"Collide" is a song by American singer

Howie Day Howard Kern Day is an American singer-songwriter. Beginning his career as a solo artist in the late 1990s, Day became known for his extensive touring and in-concert use of samplers and effects pedals to accompany himself. He self-financed and s ...

. The song was written by Day and

Better Than Ezra Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and signed with The End Records. The band formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and consists of Kevin Griffin (vocals and guitar), Tom Drummond (bass g ...

frontman Kevin Griffin, and the

London Session Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

provided backing instrumentation on the initial album version of the song. "Collide" was released in the United States on June 1, 2004, as the second single from Day's second full-length album, '' Stop All the World Now'' (2003), and reached number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 a year after its release, in June 2005.

Background and content

Howie Day collaborated with Griffin while writing this song. The song's lyrics are rooted in a relationship, with notes of the occasional adversity the two people involved may face.

Commercial performance

The popularity of "Collide" built slowly on U.S. radio, at first gaining the greatest success on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

chart. Chart performance benefitted significantly from a reissue of ''Stop All the World Now'' in a special edition that included four bonus tracks, one being an acoustic version of the song that reached number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.

Music video

The music video was filmed in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. The video features Day singing on the commuter train while recalling happy memories with his partner, interspersed with clips of Day playing guitar beneath a bridge.

Track listing

US and Australian promo CD # "Collide" (

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

radio edit) – 4:07 # "Collide" (original album version) – 4:09

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

In 2011,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

singer

Singing Melody Everton Hardweare (born 23 November 1967), better known by his stage name Singing Melody, is a reggae artist from Kingston, Jamaica. He is known for his abilities as a vocalist, his production work and for combining aspects of reggae and R&B ...

covered the song on his album titled They Call Me Mr. Melody on the

VP Records VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York (state), New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and Soca music, soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami ...

label. Singing Melody's cover of the song became number one on 4 international reggae charts. The album also reached number six on the ''Billboard'' Reggae Chart. Daniel Evans, a finalist on ''The X Factor'' (UK), produced a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

/ pop

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

on his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel in 2013 and was subsequently released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

as track 3 of his self-produced ''Reflections'' EP. In 2015, Sarah Charley, US communications manager for the

Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle collider. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and hundred ...

experiments at

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

with graduate students Jesse Heilman of the University of California, Riverside, and Tom Perry and Laser Seymour Kaplan of the University of Wisconsin, Madison created a parody video sung from the perspective of a proton in the Large Hadron Collider.

In popular culture

"Collide" has since been used in

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

of various television series, including: ''

What About Brian ''What About Brian?'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Dana Stevens and co-produced by J. J. Abrams' company Bad Robot Productions. The series premiered on April 16, 2006, on ABC, as a mid-season replacement and concluded ...

'', '' Friday Night Lights'', ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

'', as well as the 2005 film adaptation of ''

Pride & Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'', and the 2005 film '' The Perfect Man''. This song has also been featured during episodes of '' Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County'', ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ...

'', ''

Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," o ...

'', '' ER'', ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

'', ''

Third Watch ''Third Watch'' is an American crime drama television series created by John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero that aired on NBC from September 26, 1999, to May 6, 2005, with a total of 132 episodes spanning over six seasons. It was produced by ...

'', ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or re ...

'', ''

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

'', ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'', '' Summerland'' and ''

Joan of Arcadia ''Joan of Arcadia'' is an American fantasy family drama television series telling the story of teenager Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn), who sees and speaks with God and performs tasks she is given. The series originally aired on Fridays on CBS for ...

''. On ''

'' this was the song to which popular pairing

Patrick Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

and

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

, known as "Scrubs", first made on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

in 2006. It was used as the theme song to the short-lived 2005 teen drama ''

Palmetto Pointe ''Palmetto Pointe'' is a television series that debuted during PAX-TV's transition to i: Independent Television. The series first aired on August 28, 2005, with its last episode airing on October 16, 2005. It was the first television series sho ...

''. The song was featured in Season 7 of ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

'', featuring

Kent Boyd ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a United States television reality program and dance competition airing on the Fox Broadcasting Company network. Season seven premiered on May 27, 2010. In the August 12 finale, contemporary/jazz dancer Lauren Fro ...

and

Lauren Froderman Lauren Rose Froderman is an American contemporary dancer. She is most known for being the winner of So You Think You Can Dance, the 7th season. Early life and education She grew up in Glendale, Arizona and graduated from Greenway High School i ...

. The song was also used recently in the 2016 Christian drama film ''

Miracles From Heaven ''Miracles from Heaven: A Little Girl, Her Journey to Heaven, and Her Amazing Story of Healing'' is a memoir written by an American author Christy Beam, released on April 14, 2015. The author wrote the book about her daughter Annabel Beam. Plot ...

''. In 2015, after the US communications officer and three graduate students at the

European Organization for Nuclear Research The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

(

) shared a parody video of "Collide", Day made a new version of the song in a video during a visit to CERN. The lyrics were changed to the perspective of a proton in the

. In 2021, in the Hallmark film ''Eight Gifts of Hanukkah''. In 2005, the song was used in

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's closing montage for the

2005 NBA Finals The 2005 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2004–05 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs played the Eastern Conference cham ...

after the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

won their 3rd NBA title.

References

{{Authority control 2000s ballads 2004 singles 2004 songs American folk songs American soft rock songs Epic Records singles Howie Day songs Rock ballads Songs containing the I–V-vi-IV progression Songs written by Kevin Griffin