# Collide (Howie Day song)

"Collide" is a song by American singer-songwriter Howie Day. The song was written by Day and Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin, and the London Session Orchestra provided backing instrumentation on the initial album version of the song. "Collide" was released in the United States on June 1, 2004, as the third and final single from Day's second full-length album, Stop All the World Now (2003). The track was featured on The WB TV series One Tree Hill.
The track became the biggest success of Day's career, reaching number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 a year after its release in June 2005. It peaked even higher on component charts, reaching number seven on the Adult Top 40 chart (now known as the Adult Pop Airplay chart). Internationally, the track entered the airplay charts of Bolivia and Canada.

## Background and content

Howie Day collaborated with Griffin while writing this song. According to the sheet music published on Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing, "Collide" is written in the key of B major, with Day's vocals ranging from F#$_3$ – G#5. The song's lyrics are rooted in a relationship, with notes of the occasional adversity the two people involved may face. Day said of the song's appearance in One Tree Hill, "It's odd, I guess, because the single is a year old. But it's good especially because it will be the last single from this record and it's going out on a really good note."

## Critical reception

The Beaver County Times put the song in their "All You Need is Love" list writing, "Perfect for the newbie phase of a relationship. Sure, you're still scared, but as Day sings "Out of the doubt that fills my mind I somehow found you and I collide," it cajoles you to just give in to the lovin' in front of you." Julie Kertes of Radio & Records said that the song "achieve[s] a vibe that is somewhat introspective and melancholy with a hint of optimism."

## Chart performance

The popularity of "Collide" built slowly on US radio, at first gaining the greatest success on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart. Chart performance benefitted significantly from a reissue of Stop All the World Now in a special edition that included four bonus tracks, one being an acoustic version of the song that reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In February 2005, the track received an award from Broadcast Data Systems for 50,000 spins. By September 2005, the track had surpassed 200,000 confirmed spins. The following year in October 2006, it had been played 300,000 confirmed times on radio. As of April 2011, "Collide" has surpassed 400,000 confirmed spins on radio from different formats. Additionally, it tied a record with Jann Arden's "Insensitive" (1994) for the slowest trek into the top ten of the Billboard Adult Pop Airplay chart, entering the top ten in its 26th week at number nine.

## Music video

The music video was filmed in Toronto, Canada. The video features Day singing on the commuter train while recalling happy memories with his partner, interspersed with clips of Day playing guitar beneath a bridge.

## Personnel

Personnel are taken from the Stop All the World Now booklet.
* Wil Malone – string arrangement
* Gavyn Wright – conductor
* Laurie Jenkins – drums and percussion
* Michael Brauer – mixing
* Nathaniel Chen – assistant mixing engineer
* London Session Orchestra – orchestra

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark) | Gold | 45,000$^‡$ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Silver | 200,000$^‡$ |
| United States (RIAA) | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000$^‡$ |
| $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |||

## Release history

| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) |
| United States | June 1, 2004 | Triple A radio | Epic |
| United States | June 28, 2004 | Hot adult contemporary radio | Epic |
| United States | January 24, 2005 | Contemporary hit radio | Epic |
| United States | February 22, 2005 | Adult contemporary radio | Epic |

## Cover versions

In 2011, reggae singer Singing Melody covered the song on his album titled They Call Me Mr. Melody on the VP Records label. Singing Melody's cover of the song became number one on 4 international reggae charts. The album also reached number six on the Billboard Reggae Chart.
Daniel Evans, a finalist on The X Factor (UK), produced a country/pop cover on his YouTube channel in 2013 and was subsequently released on iTunes as track 3 of his self-produced Reflections EP.
In 2015, Sarah Charley, US communications manager for the Large Hadron Collider experiments at CERN with graduate students Jesse Heilman of the University of California, Riverside, and Tom Perry and Laser Seymour Kaplan of the University of Wisconsin, Madison created a parody video sung from the perspective of a proton in the Large Hadron Collider.

## In popular culture

"Collide" has since been used in promotion of various television series, including: What About Brian, Friday Night Lights, General Hospital, as well as the 2005 film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, and the 2005 film The Perfect Man.
This song has also been featured during episodes of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, Ghost Whisperer, Scrubs, ER, Bones, Third Watch, Cold Case, One Tree Hill, Grey's Anatomy, Summerland and Joan of Arcadia. On General Hospital this was the song to which popular pairing Patrick and Robin, known as "Scrubs", first made on Memorial Day in 2006.
It was used as the theme song to the short-lived 2005 teen drama Palmetto Pointe.
This song was also featured in a trailer for the 2004 teen musical drama film Raise Your Voice.
The song was featured in Season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance, featuring Kent Boyd and Lauren Froderman.
The song was also used recently in the 2016 Christian drama film Miracles From Heaven.
In 2015, after the US communications officer and three graduate students at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) shared a parody video of "Collide", Day made a new version of the song in a video during a visit to CERN. The lyrics were changed to the perspective of a proton in the Large Hadron Collider.
In 2021, in the Hallmark films Sweet Carolina and Eight Gifts of Hanukkah.
In 2005, the song was used in ABC's closing montage for the 2005 NBA Finals after the San Antonio Spurs won their 3rd NBA title.