Songfacts®:

• The Nashville-based singer-songwriter Marc Scibilia got his biggest exposure from the 2015 Jeep Super Bowl commercial where he sang Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." In 2020, he got another pop when Samsung used his original song "How Bad We Need Each Other" in their "Stay Together, Stay Apart" commercial. That song Scibilia wrote in a Boston hotel room in 2007 when he was on tour, thinking about the importance of friendship and meaningful connection. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the song proved the perfect soundtrack for the Samsung spot, which has the tagline, "We'll get through this, together."
• This was first released in 2010 as a single and appeared on Scibilia's debut album, Out of Style, in 2015. Unfortunately, his label, IRS Records, shut down just weeks later and Scibilia was independent again. He shows up at a lot of festivals and has toured with Zac Brown Band, James Bay and Gavin DeGraw.
• Scibilia was going through a rough time when he wrote this song; he was lonely and wondering if chasing a career in music was worth it. "How Bad We Need Each Other" helped turn things around. "It's the first song I ever had that achieved commercial success," he told Songfacts. "It's also the only song I've had re-emerge 10 years later with a worldwide TV campaign. The most significant thing about this song is how it's connected with people - from being played at graduation ceremonies to weddings - it has found its way into a lot of moments in a lot of people's lives. The lyrics seem to be able to float in and out of a few moments in time. It feels like the same message is being applied into different times we're living in right now. It's amazing!"
• The original version was recorded with session musicians in Nashville and produced by Jason Lehning. The version used in the Samsung commercial is a demo of the song he made with his brother, Matt Scibilia, on percussion, with his friend Konrad Snyder producing. It was done on a shoestring budget for about $250.
• This was used in the 2012 Bones episode "The Prisoner in the Pipe." In 2020, it appeared in a Water.org public service announcement narrated by Matt Damon.