"The World I Know" is a song by American band
Collective Soul
Collective Soul is an American rock band originally from Stockbridge, Georgia. Now based in Atlanta, the group consists of lead vocalist Ed Roland, rhythm guitarist Dean Roland, bassist Will Turpin, drummer Johnny Rabb, and lead guitarist Jes ...
, originally released on their 1995
eponymous album. Written by lead singer and guitarist
Ed Roland
Edgar Eugene Roland, Jr. (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Collective Soul. He is also active with his side project ...
, "The World I Know" peaked at number 19 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart when released as a single and spent four weeks at the number-one spot on the ''Billboard''
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 ...
chart. In Canada, the song reached number one on the week of March 11, 1996, becoming the band's highest-charting single there.
Background
In a December 2017 interview with ''Songfacts'', lead singer
Ed Roland
Edgar Eugene Roland, Jr. (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Collective Soul. He is also active with his side project ...
explained the inspiration behind "The World I Know":
During an interview on The Professor of Rock
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 with Adam Reader that was posted on October 10, 2022, Ed corrected Adam on the official authorship credits for this song. When Adam mentioned, "Co-written with
Ross Childress
Ross Childress (born September 8, 1971) is an American musician. He was the original lead guitarist and co-songwriter for the rock band Collective Soul.
Life and career
Childress was born on September 8, 1971, in Stockbridge, Georgia, USA.
C ...
...", Ed stopped him and stated, "No, not co-written. And, I'm going to say it right now, he didn't write a damn thing. He didn't even play on the song. He gets credit, 'cause he wanted credit. And, at the early time of a band, you want to make sure everybody's clear and cool. He didn't write a damn thing."
Music video
The
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
depicts a businessman who begins to go about his day, reading ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' on the way to his
office
An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...
. As he reads about death, and sees the homelessness and sadness on the street, he becomes disillusioned with his life and prepares to commit
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
. As he climbs to the roof of a nearby building, he takes off his shoes and looks at the ground crying. He stretches out his arms and readies himself to fall. However, just as he is about to fall, a dove lands on his arm. He feeds it with the
bagel
A bagel ( yi, בײגל, translit=beygl; pl, bajgiel; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into a roughly hand-sized ring from yeasted wheat dough that is first ...
in his pocket, and the crumbs attract ants, which makes the man notice the similarities of them to the people walking below. He laughs throwing all his money at the people and pulls himself out of his state.
During the entire video, periodic cuts to singer Ed Roland looking on at the man while singing the song are shown. The video also shows sadness and happiness in the form of color hues for the video. While the man is disillusioned with his life and is thinking about suicide, the video is in a blue and purple tint, giving a dark feeling to the video. When the dove lands on the man's arm, the video's hue changes to show the normal colors of the city, also revealing the sun shining over the city, showing of the sudden change to happiness and relief.
Track listings
US CD and cassette single, Australian CD single
# "The World I Know" – 4:15
# "When the Water Falls" (live acoustic) – 3:41
US 7-inch single
:A. "The World I Know" – 4:16
:B. "Smashing Young Man" – 3:44
UK CD single
# "The World I Know" (edit) – 3:51
# "When the Water Falls" (live acoustic) – 3:41
# "The World I Know" (LP version) – 4:15
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
Cover versions
On May 20, 2008,
David Cook David Cook may refer to:
Entertainment
* David Cook (game designer) (active since 1980s), American game designer for TSR
* David Cook (singer) (born 1982), winner of the seventh season of ''American Idol''
* David Cook (writer) (1940–2015), Briti ...
, winner of the seventh season of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
'' performed the song. Following his performance, Cook's version peaked at number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Digital Songs chart and number 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Pat Green covered this song in his album ''Songs We Wish We'd Written II''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:World I Know, The
1995 singles
1995 songs
Atlantic Records singles
Collective Soul songs
RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Song recordings produced by Matt Serletic
Songs written by Ed Roland
Songs written by Ross Childress