"Standing Still" is a song by American singer-songwriter Jewel. Recorded in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, the song was included on her fourth studio album, '' This Way'' (2001). Jewel wrote the song sometime after the release of her previous album, '' Spirit'', while she was taking a break from her music career. According to Jewel, the song is about stepping back to avoid stagnation from a busy career and wanting a change of scenery from fame. "Standing Still" was released on September 24, 2001, to positive reviews and commercial success. In the United States, it peaked at number 25 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 ...

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 ...

in February 2002 and reached the top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Triple-A and

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

charts. Worldwide, the single reached the top 40 in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. In New Zealand, it peaked at number seven and was the 40th-most-successful single of 2002.

Background and release

Jewel revealed the meaning behind "Standing Still" backstage at the 2001 My VH1 Music Awards: "It's about the irony of how much a person travels in my job, and how it can really cause your emotional life to stand still. Fame really tolerates a prolonged adolescence, and your fame and career can outgrow your ability to handle it. You can really spoiled, and I wanted to get away from

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

and make sure I wasn't standing still". She went on to explain that the song was inspired by her three-year hiatus from the music business following the release of '' Spirit'', during which she found it difficult to stay impassioned about her fame. Chuck Taylor of ''

'' magazine summarized that the song "addresses simple desires ..with an underlying message about taking forward steps in life", as well as "stepping out and embracing life". Jewel recorded the song at three studios in

Ocean Way Nashville Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities, but Oc ...

, Emerald Entertainment, and the Sound Kitchen. The song was serviced to American

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

radio on September 24, 2001, and was sent to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

(CHR) the following day. In Australia, a

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

was released on October 22, 2001, containing live versions of "A Long Slow Slide" and "Stephenville, TX". The same disc was issued in Japan two days later, while in the United Kingdom, a CD single was released on March 11, 2002.

Composition

"Standing Still" is a

folk-pop Folk-pop is a broad Music genre#Subtypes, musical fusion genre that includes contemporary folk songs with pop music, pop arrangements, and pop songs with intimate, acoustic music, acoustic-based folk music, folk arrangements. Folk-pop has been ...

song. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes, the song is written 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 ...

and has a moderately fast

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 124 beats per minute, in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

. The album version of the song is four minutes and 30 seconds long.

Critical reception

Taylor called "Standing Still" a "jaunty but sophisticated outing, rich in its evolving textures and guitar-fueled folk-pop base".

Chart performance

"Standing Still" first charted on the US ''Billboard''

on November 17, 2001, debuting at number 71. After 13 weeks, on the issue of February 16, 2002, it reached its peak of number 25, and it spent a total of 20 weeks in the top 100. It charted the highest on the ''Billboard'' Adult Top 40 Tracks ranking, rising to number three on February 2, 2002, and it peaked inside the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' Triple-A and

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

listings. In addition, it reached number 22 on the ''Billboard''

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

. At the end of 2002, ''Billboard'' ranked the track at number 87 on its year-end chart. In Canada, the single reached number 12 on the

Nielsen BDS Broadcast Data Systems (also known as Nielsen BDS, BDS or Luminate BDS) was a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts publishe ...

CHR chart. The song also found success internationally. In Australia, it debuted at number 39 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

on November 4, 2001. Two weeks later, it peaked at number 32 and spent eight more nonconsecutive weeks in the top 50. On November 18, 2001, "Standing Still" entered the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

at number 40, reaching its peak of number seven on January 20 and February 10, 2002. It stayed on the listing for 22 weeks and went on to become New Zealand's 40th-most-successful hit of 2002. In Europe, the song peaked at number 32 on the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore radio, offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" ...

, number 11 on

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

' Ultratip Bubbling Under chart, and number 83 on the UK Singles Chart.

Track listings

US 7-inch single :A. "Standing Still" – 4:29 :B. "Grey Matter" (live) – 4:35 European, Australian, and Japanese CD single # "Standing Still" – 4:30 # "A Long Slow Slide" (live) – 3:50 # "Stephenville, TX" (live) – 4:07

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the European CD single liner notes. Studios * Recorded at Ocean Way Nashville, Emerald Entertainment, and the Sound Kitchen (Nashville, Tennessee) * Mixed at Emerald Entertainment (Nashville, Tennessee) * Mastered at the Mastering Lab (

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, US) Personnel * Jewel Kilcher – lyrics, music, vocals, production *

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. (born March 16, 1954) is an American songwriter and record producer. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists,John Willis – acoustic guitar *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004 ...

– electric guitar, production * Jerry McPherson – electric guitar * Jimmie Sloas – bass *

Chris McHugh Chris McHugh (born 1964) is an American musician from Camden, NJ. He began his career as the drummer of Christian rock band White Heart from 1986 to 1989. McHugh toured and played as a session drummer with artists such as Aaron Neville, Pe ...

– drums *

Eric Darken Eric A. Darken is an American percussionist, composer, and programmer. Biography Drawing inspiration from his grandfather, a band leader. Darken began playing drums at age 12, and played timpani and mallets in high school. Darken attended ...

– percussion * Tim Akers – keyboards * Jeff Balding – recording and mixing *

Doug Sax Doug Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six Pink Floyd's albums, including '' The Wall''; Ray Charles' multiple ...

– mastering * Robert Hadley – mastering * Lenedra Carroll – executive production * Ron Shapiro – executive production * Chad Farmer – art direction and design * Lambesis Agency – art direction and design *

Ellen von Unwerth Ellen von Unwerth (born 1954) is a German photographer. She began her career as a fashion model, before becoming a fashion, editorial, and advertising photographer. Early life and education Unwerth was born in Frankfurt, West Germany. As an or ...

– photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2001 singles 2001 songs Atlantic Records singles Jewel (singer) songs Music videos directed by Darren Grant Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Songs written by Jewel (singer) Songs written by Rick Nowels