As 3 Doors Down once sang, “tonight, girl, it’s only you and me…” plus a billion others. The video for the group’s hit single “Here Without You” has reached one billion YouTube views just over two decades after its 2003 release.
The video for the power ballad keeps things pretty simple; after opening with a shot of what appears to be a break-up, we follow the band to their studio covered in old photographs and letters. We then watch the songwriting journey unfold from brainstorming, to practicing, to recording alongside an orchestra.
Lead singer Brad Arnold has shared that the main inspiration for the song was his relationship with his ex-wife. As he told Songfacts: “The song’s about being away from someone, or missing them. And it really doesn’t matter if you’re here without them all day or all month. It’s about the loneliness and missing of somebody. In a way, people take that as a little bit of a sad song, and I kind of meant it as a happy song, because… she’s still with me in my dreams… being in a state of peace, because you’ve got that person there with you in your sleep. In that way I kind of meant for it to be a little bit of a happy song.”
“Here Without You” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 2003, becoming the band’s third top 10 hit. As of December 2024, the single was certified six-times platinum by the RIAA.
The song’s success was partly helped by its popularity among members of the U.S. military during the Iraq War. Arnold commented on the connection, sharing that the feelings expressed in the song were something he believed “a lot of people can identify with, whether they’re apart for eight hours or eight months while (someone) is away overseas.”
