Away From The Sun by 3 Doors Down

Album: Away From The Sun (2002)

Charted: 62

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Lead singer Brad Arnold told us: "'Away From The Sun' is just about those days. A really important little short phrase is at the beginning of the chorus. It says, 'Now again I found myself so far down.' You know what I mean? It's like, yet again I've fallen. It's not like just once you're in a hole. It's like, here I am again. You watch the kid in the video, it's over and over, he's at the bottom again. It's like every time he crawls back up someone just pushes him down. And for about a two-to-three year period in my life, I just really felt like that. I didn't even feel like climbing up the hill anymore, because every time I climbed up somebody was gonna push me back down it. And that song is just a reflection of that time period in my life. And thank God it's over. But I just felt away from the sun."
Brad's nephew starred in this video. It was his first acting experience. Brad is proud of how well his nephew did, even though he did get the requisite teasing at school afterwards.

This video is also one that Brad wrote himself. He says, "I think it's just been a blessing to us that we've been involved with a lot of good directors that have had that vision, because honestly, I am so bad at coming up with ideas. 'Away From The Sun' is the only video treatment that I've ever written. And I pretty much wrote that one, I got on the phone, and I had a vision in my head of what I wanted to see in that video, and the director just made it happen."
About the songwriting experience itself, Brad explains that he never sits down to write a song for a specific CD. The band, as a whole, just tries to make every song a little different, so they're not all about the same things, and they don't all sound alike. It's tough to describe, but Brad took a stab at it. "Although they're gonna tend to be directed in the same… I don't know, it's kind of in the same vibe or thought process a little bit, because you're in a similar place, or you're in a particular time in your life. And the songs tend to follow that vibe. But we just really get in there and just try to write songs. And I love when they all don't sound the same, and I love when they're all a little different. But we just sit down and write and however it comes out is how it comes out." (Check out our full interview with Brad Arnold)

Comments: 7

Thomas from Charleston ScThe person that said “its about being in a rut or a low point and feeling like your not ever going to get out.”. Is what I also think the song is about. When I get really depressed that song describes how I feel.
Glenn from FloridaTo me it seems more like the feelings of someone who has been incarcerated. Recidivism is sad, especially in the state I live in. From personal experience, it sounds like being in a prison cell.
Greg from Phoenix NyI have been in this place for months, every time I hear this it feels right. Which is wrong?
Trish from Pg, UtTo me, this song is a song of hope, that He (Jesus Christ) can help us get through anything. So the alliteration of "away from the Son" makes sense to me as a similitude. Just my opinion.
Robert from Los Angeles, CaAaron is the most accurate. its not about "utter desolation" like Julie thinks. its about being in a rut or a low point and feeling like your not ever going to get out.
Julie from Sacramento, CaThis song is a what I call a real wrist-slitter. I mean that in the nicest way. It's about utter desolation without having a happy ending. I shed a few tears each time I listen.
Aaron from Houston, TxI think its about being in a rut and just not being able to get out.. maybe feeling alone and that nobody's around to help you out of it... ive been there

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