Surrounded

Album: Under These Rocks And Stones (1997)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Chantal wrote this song on the piano. It's a very personal song to her and she finds it hard to sing live because it's so emotional.
  • The song is about Chantal's first love committing suicide and how he's "all around her" now. Speaking with CBC Radio, she said it was a song about him and about "what it felt like to be told something so horrible."

    "When I was about 18, the boy I loved as a teenager, he was amazing, he was really an amazing guy," she explained. "Everybody was just kind of in awe of him and he had a lot of phenomenal qualities and, I think, almost too much awesomeness for this world and it ended badly. He had a quick turnaround with, I think, schizophrenia, which led to a psychotic depression. And he found an old antique gun and figured out how to make the thing work and he took his life."
  • Chantal refers to "the bomb" as being the phone call she got that announced he killed himself, but she said it could mean other things too, like losing a loved one. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Sunjay - Toronto, Canada, for all above
  • Kreviazuk doesn't do drugs, and uses music to get her through the tough times and as a kind of therapy. This song played a huge part in her personal development and her evolution as a songwriter. "I probably was, myself, not mentally well for a good year at least," she said of hearing the news of her friend's suicide. "Certainly it's impacted my whole journey."

Comments: 3

  • Graham from North Bay, CanadaDid this one chart the highest on her first album?
    Because I thought "God Made Me" was a bigger hit.
    I could be wrong
  • Laine from Kalamazoo, MiSo sad now that I know the meaning!
  • Sunjay from Toronto, CanadaIt reached #19 on the Adult Top 40 on 1997 and #9 on the Muchmusic 30. Her first breakthrough single.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

British Invasion

British InvasionFact or Fiction

Go beyond The Beatles to see what you know about the British Invasion.

John Kay of Steppenwolf

John Kay of SteppenwolfSongwriter Interviews

Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien Songs

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien SongsSong Writing

The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.

Charles Fox

Charles FoxSongwriter Interviews

After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.

90s Metal

90s MetalFact or Fiction

Test your metal - Priest, Maiden, and Beavis and Butt-head show up in this one.

Lajon Witherspoon of Sevendust

Lajon Witherspoon of SevendustSongwriter Interviews

The Sevendust frontman talks about the group's songwriting process, and how trips to the Murder Bar helped forge their latest album.