The World I Know
"The World I Know" is a song by American band Collective Soul, originally released on their 1995 eponymous album. Written by lead singer and guitarist Ed Roland and guitarist Ross Childress, "The World I Know" peaked at number 19 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart when released as a single and spent four weeks at the number-one spot on the "Billboard" Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. In Canada, the song reached number one on the week of March 11, 1996, becoming the band's highest-charting single there. Background. In a December 2017 interview with  Songfacts, lead singer Ed Roland explained the inspiration behind "The World I Know": Music video. The music video depicts a businessman who begins to go about his day, reading "The New York Times" on the way to his office. As he reads about death, and sees the homelessness and sadness on the street, he becomes disillusioned with his life and prepares to commit suicide. As he climbs to the roof of a nearby building, he takes off his shoes and looks at the ground crying. He stretches out his arms and readies himself to fall. However, just as he is  about to fall, a dove lands on his arm. He feeds it with the bagel in his pocket, and the crumbs attract ants, which makes the man notice the similarities of them to the people walking below. He laughs throwing all his money at the people and pulls himself out of his state. During the entire video, periodic cuts to singer Ed Roland looking on at the man while singing the song are shown. The video also shows sadness and happiness in the form of color hues for the video. While the man is disillusioned with his life and is  thinking about suicide, the video is in a blue and purple tint, giving a dark feeling to the video. When the dove lands on the man's arm, the video's hue changes to show the normal colors of the city, also revealing the sun shining over the city, showing of the sudden change to happiness and relief. Track listings. US CD and cassette single, Australian CD single US 7-inch single UK CD single Cover versions. On May 20, 2008, David Cook, winner of the seventh season of "American Idol" performed the song. Following his performance, Cook's version  peaked at number 14 on the "Billboard" Hot Digital Songs chart and number 28 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. Pat Green covered this song in his album "Songs We Wish We'd Written II".