Songfacts®:

• This melancholy ballad is the second single from American recording artist Chris Brown's third studio album, Grafitti.
• The song features Brown pensively singing about a relationship that has slipped out of his hands, he then calls for a reconciliation. Some reviewers have commented on the lyrical parallels to the singer's situation with his ex-girlfriend Rihanna. After their infamous altercation in early 2009, the pair briefly reunited, however, following a court order requiring Brown to stay away from Rihanna, they split.
• The song's music video features R&B singer and model Cassie. It was directed by Joseph Kahn, who also worked with Brown on the "Forever" and "I Can Transform Ya" clips. The parallel to the singer's relationship with Rihanna is hard to dismiss, and Kahn admitted that between this video and the one for "I Can Transform Ya," '"Crawl' is my favorite one, because - gosh, I'm going to let you in on this - 'cause it's probably his most personal thing he's ever done. I mean, everything that's happened to him in the year, I think this is going to be his big statement, in terms of what he's feeling and what he's living through right now."
• Brown told MTV News that the song isn't just about his own relationships but has more of a universal message. He explained: "When I heard the whole concept and everything I was like, 'Yo, this is crazy.' So being able to express the feelings, it was like, probably one of the best [records I've done.] But it was more than me trying to do a record that meant crawl to love, crawl back to love. Meaning whether it's from your negative situations, whether it's from any problems you've dealt with, like anybody's situation. Mine being my personal situation with shorty, but for anybody, for being inspired as far it being the war or a death in the family, whether it's anything, anybody just crawl back to love. 'Cause love conquers everything. Love, at the end of the day, makes everybody happy."