"I Found a Way" (also known as "Found a Way") is a song by American actor and singer

Drake Bell Jared Drake Bell (born June 27, 1986) is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and musician. Born in Newport Beach, California, he began his career as an actor in the early 1990s at the age of five with his first televised appearance on ''Hom ...

, from the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

show ''

Drake & Josh ''Drake & Josh'' is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. The series follows two teenage stepbrothers Drake Parker (Drake Bell) and Josh Nichols (Josh Peck) as they live together despite opposite personalities. The ser ...

''s soundtrack album of the same name (2005), and Bell's debut studio album ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

'' (2005). The song was written by Bell and

Michael Corcoran Michael Corcoran (September 21, 1827 – December 22, 1863) was an Irish- American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a close confidant of President Abraham Lincoln. As its colonel, he led the 69th New York Regiment t ...

, one of Bell's band members. It served as the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

for the show after the show's producer

Dan Schneider Daniel James Schneider (born January 14, 1966) is an American television producer, screenwriter, and actor. After appearing in mostly supporting roles in a number of 1980s and 1990s films and TV shows, Schneider devoted himself to behind-the-s ...

lauded the track. Bell performed "I Found a Way" at various events throughout his career.

Background and production

American actor and singer

told American animator

Butch Hartman Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator, director, producer, writer, and voice actor. He is most known for creating the Nickelodeon series ''The Fairly OddParents'', ''Danny Phantom'', '' T.U.F.F. Puppy'', ...

during an interview in September 2018 that the theme song for ''

'' was originally going to be a

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...

song. American producer

asked Bell how much of his music he wanted to put on the show. Bell was very eager to make music for the show and told Schneider he wanted to be a "rock star". The actor told his friend

, one of his band members, that they should write a theme song for ''Drake & Josh'' because everyone was listening to Kravitz at the time and wanted to have a track that could be identified with the show. Bell and Corcoran were faced with

writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...

for hours because of wanting to "make a theme song" and decided to just "write a song". Bell told Hartman the track they wrote was similar to the works of

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

and is about helping out your brother when they are feeling down. The two musicians made a one minute demo of the song. Bell brought the record to Warner Bros Studios to show Schneider the demo. The producer was reluctant at first, not wanting to hurt Bell's feelings if he did not like the track. Bell insisted and played the track to him. Schneider ended up loving the track and made it the theme song for ''Drake & Josh''.

Release and lyrics

"I Found a Way" was originally released as the first track from the

show ''

''s soundtrack album of the same name on February 22, 2005. It was later released as the second track under the title "Found a Way" on Bell's debut studio album ''

'' on August 23, 2005. It received a music video directed by Joey Boukadakis. According to Bell, his fans have usually sung the song's chorus as: "If you open up your mind/See what's inside/It's gonna take some time to realize." Bell stated that the correct lyric was, "It's gonna take some time to re-align."

Critical reception

Writing for ''

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'', Taylor Ferber said the theme song is "catchy AF" and opined it is "totally a perfect fit to get audiences in the upbeat mood of the show, and it's also unique in that one of its stars performed it". Lauren Hazlewood of ''

Fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

'' described it as a "catchy theme song" while the staff of ''

Iowa City Press-Citizen The ''Iowa City Press-Citizen'' is a daily newspaper published in Iowa City, Iowa, United States that serves most of Johnson County and portions of surrounding counties. Its primary competitors are ''The Gazette'' of Cedar Rapids, which has a new ...

'' labeled the song as a "signature tune". Maria Serra of ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...

'' praised the track, calling it a "banger".

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

editor Crystal Bell ranked "I Found a Way" at number 4 on her ''The 17 Best Nickelodeon Theme Songs, Ranked'' list, calling it "a hella catchy tune". ''Bustle'' Tobi Gbile ranked "I Found a Way" at number four on his ''These Childhood Theme Songs Will Give You Feels'' list, saying the theme song is one of his favorites and that it became "one of Nickelodeon's staple tracks in the mid 2000s". Nick Caruso and Matt Webb Mitovich for ''

TVLine ''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs. History In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving ''EW'' after nearly two years in their employ to est ...

'' included the theme song on their ''The Top TV Theme Songs of All Time: 2000-2009 Edition'' list.

Live performances

In August 2016, American actor

Josh Peck Joshua Michael Peck (born November 10, 1986) is an American actor and comedian. Peck began his career as a child actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and had an early role on the Nickelodeon sitcom ''The Amanda Show'' from 2000 to 2002. Peck ...

posted a video on his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account of fellow American actor

John Stamos John Phillip Stamos ( ; born August 19, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He first gained recognition for his contract role as Blackie Parrish on the ABC television soap opera ''General Hospital'', for which he was nominated for the Da ...

singing his own version of theme song. Stamos sings in the video: "Drake and Josh. Everybody loves Drake and Josh". Bell sang the song with a fan in

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, California, at a meet and greet held at Heroes Comics prior to his concert in 2018. During one of his shows in 2020, the actor started to sing "I Found a Way" and stopped the crowd after they sang, "It's gonna take some time to realize." Before continuing to play the track, Bell told the audience that the word was "realign" and not "realize". Bell also performed the song for American actor Jonathan Goldstein, who played the dad named Walter Nichols in ''Drake & Josh'', during a 2020 reunion. He performed the song live in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, Arizona at a drive-in concert on March 13, 2021.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

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. *

vocals, writer *

writer

References

{{Drake & Josh Television drama theme songs Television soundtracks Songs from television series Drake Bell songs Drake & Josh 2005 songs