Songfacts®:

• In America, Collective Soul sold over 2 million copies of their debut album, and another 3 million of their next one, making them one of the biggest rock bands of the '90s. But because of a legal issue with their manager, Bill Richardson, they were frozen out of profits and kept out of the recording studio until the issue could be resolved. Bandmember brothers Ed and Dean Roland moved back in with their parents, and the band worked on their third album in a small cabin. Embittered, Ed Roland came up with "Precious Declaration."
  
  "hat was basically about going through a lawsuit," he said in a Songfacts interview. "'Precious Declaration' is when they signed the release that we could continue being a band and continue on with our career. He got what he thought was his, and I got what I thought was mine. Hence, 'Precious Declaration' means yours is yours, and mine you leave alone now."
• Released as the first single from the Disciplined Breakdown album, "Precious Declaration" was the fifth of seven #1 hits for Collective Soul on the Mainstream Rock chart.
• Collective Soul did very well on both MTV and VH1, but they took little interest in the videos, allowing the directors to handle that end. "Precious Declaration" finds them in a warehouse setting with an assortment of random images (blindfolded guy throwing knives, an armful of mannequin arms) and lots of light flashes. It was directed by Lawrence Carroll, who also did Jewel's "You Were Meant For Me" and Counting Crows' "A Long December."