I Will Steal You Back

Album: Damage (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This single was premiered on April 10, 2014 on KROQ 106.7fm's, The Kevin & Bean Show. Jimmy Eat World's Jim Adkins briefly explained to the hosts the grown-up sentiment behind the lyric. "Love songs are what make rock 'n roll go around. It's just sort me trying to take an honest look at what that might be in an older context. In a non-bubblegum kind of way," the frontman said. "It's also kind of more about bettering ourselves in the process. It's about focusing on making decisions instead of just resolutions."
  • This song isn't really about trying to win back someone's love. Jim Adkins told NME: "It's more about finding yourself and being okay with yourself than it is wanting or needing something from the other person in the relationship."
  • The band had trouble balancing this rhythmically tricky song. Drummer Zach Lind remembered: "In the original version of it, there was these really heavy, like straight guitars, like palm muted... so you had this sort of straight, very rigid-sounding guitar part, but then you had this sort of groove go back and forth."

    They ended up relying on the acoustic guitar to hold the song together, but instead of abandoning the heavier elements, they pushed them to the background. Lind said: "They're lower in the mix, and it worked really well that way because they kind of provide an energy and power to the parts they're in, but they didn't overpower the song."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

Colin Hay

Colin HaySongwriter Interviews

Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.

Five Rockers Who Rolled With The Devil

Five Rockers Who Rolled With The DevilSong Writing

Just how much did these monsters of rock dabble in the occult?

Thomas Dolby

Thomas DolbySongwriter Interviews

He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.

Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoungSongwriter Interviews

Dennis DeYoung explains why "Mr. Roboto" is the defining Styx song, and what the "gathering of angels" represents in "Come Sail Away."

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.