“I Lived” by OneRepublic
“I Lived” is an inspirational track which OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder actually wrote to his son (Copeland Cruz), who at the time of its penning was four-years old. In it, Ryan is encouraging him, based his own disposition concerning life, to “own every second” he is gifted with. Simply put, the singer is advising the addressee to live life to its fullest.
And Ryan has a formula for doing so, as in he highlighted the main tenets he wishes his son to live by. First is that he approaches life fearlessly. Second is that he rises up to challenges which may present themselves, and third is, of course, is that he succeeds. And he also encourages him to actually make an effort to see “so many places”, as in travel. And again, Tedder’s main goal when outlining these ideas is that, if adhered to, the person who is actually adopting them will be able to look at his or her life with no regrets. They would have basically done “it all”, which is tantamount to achieving their dreams.
Furthermore, the singer is also insinuating that he has adopted these philosophies into his own life. There have been pains and failures – or as he puts it “broken bone(s)”. However, by embracing these hardships, at the end of the day he is able to “swear” that indeed he has “lived”. Hence the track’s title, “I Lived”.
Facts about “I Lived”
- “I Lived” was composed by Ryan Tedder. He was assisted by seasoned songwriter, Noel Zancanella. In addition to penning this song, Tedder and Zancanella also collaborated on its production.
- “I Lived” officially came out in September 2014. OneRepublic released this rock/pop tune as the 6th single from their 2013 hit album called, Native.
- Noble Jones directed the video for “I Lived”, which marked his first collaborative project with the band. The video was released on 25th September 2013, via YouTube and Vevo.
- This song appeared on a number of television shows and series such as The Michael J. Fox Show and the comedy series, Red Band Society. The song was also used on the American medical fiction film, The Giver and on the final series of the musical drama, Glee.
- “I Lived” appeared as the background song on the ad for the Andriod Smartphone – Huawei Mate 10.
How did “I Lived” fare on the charts?
Even though this song isn’t considered one of the band’s trademark songs, it did perform quite well on the charts of a number of countries. It hit #32 on the Hot 100 and #29 on the UK Singles chart. Furthermore, it peaked at #20 and #29 in Belgium and Canada respectively.
Remixes and Covers of “I Lived”
Russian singer, Arty released a remix of this single in 2014. Some notable covers of this song include the ones recorded by the gospel musician duo, Caleb and Kelsey (in 2014) and pop singer, Madilyn Paige (in 2015).
Samples of “I Lived” are featured in a variety of songs, which includes Jared Halley’s “I Lived/Gone, Gone, Gone”.
That song is so sad I love it
Love that song as well
First time hearing I Lived made me cry
Yeah dude that song touches my heart
This song touches my heart
I love I Lived! It makes me so happy to know that it was written for his son!
THIS SONG MEANS SO MUCH TO ME THAT I DECIDED TO DO IT FOR MY SENIOR SOLO
Excellent lyrics and principle to live a life by
This song is just amazing
My niece’s Senior class chose it as their class song. So fitting! 💜
Recently I went on a road trip with my family to see where my dad grew up in Bighorn Wyoming. We went up into the mountains where he camped as a boy and this song reminds me of that trip. I felt connected to him and the mountains. It honestly felt like home. I love this song so much!!
We found this song on my 15 year old sons playlist as one of his most played songs shortly after passed away from relapsed refractory leukemia. It was perfect because he lived every moment of his life so well!
I have been sending the lyrics to my three sons over the last 5 years on a frequent basis while trying to divorce their mom. It was only after the divorce that I got some response.
Probably expected.
When I heard this song it called to me. At 91, I’m still living the adventure, doing and learning new things and traveling with my family to wonderful new places. I find life exciting. Plenty of broken bones. I was a care-giver or 14 years, but was so lucky to have someone who was cheerful and happy and we did so much together. That glass I hold up to the sun (which I actually have a picture of) is much more than half full. My 4–year-olds all grew up with the same sense of adventure and possibility and we do it all together. Thank you for this.
My girlfriend told me about this song. I only hear the song when a cruise commercial comes on tv but I never heard the whole song. So today 4/30/22 I finally played the song and it hit my like a ton of bricks. I cried thinking about my Step-dad who last August died of lung cancer. We had our ups and down like any parent/child do but the one thing I wasn’t able to tell him was that I LOVED HIM and that will always stay with me. Plus he never told him tell me how proud of me he was of me but today I asked my Mom if my Step-dad was ever proud of the man I became? My Mom told me that he said to her how proud he was of me and that made me cry even more. What I want to say for anyone who have the chance to tell someone you love…I LOVE YOU please do it because they can’t hear you when they passed away and just like me you will regret never saying it to them. Let’s love more and hate less.
Que nos trata de decir la cancion?
Played this at my husbands celebration of life. Firefighter, motocross racer who lived life to the fullest.