"I Was Alive" is a song by American

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 ...

band Beartooth. It was released on October 13, 2023, as the sixth and final single from their fifth studio album, '' The Surface''. The song peaked at number one on the US

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, becoming the group's second number-one hit on the chart.

Background and composition

"I Was Alive" was written by

Caleb Shomo Caleb Joshua Shomo (born December 1, 1992) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and producer. He is most well known as the lead-vocalist of Beartooth, though he records all studio instrumentals for the band. He is also the former lead v ...

and

Drew Fulk Drew Fulk (born May 1, 1987), also known as WZRD BLD, is an American producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. He has worked with artists such as Lil Wayne, Knocked Loose, Lil Peep, Disturbed, NLE Choppa, A Day To Remember, M ...

, while production was handled by Shomo. The song is a mid-tempo

track, with uplifting lyrics as the main content of the song. Speaking about the song, Shomo stated it is "about the fact that none of this lasts forever and we get one ride on this crazy journey we're on, so we've got to give it everything we've got."

Critical reception

Jake Richardson of ''

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 ...

'' stated that the song "delivers a carpe diem musical affirmation that reflects the newfound self-love that has engulfed its creators" and how "it's a far cry from the despair that characterised the band's celebrated debut album '' Disgusting''. Anne Erickson of

Blabbermouth.net ''Blabbermouth.net'' is a website dedicated to metal and rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. It is run by the website's founder Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001. In October 2001, the rec ...

noted how the track had "an anthemic, late-1990s rock quality" sound. Paul Brown of ''Wall of Sound'' expressed that the song "brings back some of those country/radio rock influences, whilst still retaining that new hard rock edge."

Chart performance

"I Was Alive" topped the US ''Billboard''

chart for the week of May 11, 2024, becoming their second number-one song on the chart. The song also reached number one on the US Mediabase Active Rock radio chart for two weeks, as well as and peaking at number 13 on the US

Rock Airplay The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. The song has earned 306,000 streams in the United States.

Music video

The music video for "I Was Alive" premiered on October 13, 2023, and was directed by Zebulon.

Personnel

Beartooth *

– lead vocals, composer, lyricist * Zach Huston – lead guitar, backing vocals * Will Deely – rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Oshie Bichar – bass, backing vocals * Connor Denis – drums, backing vocals Production * Caleb Shomo – producer, mastering, mixing, engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Beartooth 2023 singles Red Bull Records singles Beartooth songs Songs written by Drew Fulk