"December" is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Collective Soul Collective Soul is an American rock band originally from Stockbridge, Georgia. Now based in Atlanta, the group consists of the brothers Ed (lead vocalist) and Dean Roland (rhythm guitarist), Will Turpin (bassist), Johnny Rabb (drummer), a ...

, released on the band's 1995 eponymous album. It was serviced to

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM broadcasting, FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of Rock music, rock albums and is currently associated ...

radio on March 17, 1995. Written by singer and guitarist

Ed Roland Edgar Eugene Roland, Jr. (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Collective Soul, along with his brother Dean, who also served as the band's rhythm guitarist. He is also activ ...

, it peaked at number 20 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the ''

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 advertis ...

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

chart for nine weeks, becoming that chart's most successful song of 1995. In Canada, the song reached number two on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart, becoming the band's highest-charting single until "

The World I Know "The World I Know" is a song by American rock band Collective Soul from their second studio album, ''Collective Soul'' (1995). Written by lead singer and guitarist Ed Roland, the song was released as the album's fourth single in October 1995. "Th ...

" attained the top spot in March 1996.

Composition

In a December 2017 interview with Songfacts, lead singer

explained the inspiration behind "December":

Track listings

US 7-inch single :A. "December" – 4:09 :B. "Gel" – 2:59 US cassette single # "December" (edit) # " Where the River Flows" (LP version) German and Australian CD single # "December" (LP version) # "Sister Don't Cry" (acoustic) # "Where the River Flows" (live) # "December" (live) * All live tracks were recorded on March 14, 1995, at The Thunderdome (

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Cover version

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

covered the song as a playable track for their 2007 video game ''

'' Burmese rock band

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

has "copied" the song live in concert.

References

{{Authority control 1994 songs 1995 singles Atlantic Records singles Collective Soul songs Song recordings produced by Matt Serletic Songs written by Ed Roland