#ThrowbackThursday: “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down

by Sean Smith

Well, the day of reckoning is upon us.

Donald J. Trump will officially be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Friday. While I personally may not be too excited about this fact, like millions of others of my fellow Americans I will be tuning in to the ceremony to witness the event. Regardless of how you feel about the election of Donald Trump, the swearing in ceremony on the steps of the Capitol should be viewed as another positive moment in American history. It continues the proud 240-year-old American tradition of the peaceful transfer of power. A tradition worthy of celebration, irrespective of your political leanings or how you voted this past Election Day.

As has become tradition, music will play an important part in the inauguration festivities this week. On Thursday a concert will be held at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall as part of the “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration.” However, like seemingly everything having to do with the President-elect, the organizing of the concert did not go without its share of controversy. A number of invited musicians declined the invitation to take part in the Trump inauguration in any way. Broadway singer and Dreamgirls actress Jennifer Holliday backed out of a performance this week, citing outrage she heard from some of her fans. A Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band cover band, the B Street Band also backed out of a performance at a Gala on Friday evening in Washington D.C.. British singer Rebecca Ferguson was also invited to perform, however said she would only perform if she could sing “Strange Fruit.” A song about the lynching of African-Americans in the South.

Performers for recent inauguration events have included the likes of ZZ Top, Beyonce’, Aretha Franklin, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Yo-Yo Ma and Wayne Newton. The lineup for the Thursday evening Trump concert at the Lincoln Memorial include the likes of Toby Keith, YouTube standouts The Piano Guys, Lee Greenwood and 3 Doors Down. The latter of which is the focus of this week’s edition of #ThrowbackThursday here on Clizbeats.com.

Brad Arnold, Matt Roberts and Todd Harrell formed the band 3 Doors Down in their small hometown of Escatawpa, Mississippi in 1994. Originally formed to play a backyard party for a friend, just six years later the alt-rock group found themselves in the Top 5 on the Billboard charts. The rise to fame was in large part due to the band catching lightning in a bottle with their breakthrough hit “Kryptonite.”

The lead singer of 3 Doors Down, Brad Arnold, wrote “Kryptonite” when he was 15 years old. He wrote it during a high school math class and was one of the very first songs he had ever written. Arnold talked about the meaning of the song in an interview with Songfacts.com.

“That song, seems like it’s really just kind of like asking a question. Its question is kind of a strange one. It’s not just asking, ‘If I fall down, will you be there for me?’ Because it’s easy to be there for someone when they’re down. But it’s not always easy to be there for somebody when they’re doing good. And that’s the question it’s asking. It’s like, ‘If I go crazy, will you still call me Superman?’ It’s asking, ‘If I’m down, will you still be there for me?’ But at the same time, ‘If I’m alive and well, will you be there holding my hand?’ That’s kind of asking, ‘If I’m doing good, will you be there for me? Will you not be jealous of me?’ That’s the basic question that song’s asking, and maybe throughout the years of singing that song, I might have come up with more meanings for it than it actually might have originally had.”

3 Doors Down originally released “Kryptonite” as a single to just a local radio station in Biloxi, Mississippi. The track garnered local success for the independent band and eventually got them signed to Republic Records. It would serve as the lead single to the band’s debut album The Better Life in 2000. “Kryptonite” topped the Alternative and Rock Billboard charts and reached as high as the number three spot on the more mainstream Hot 100.

So with 3 Doors Down set to perform at one of the inaugural events scheduled for President-elect Donald Trump this week, we take the time to remember their breakthrough single “Kryptonite.” Enjoy.

3 Doors Down 

“Kryptonite”

From The Better Life 

Republic/Universal Records