"Welcome to My Truth" is a song by American recording artist

Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. Her first two studio albums, '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001), achieved chart success with the singles " I'm Outta Love", " Not That Ki ...

from her third studio album, ''

''. Written by Anastacia,

Kara DioGuardi Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi ( ; December 9, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, and singer. She primarily writes music in the pop rock genre. She has worked with many popular artists; sales of albums ...

, and

John Shanks John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist. He has been a longtime session and touring member of the rock band Bon Jovi. Early life and education Shanks was born in New York City and m ...

and released as the album's third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in Europe on November 8, 2004, the song chronicles Anastacia's strained relationship with her father, who left her at a young age, along with the singer's battle with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

. While "Welcome to My Truth" charted within the top 20 in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.

Critical reception

Andy Gill of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' wrote that this song is connected to

's battle with cancer :"It's more likely to be the trigger behind the anthemic positivism of 'Welcome to My Truth.'"

Music video

Directed by

Diane Martel Diane Martel (also known as Bucky Chrome and Diamond Martel) is an American music video director and choreographer. As a music video director, she has worked with Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Sting and Jennifer Lopez. One of her ...

, the

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

was filmed in the

Napa County, California Napa County () is a County (United States), county north of San Pablo Bay located in the Northern California, northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 138,019. The county seat i ...

, on July 17–18, 2004. In the music video, a young girl is seen watching her parents having a fight, while clips are shown of Anastacia in a garden singing that "she has hit about a million walls". The father – played by actor

Wade Williams Wade Andrew Williams is an American actor. He is known for his various character roles, and for a major supporting role as correctional officer Brad Bellick on the Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and Father Cronin on ''The Bernie Mac S ...

– reluctantly leaves the house and waves goodbye to the little girl. At the second verse, the little girl is shown playing with toys and watching TV with her brother and mother. When the chorus reprises, the girl is at school painting a portrait of ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

'', for which she is given a medal. When she gets home, she sticks the number-one prize to the refrigerator so that her mother could see it and be proud of her. The mother, however, does not take notice of her prize and walks by it, which obviously disappoints the child; it also reveals the sadness of her mother, distracted by grief. Next, the child is shown painting a happy painting at nighttime. Anastacia is then seen hugging the girl in a garden, and as Anastacia's past and present collide we can see she is overcoming her pain. The painting the child creates represents that even though her life is not as perfect as she wants it to be, she can still be happy.

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Welcome to My Truth" # "

Left Outside Alone "Left Outside Alone" is a song by American recording artist Anastacia from her third studio album, ''Anastacia''. Written by Anastacia, Dallas Austin, and Glen Ballard, the song details the singer's strained relationship with her estranged father ...

" (

Jason Nevins Jason Nevins (born December 15, 1972) is an American songwriter, record producer and remixer, who is most widely known for his pop and dance productions, including his multi-platinum, multi-million selling production of " It's Like That" by Ameri ...

mix show edit) UK CD2 # "Welcome to My Truth" # "The Saddest Part" # "Left Outside Alone" (Jason Nevins global club edit) # "Welcome to My Truth" (live version) # "Welcome to My Truth" (video) European CD single # "Welcome to My Truth" – 4:03 # "The Saddest Part" – 4:10 European maxi-CD single # "Welcome to My Truth" – 4:03 # "The Saddest Part" – 4:10 # " Sick and Tired" (live from

The Hospital ''The Hospital'' is a 1971 American absurdist satirical black comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring George C. Scott as Dr. Herbert Bock. It was written by Paddy Chayefsky, who was awarded the 1972 Academy Award for Best Original ...

) – 3:59 # "Welcome to My Truth" (Video) Australian CD single # "Welcome to My Truth" # "The Saddest Part" # "Sick and Tired" (live from The Hospital)

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the European CD single liner notes and the ''

'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at

Henson Recording Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property served as Ch ...

(Hollywood, California) * Mixed at South Beach Studios (

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

, Florida) * Mastered at

Sterling Sound 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 ...

(New York City) Personnel * Anastacia – writing, vocals, executive production *

– writing, background vocals *

– writing, guitars, keyboards, production * Paul Bushnell – bass *

Kenny Aronoff Kenneth D. Aronoff (born March 7, 1953) is an American drummer, best known for his work as a session and touring musician. He has toured and recorded with a wide range of artists throughout his career, including the Rolling Stones, the Smashing ...

– drums * Jeff Rothschild – recording * Thomas R. Yezzi – recording (vocals) * Mark Valentine – additional recording * Shari Sutcliffe – musician contracting *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

– mixing * Femio Hernandez – second mix engineer * Lisa Braudé – executive production *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welcome To My Truth 2004 singles 2004 songs Anastacia songs Daylight Records singles Epic Records singles Music videos directed by Diane Martel Song recordings produced by John Shanks Songs written by Anastacia Songs written by John Shanks Songs written by Kara DioGuardi