3 Doors Down released “Kryptonite”

Kryptonite 3 Doors Down

Writer(s): Brad Arnold, Matt Roberts, Todd Harrell (see lyrics here) Released: January 11, 2000 First Charted: February 5, 2000 Peak: 3 US, 16 BA, 15 RR, 4 A40, 24 AA, 19 AR, 111 MR, 17 UK, 6 CN, 8 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.4 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 533.88 video, 783.97 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: 3 Doors Down owes their first hit, and perhaps their career, to the fact that Brad Arnold, the band’s lead singer, was bad at math. As he says, when he was fifteen his teacher knew he wasn’t good at the subject, but let him go. Arnold entertained himself in class by writing, as he says, probably “about half of that Better Life album.” SF One of those songs in particular started out as Arnold tapping on his desk. That became the beat for “Krpytonite.” SF It was, he says, only the third or fourth song he’d ever written. SF Lyrically, the song is a series of questions like “If I fall down, will you be there for me?” and “If I go crazy, will you still call me Superman?” However, Arnold says, “It’s easy to be there for someone when they’re down. But it’s not always easy to be there for somebody when they’re doing good.” SF The song, therefore, became not about being there for someone in their time of need, but not being jealous when the person is successful. Arnold says the song actually has very little to do with Superman, despite the line dropping his name and the title referencing the substance which renders the hero powerless. SF The video, however, capitalized on the hero angle, portraying an old man donning a superhero costume to chase down and capture a man who harasses and abducts a woman. WK Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for 3 Doors Down SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 5/9/2020; last updated 8/8/2023.