It's Been Awhile

"It's Been Awhile"
Single by Staind
from the album Break the Cycle
Released	March 20, 2001
Format	CD single
Recorded	2001
Genre	Post-grunge, nu metal[1]
Length	4:25
Label	Elektra
Writer(s)	Aaron Lewis Mike Mushok Johnny April Jon Wysocki
Producer(s)	Josh Abraham
Staind singles chronology
"Home" (2000) "It's Been Awhile" (2001) "Outside" (2001)

"It's Been Awhile" is a song recorded by American rock band Staind. It was released in March 2001 as the lead single from their album Break the Cycle.

The song is Staind's most successful and is their best-known song, becoming a No. 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100,^[2] their only song to reach the top 10. The song spent a second-best 20 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart^[2] (behind only "Loser" by 3 Doors Down) and a then-record 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart,^[2] beaten in 2007 by Foo Fighters with "The Pretender".

The song is stylistically different from some of the other tracks on Break the Cycle, which are nu metal or standard alternative metal songs and is considered by many critics and fans to be the first sign of Staind's transition from a nu metal and alternative metal band to a post-grunge band.

Content

The narrator is someone who takes stock of his life and makes references to his previous drug addiction problem and failed relationships. The narrator mentions their father, though they believe that they only have themselves to blame for their problems. Lewis called the song, "an acknowledgement of the past."^[3]

Reception

Eric Aiese of Billboard reviewed the song favourably, saying that the group handles the metal ballad well and packs "a lot of punch into the cut." Aiese said that the song "may be the group's greatest splash yet."^[4]

Track listing

1. "It's Been Awhile" (LP Clean Edit)
2. "It's Been Awhile" (Acoustic Version)
3. "Suffocate" (LP Version)

Music video

The music video begins with Aaron Lewis going through some old photographs, one of which happens to be the picture of his wife. The video then switches between him writing a letter to his wife and the band performing casually in a room full of candles. There are brief shots of Aaron alone in the streets and looking at himself in the mirror while having second thoughts. Throughout the video, Aaron is seen continuously smoking cigarettes. At the end of the video, one of those cigarettes falls onto the floor and burns down his apartment.

The video was directed by Limp Bizkit frontman, Fred Durst.

Charts

Chart (2001–02)	Peak position
scope="row"	Australia (ARIA)[5]	24
scope="row"	Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6]	54
scope="row"	Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7]	46
scope="row"	Germany (Official German Charts)[8]	43
Ireland (IRMA)[9]	18
scope="row"	Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10]	7
scope="row"	Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[11]	23
scope="row"	Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[12]	79
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[13]	15
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[14]	5
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[14]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[14]	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[14]	3
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks[14]	6
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks[14]	4

Year-end charts

Chart (2001)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[15]	14
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	2

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified
Australia[16]	Gold	2002	35,000 +
United States[17]	Gold	2001	500,000 +

References

1. "The Essential Nu-Metal Playlist - NME.COM". NME.COM. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 595.
3. Pesselnick, Jill (June 2, 2001). "The Modern Age". Google Books. Billboard Magazine. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
4. Aiese, Eric (May 12, 2001). Google Books. Billboard Magazine https://books.google.ca/books?id=FikEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48&dq=staind+it%27s+been+awhile+review&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLsNum4pLPAhVCGB4KHehdAVkQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=staind%20it's%20been%20awhile%20review&f=false. Retrieved September 15, 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
5. "Australian-charts.com – Staind – It's Been Awhile". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
6. "Austriancharts.at – Staind – It's Been Awhile" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
7. "Ultratop.be – Staind – It's Been Awhile" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
8. "Musicline.de – Staind Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
9. Search for Irish peak positions
10. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Staind search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
11. "Swedishcharts.com – Staind – It's Been Awhile". Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
12. "Swisscharts.com – Staind – It's Been Awhile". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
13. "Chart Stats - Staind (UK)". chartstats.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
14. "Staind > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
15. "Billboard Top 100 - 2001". Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
16. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2002 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association.
17. "RIAA certifications". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-12-19.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics