grunge and too early for emo." He elaborated that "the band gamely struggles to justify its existence to major-label masters who can hear something marketable, but can't figure out who'd want to buy it."[4]

Track listing

CD single
No.TitleLength
1."Why I'm Here" (LP version)3:57
2."Why I'm Here" (acoustic)4:11
3."Silver Lined"2:47
4."Candy Store"4:23

Charts

References

  1. ↑ "Adds for January 25 & 26". Gavin Report. No. 2239. January 22, 1999. p. 36.
  2. ↑ Phares, Heather. "February Son – Oleander". AllMusic. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  3. ↑ Michael Christopher. "Thomas Flowers of Oleander". PopMatters. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  4. ↑ Murray, Noel Inventory: 16 Fading-From-Memory Hits From The Now That's What I Call Music! Collection The A.V. Club (October 27, 2006). Retrieved on 7-18-09.
  5. ↑ "Oleander Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Oleander Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Oleander Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "1999 The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. YE-90.
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