"I Remember You" is a song by American heavy metal band

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

. It was released in November 1989 as the third single from their eponymous debut album. Composed as a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

, it was written by bandmates

Rachel Bolan Rachel Bolan (born February 9, 1964), born James Richard Southworth, is an American musician, best known as the bassist and main songwriter of the Heavy metal music, metal band Skid Row (American band), Skid Row. Career Bolan was born in 1964 to ...

and

Dave "the Snake" Sabo David Michael Sabo (born September 16, 1964), nicknamed "The Snake", is an American musician best known as one of the guitarists of heavy metal band Skid Row. Biography Pre-Skid Row Sabo was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey and grew up in near ...

. It reached number six on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 23 on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

in early 1990. The song also charted at number two in New Zealand, number 12 in Ireland, number 14 in Canada, number 18 in Finland, and number 36 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In 2003, Skid Row, this time featuring new lead singer Johnny Solinger, recorded a second version of the song entitled "I Remember You Two." The song appears in the album '' Thickskin''.

Background

Bassist Rachel Bolan said, "'I Remember You' was just that one thing that kind of came out the way it did, and it was something that wasn't planned. It was a cool chord progression that

Snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

had, and I wrote some lyrics, and we worked on it." Before releasing it on their debut album in 1989, Skid Row performed the song in numerous small clubs and bars, and the ballad was popular with women. However, Skid Row did not want to be known as a "chick band", and Bolan and guitarist Snake hesitated to include the song on the album. However, singer Sebastian Bach and the record label saw the potential in the song, and persuaded the addition of the track. In a 2007 interview, vocalist

Sebastian Bach Sebastian Philip Bierk (born April 3, 1968), known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian-American singer who achieved mainstream success as the frontman of the hard rock band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. He has acted on Broadway and ha ...

commented, "'I Remember You' was the number-one prom song in the United States of America in the year 1990....You talk about making memories! Literally the whole country of America did their prom dance to 'I Remember You' one year, and that's a real heavy memory to beat."

Track listings

7-inch and cassette single # "I Remember You" – 5:10 # "Makin' a Mess" – 3:38 UK 12-inch single and European maxi-CD single :A1. "I Remember You" :B1. "Makin' a Mess" :B2. "Big Guns" (live)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

The song also appears in the episode of

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

called "

Guitar Queer-O "Guitar Queer-O" is the thirteenth episode of the eleventh season and the 166th overall episode of American animated television series '' South Park'', which first aired on Comedy Central on November 7, 2007. The episode was rated TV-MA L in the ...

," where

Stan Marsh Stanley Randell William Marsh is a fictional character in the adult animated television series '' South Park''. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the series' four central characters, along with ...

visits

Kyle Broflovski Kyle Matthew Broflovski is a fictional character in the adult animated television series ''South Park''. He is voiced by and loosely based on co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the series' four central characters, along with his friends Stan ...

after having a fight. The fictional group Queens of Dogtown covered the song in the fourth season of ''

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word) ''Californication'' is a portmanteau of California and fornication, appearing in ''Time'' on May 6, 1966 and written about on August 21, 1972, additionally seen on bumper stickers in the U.S. ...

''. The song appears in the film adaptation of ''

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages may refer to: Films * ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below) Music * ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...

'' when Drew (

Diego Boneta Diego Andrés González Boneta (born November 29, 1990) is an American actor, producer and singer. He gained wider recognition after starring in ''Rock of Ages'' (2012) alongside Tom Cruise and the ''Netflix'' biographical series '' Luis Miguel: ...

) and Sherrie (

Julianne Hough Julianne Alexandra Hough (; born July 20, 1988) is an American dancer, actress, and singer. In 2007, she joined the cast of ABC's ''Dancing with the Stars'' as a professional dancer, winning two seasons with her celebrity partners. After leavin ...

) are in

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records ...

at the beginning of the film.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I Remember You (Skid Row Song) 1980s ballads 1989 singles 1989 songs 1990 singles Atlantic Records singles Glam metal ballads Skid Row (American band) songs Songs written by Dave Sabo Songs written by Rachel Bolan