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"How You Remind Me" is a song by Canadian rock band
Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...
. With lyrics written by lead singer
Chad Kroeger Chad Robert Kroeger (, Turton; born November 15, 1974) is a Canadian musician who is best known for being the lead singer, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and founding member of the rock band Nickelback. In addition to his work with Nic ...
and music composed by the band, the
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. Balla ...
was released on July 17, 2001, as the lead single from their third studio album, ''
Silver Side Up ''Silver Side Up'' is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Nickelback, released on September 11, 2001. According to AllMusic, ''Silver Side Up'' continued Nickelback's tradition of "dark high-octane rock" from the band's first two albu ...
'' (2001). A "Gold Mix" was made for latter editions of the single, with the heavier guitars edited out of the chorus. Considered Nickelback's
signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...
, "How You Remind Me" reached the top of the US ''
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 ...
''
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...
and was named the number-one most played song on US radio of the 2000s decade by
Nielsen Soundscan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
, being spun over 1.2 million times on US airwaves since its release in 2001 to the end of 2009. The song was ranked fourth on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Songs of the Decade and 75th on the UK decade-end chart. It was nominated for the ''Kerrang!'' Award for Best Single. "How You Remind Me" was also rated the number-one rock song and number-four
alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...
song of the decade of the 2000s by ''
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 ...
''. The song was featured in the
music video game A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...
'' Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock'' and in a recut, PG-13 version of the 2018 ''
Deadpool 2 ''Deadpool 2'' is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. It is the sequel to ''Deadpool (film), Deadpool'' (2016) and the eleventh installment in the X-Men (film series), ''X-Men'' film series. The film wa ...
'' titled ''Once Upon a Deadpool''. The song played a large role in a ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' skit on March 10, 2018, with Sterling K. Brown in which the lyrics are a dying old woman named Mrs. Gomez (
Melissa Villaseñor Melissa Anne Villaseñor ( ; born October 9, 1987) is an American comedian, actress, musician, and illustrator. First garnering attention for her stand-up shows and impressions, Villaseñor found wider success when she was hired to join the cast ...
)'s final words.


Background

Lead singer
Chad Kroeger Chad Robert Kroeger (, Turton; born November 15, 1974) is a Canadian musician who is best known for being the lead singer, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and founding member of the rock band Nickelback. In addition to his work with Nic ...
had the first four lines of "How You Remind Me", a
post-grunge Post-grunge is an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s alternative rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox, Colle ...
,
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
and
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 ...
song, written in his black book of notes. One day he got into an argument with his then-girlfriend in their
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
apartment. He went to the basement, turned on his recording microphone, and started improvising and singing the song loudly, hoping she would get the message how upset he was. Instead, she told him it sounded great. "Somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour, I had the whole thing fleshed out: lyrics, melody, chords, the whole nine yards," he said. He added, "It wasn't supposed to be a vengeful anthem; it was supposed to be what it was. I think it always felt like that in the moment, because we just had an argument, and I felt like striking back. But I find it to be a sarcastic look at relationships. ike the line'Are we having fun yet?' That's full sarcasm." Kroeger brought a skeleton version of the song to his band as a last-minute addition a week before they were to start recording ''
Silver Side Up ''Silver Side Up'' is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Nickelback, released on September 11, 2001. According to AllMusic, ''Silver Side Up'' continued Nickelback's tradition of "dark high-octane rock" from the band's first two albu ...
'', and they worked on the song together.


Chart performances and awards

"How You Remind Me" peaked at number one on the US ''
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 ...
''
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...
, becoming Nickelback's only American chart-topper. Due to its high sales and massive airplay, "How You Remind Me" was ranked as the top single of 2002 by ''
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 ...
'' magazine. The single was certified
quadruple platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) in 2022, for sales and streams of over 4,000,000 units. The song went on to rack up four ''Billboard'' Music Awards and four
Juno Awards The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...
. "How You Remind Me" was the number one Most Played Song of 2002 in the United States, across all formats, according to ''Billboard'' Monitor. In 2003, the song was nominated for
Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...
at the
45th Annual Grammy Awards The 45th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2003, at Madison Square Garden in New York City honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002. Musicians' accomplishment ...
. "How You Remind Me" was the number one song on the ''Billboards 2002 Year-End Hot 100 Singles Chart, and
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
ranked the song as the 16th-greatest
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. Balla ...
. The song was listed at number 36 on ''Billboard's'' All Time Top 100. In 2021, for the 40th anniversary of the
Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
chart, ''Billboard'' ranked "How You Remind Me" as the fourth-biggest hit in the chart's history; the same magazine later ranked the song as the 20th-biggest hit in the history of
Alternative Airplay Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...
in 2023, for that chart's 35th anniversary. The song also hit number one on the ''
Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...
'' feature, 21st Century's Official 100 Rock Best Sellers. The song was the 75th best-selling single of the 2000s in the United Kingdom. In Germany, it's not just the band's best-charting single by reaching number 3 on the
German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official charts for music, home video, and video games in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on be ...
, it's also Nickelback's longest-staying single on that chart, namely a total of 30 weeks. In 2011, Fuse TV named it the number one song of the decade. It was listed as number 9 at the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 100
Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
Songs of the last 50 years. ''
Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...
'' listed the song as number 30 on its list "Top 21st Century
Hard Rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
Songs".


Music video

The music video for "How You Remind Me" was directed by
Greg and Colin Strause Greg and Colin Strause, known professionally as The Brothers Strause, are American film directors, producers and Special effect, special effects artists. They are known for directing the 2007 film ''Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem'' and the 2010 fi ...
and features Nickelback playing a small venue with focus on a female audience member. Kroeger admitted to disliking the idea of a small venue performance at first, opting for a bigger scale arena concert; however, he found the outcome of the video satisfying. In the video, in scenes that alternate with the concert setting, Kroeger plays a man who is haunted by the memory of his ex-girlfriend (played by model Annie Henley). He constantly imagines or perceives her presence, making the world around him seem vibrant; when he realizes she is not there, the lighting changes to a blue-gray filter. At the end, she attends the concert, where Kroeger's character is also in the crowd. She approaches him but he rejects her; he is depicted physically pushing her away in the memory setting, as well as aggressively singing the song's lyrics at her in the concert setting. She is left alone in the dully lit setting. Another version of the video exists, and has been played on some UK and Australian music channels. The video simply features the footage of the band playing from the main video, added to footage of the band's live performances and tour movies.


Track listings

US CD single # "How You Remind Me" # "
Leader of Men "Leader of Men" is a song by Canadian rock band Nickelback. Written by band members Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake, it was featured on the band's second studio album ''The State'' in 1998. Upon the album's reissue after the band signed with Roadrunner ...
" (acoustic) UK CD single # "How You Remind Me" – 3:43 # "How You Remind Me" (acoustic) – 3:28 # "Learn the Hard Way" – 2:54 # "How You Remind Me" (video) UK cassette single # "How You Remind Me" – 3:43 # "How You Remind Me" (acoustic) – 3:28 European CD single # "How You Remind Me" (album version) – 3:43 # "How You Remind Me" (Gold mix) – 3:43 European maxi-CD and Japanese CD single # "How You Remind Me" (Gold mix) – 3:43 # "How You Remind Me" (album version) – 3:43 # "How You Remind Me" (acoustic version) – 3:28 # "How You Remind Me" (video) Australian CD single # "How You Remind Me" # "How You Remind Me" (acoustic) # "Little Friend"


Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the ''Silver Side Up'' booklet. Studios * Recorded at
Greenhouse Studios Greenhouse Studios is a Canadian music recording studio founded by Bruce Levens in 1987 where over 1000 albums have been recorded in the last 25 years. Incorporated as Lions Gate Studios, it subsequently changed its name to Vancouver Studios befo ...
(
Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard In ...
, British Columbia) * Mixed at
Armoury Studios Armoury Studios is a Canadian recording studio located in Vancouver, British Columbia's Kitsilano neighbourhood. History The Armoury building was constructed, from the ground up, in 1990 by Canadian songwriter/producer Jim Vallance. Vallance co ...
(Vancouver, British Columbia) * Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City) Personnel * Nickelback – music, production **
Chad Kroeger Chad Robert Kroeger (, Turton; born November 15, 1974) is a Canadian musician who is best known for being the lead singer, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and founding member of the rock band Nickelback. In addition to his work with Nic ...
– lyrics, lead vocals, guitars **
Ryan Peake Ryan Anthony Peake (born March 1, 1973) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter who is best known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist of the Canadian rock band Nickelback. He has been with the band since their incepti ...
– guitars, vocals **
Mike Kroeger Michael Douglas Henry Kroeger (born June 25, 1972), known professionally as Mike Kroeger is a Canadian musician, best known as the bassist and a founding member of the rock band Nickelback. Formed in his hometown of Hanna, Alberta in 1995 with ...
– bass ** Ryan "Nik" Vikedal – drums *
Rick Parashar Rakesh "Rick" Parashar (December 13, 1963 – August 14, 2014) was an American record producer, recording engineer and musician. Along with his brother Raj, he founded London Bridge Studio in Seattle, Washington, in 1985. During his career he wo ...
– production *
Joey Moi Joey Moi (born August 9, 1975) is a Canadian record producer, audio engineer, mixer, songwriter, and musician. He is known for his work with the rock groups Nickelback and My Darkest Days, and country music acts Chris Lane, Dallas Smith, Florida G ...
– engineering, digital editing * Pat "Sajak" Sharman – assistant engineering * Alex Aligizakis – assistant engineering,
Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
* Geoff Ott – assistant engineering * Kevin "Chief" Zaruk – production cooradination *
Randy Staub Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' " Recording Engineer of the Year" award 12 times. He won in 2002 for the songs "How You Remind Me" and " Too Bad" by Nickelback.Peebles, Frank (April 4, 2008) ...
– mixing *
George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He attended ...
– mastering


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Decade-end charts


All-time charts


Certifications


Release history


Avril Lavigne version

Canadian singer-songwriter
Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...
recorded a version of "How You Remind Me" for the
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
film '' One Piece Film: Z''. It was reported on October 17, 2012, that Lavigne would be contributing two cover songs to the film: the latter track and a cover of
Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin; September 22, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#J, Godmother of Punk", she is regarded as a Pop icon, rock icon and ...
's " Bad Reputation". Lavigne later confirmed the new recording on November 5, 2012. It was released on December 12, 2012, as a digital download from the ''One Piece Film: Z Original Soundtrack''. The 2-track promotional CD single was released on the next day, exclusive to Japan. The song was re-released on December 19, 2013, by iTunes Stores as a digital download promotional single for her self-titled fifth album. Later, it was included in the Japan, Taiwan and China Tour Edition of the album as one of the bonus tracks.


Background

Lavigne was in the studio with Kroeger working on her fifth studio album when she was asked to contribute a song to the film, but didn't have time to write another song during the studio sessions they had left. Kroeger later explained that it was Lavigne's idea to cover the song, stating:
"Avril jokingly suggested to cover a Nickelback song, but then we both figured it'd actually be a good idea to do "How You Remind Me". We recorded a version more similar to the original, but we both were not happy with it, thinking it needs its own spin. Avril then rearranged the song and we all liked it."
An audio-only video was put on Lavigne's official
Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...
on January 8, 2013.


Track listings

CD single # "How You Remind Me" – 4:05 # " Bad Reputation" – 2:42 Digital download # "How You Remind Me" – 4:05


Release history


Other versions

Greek singer
Alkistis Protopsalti Alkistis Protopsalti (), born Alkistis-Sevasti Attikiouzeloglou (), is a Greek singer. Life Alkistis Protopsalti was born in Alexandria, Egypt to Greek parents. At the age of six, she moved with her family to Athens because of the political ...
released a cover of the song entitled "Όλα αυτά που φοβάμαι" ("All My Fears") in her 2004 album ''Να σε δω να γελάς'' (''To See You Laugh'').


References

{{Authority control 2000s ballads 2001 songs 2001 singles 2002 singles Nickelback songs Avril Lavigne songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Epic Records singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Juno Award for Single of the Year singles Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Denmark Pop ballads Canadian pop rock songs Roadrunner Records singles Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Rick Parashar Songs written by Chad Kroeger Songs written by Mike Kroeger Songs written by Ryan Peake Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles Torch songs