If You Only Knew by Shinedown

Album: The Sound of Madness (2008)

Charted: 42

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"If You Only Knew" was Shinedown's first love song. Their lead singer, Brent Smith, had said he'd never write one, but he found reason to when he found out his longtime girlfriend, Ashley Marshall, was expecting the couple's first child. He got the news in 2007 when he was starting to write songs for Shinedown's The Sound of Madness album.

"The words to the song, they just came to me in a flood," he told Always Acoustic. "It's a song about missing the person that you love but just making sure that they realize that even though that you're gone that they are always with you and that you remember them, and you think about them constantly."
For the line, "It's 4:03 and I can't sleep without you next to me," Brent Smith chose 4:03 a.m. because that's when he always seemed to wake up.
The song is part of Shinedown's third album, The Sound Of Madness, which also includes their big hit "Second Chance." The band was on a tear but they were also dealing with internal tensions; around this time their original guitarist, Jasin Todd, and bass player, Brad Stewart, were both kicked out of the band.
Brent Smith's son, Lyric Santana Smith, was born in December 2007. Brent and Ashley never married and ended up splitting up.

Even though the song was written for a girl Smith ended up breaking up with, Shinedown played it throughout their career because it proved to be one of their most enduring songs.

Comments: 9

Zachy Beanpole from Idontfreakingwannaspillit, FloridaI love this song.
Anon from UkBeautiful song! It was a toss up between this, miracle and I'll follow you for my husband and i's first dance song. I love this because when you love someone that much, there are no words or actions that will ever make them truly understand how you truly feel, so you live an entire relationship never truly knowing what the other person feels for you and they live not knowing how you feel about them. Most couples will share letters throughout relationships and replies will be sent back (returned)
Bailey from Cincinatti, OhioBeautiful song... It's I and my boyfriend's song :)
Zero from The Abyss, NjSorry, duh, yes it was a single.
Zero from Nowhere, NjWas this song a single? It should have been.
Megan from Stevenson, AlThis song is awesome! Love it!
[p3yt0n} from Somewhere, InThis is a great song, simple as that.
Kelly from Houston, Txi was just introduced to this song by a friend who told me it reminded him of me and my relationship with my boyfriend. i decided to give it a listen and found that it was exactly the same thing. as to why he wrote it not so much but i just listed to the song and its alot alike. just wanted to say thanks. its a wake up call that ive been needing.
Dave from Cleveland, OhJust as an addition the above comment; Brent mentioned in an interview that he never wrote a song like this and it came to him very easily when he thought about his girlfriend. He wrote it for her saying something along the lines of: I'm not sure how to tell her how I truly feel, so it came it out in a song form.

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