Songfacts®:

• DeRülo travelled the world after the success of this debut album. In doing so he experienced different places and discovered new things, which influenced the writing of his sophomore record, Future History. He told Digital Spy: "There's a song on album called 'Breathing' where a lot of influences took part: African chants, Euro-dance, rock guitar and bits that you can't even hear on the finished version." He continued: "That song means a lot to me as it's serious and heartfelt, but the melody is the exact opposite. It's about my cousin, who recently passed away."
• The song samples "Pilentze Pee," as performed by The Bulgarian choir, Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares.
• DeRulo told the Associated Press's Mesfin Fekadu why he made such an uptempo song about his cousin's death. He explained: "It's partly about my cousin's passing and partly about a relationship I was in. It has a positive-negative vibe to it. If you're going through something you don't have to dwell in it. You can pick yourself up and that was the thought process behind writing this song and during the recording process, during the writing process it was pretty emotional and pretty rough for me. I was actually in tears when I was making the record."
• The song's music video was directed by Colin Tilley, who shot the singer's previous visual for "It Girl." DeRulo studied theater in college and we see him flex his acting chops when, haunted by the ghost of his ex, he simulates a seizure in an electric chair.