"So Called Life" is a single by the Canadian

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

Three Days Grace Three Days Grace is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Asphodel–Norwood, Norwood, Ontario, in 1992 originally as Groundswell. Groundswell played in various local Norwood backyard parties and area establishments before disbanding in 1 ...

. It was released on November 29, 2021 as the lead single from the band's seventh studio album ''

Explosions An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generate ...

''. The song was available digitally on music streaming services on December 1, 2021. "So Called Life" was the most played song on rock radio in 2022.

Composition and lyrics

"So Called Life" has been described by critics as

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

, and a

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 ...

song. The track runs at 160 BPM and is in the key of

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

. It runs for three minutes and 26 seconds. The song was written by

Matt Walst Matthew Jean Paul Walst (born December 28, 1982) is a Canadian musician who is the co-lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Three Days Grace, which also includes his older brother Brad as bassist. Before joining Three Days Grace, he ...

Brad Walst Brad Walst (born February 17, 1977) is a Canadian musician. He is the bassist and a founding member of the rock band Three Days Grace, which also includes his younger brother Matt. As of 2022, Three Days Grace has sold over 10 million albums a ...

Barry Stock Barry James Stock (born April 24, 1974) is a Canadian musician. He is the lead guitarist of the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. Early life Stock was born in Belgium and was raised in Norwood, Ontario. At a young age, Stock was introduced ...

Neil Sanderson Neil Christopher Sanderson (December 17, 1978) is a Canadian musician. He is the drummer, backing vocalist, keyboardist, and co-founder of the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. He cited his influences as John Bonham, Danny Carey, and Stewart C ...

and

Ted Bruner Ted Bruner is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, originally from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Bruner began his professional music career when his band Colony was signed to MCA Records.Rockett, Caitlin (2021), ''Boulder ...

while

Howard Benson Howard Michael Benson (born July 20, 1956) is an American record producer from Havertown, Pennsylvania. He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2007 and 2008, among two wins and 16 total nominati ...

handled the production of the song. The song was written around March 2020 and according to bassist Brad Walst, the song was originally supposed to be a "cool kind of party song." Brad Walst spoke about "So Called Life" in an interview with Jave Patterson of ''Two Doods Reviews'' explaining about how the song was written.

Music video

The music video for "So Called Life" premiered on November 29, 2021 and it was directed by Jon Vulpine. Speaking about the music video, director Jon Vulpine explained how the video came together.

Chart performance

"So Called Life" debuted on the

Canada Rock 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 at number 41 and later peaked at number 7 on the chart. The song also reached 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 ...

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 at number one, topping the chart for four consectutive weeks, and on the

Hot Rock & Alternative Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of ...

chart at number 29. This marks the band's 16th number-one song on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, tying the record for the most number-ones with

Shinedown Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of his previous band, Dreve. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original ...

. It earned 796,000 streams in the US. It also peaked at number 11 on the Alternative Digital Song Sales chart.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Awards and nominations

Release history

References

{{Three Days Grace 2021 songs 2021 singles Three Days Grace songs RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Howard Benson Songs written by Barry Stock Songs written by Brad Walst Songs written by Matt Walst Songs written by Neil Sanderson Songs written by Ted Bruner Songs about the COVID-19 pandemic