#ThrowbackThursday: “Be Like That” by 3 Doors Down

by Sean Smith

The alt-rock band 3 Doors Down released their sixth studio album this past Friday. The album is titled Us and the Night, and it is the first album of new material to be released by the group since their 2011 effort Time of My Life. They did release their compilation The Greatest Hits in 2012.

The lead single for the new record was released shortly after the album was announced earlier this year in January. The song is titled “In the Dark” and it peaked at the #6 spot on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The band also put out a video for the track, which is worth checking out. The seductive video goes hand in hand with the song’s lyrical content, which is somewhat different than the 3 Doors Down that you remember.

3 Doors Down is currently on a nationwide tour, in support of the new record. The band will be making stops all across the U.S., with the tour running through August 4th. For a full list of dates and venues for all of 3 Doors Down’s upcoming gigs, you can check out the band’s website here.

It has been 16 years since 3 Doors Down first burst on to the rock scene with their breakthrough single “Kryptonite” in 2000. It was the lead single to their debut studio album The Better Life, which also featured other popular singles such as “Loser,” “Duck and Run,” and “Be Like That.” The latter of which is the subject of this week’s edition of #tbt.

“Be Like That” was the fourth single to be released from The Better Life and the third to break into the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #24. The other two singles to enter the Hot 100 where “Kryptonite” and “Loser,” which charted #3 and #55 respectively.

In a 2009 interview with the website Songfacts, lead singer Brad Arnold spoke about what “Be Like That” was about.

“[“Be Like That”] is just really about following your dreams. And I know everybody has ’em. It’s not just about following your dreams, though. It’s a little bit about dreams that you’ve missed, and a little notion of regret, also.”

He also touched on how the song came into being.

“I wrote the verses and the choruses at two completely different times, and I couldn’t think of the verse for the chorus, or the chorus for the verse. I always sing in my vehicle on my way home from band practice, and one night I was sitting there singing, and I put those two together, and I was like, Duh. And like I said, I don’t play guitar at all. But I can just like sit down and chicken peck a note out or something. I went home and got a three chord structure going for the melody of it, and took it to practice the next day. I asked Chris to make something out of it, and he came back the next day and he had it, and it just went from there.”

“Be Like That” was also later used on the soundtrack for the popular teen film American Pie 2. There was a small change made to the track before it was included on the soundtrack. The first two lines were changed from”He spends his nights in California, Watching the stars on the big screen” to “He spent his whole life being too young, to live the life that’s in his dreams.” Other than that the song is essentially the same.

So with 3 Doors Down recently releasing their latest album Us and the Night, this week we take a moment to remember one of their early hits “Be Like That.” Enjoy.

3 Doors Down

“Be Like That”

From The Better Life/ American Pie: Music From The Motion Picture

Republic/Universal Records

3 Doors Down

“In The Dark “

Republic Records