"Why I'm Here" is a song by American hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band Oleander

Oleander (band)

Oleander is a post-grunge band from Sacramento, California, USA. Its name is derived from the poisonous wildflower oleander, which line the highways of Northern California. In their nine years of activity, the band released four studio albums under various record labels...

. It was the lead single

Lead single

A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...

 from their major label debut album, February Son

February Son

February Son is the major label debut album from post-grunge band Oleander. It was released on Universal Records in 1999 and eventually went gold. As such, February Son boasts some of Oleander's most successful singles. It also includes new drummer Scott Devours who was hired to replace the band's...

. The track was previously included on Oleander's eponymous EP in 1996 and their independent LP, Shrinking the Blob

Shrinking The Blob

Shrinking the Blob is the first full-length album by American post-grunge band Oleander. It was released independently on Fine Records. Several tracks would be re-released on the band's major label debut, February Son, including the hit single "Why I'm Here." The song "Jimmy Shaker Day" was also...

, in 1997. Despite comparisons to Nirvana

Nirvana (band)

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

's "Heart-Shaped Box

Heart-Shaped Box

"Heart-Shaped Box" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. The song was released as the first single from the group's third and final studio album, In Utero, in 1993. It was one of two songs from the album mixed by Scott Litt in order to augment...

," "Why I'm Here" would become Oleander's best known song, charting higher than any of their other singles.

The melancholy power ballad features various hallmarks of post-grunge

Post-grunge

Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...

. A simple, clean guitar pattern strikingly similar to "Heart-Shaped Box" begins the song; the first three notes, as well as the overall chord progression, of both songs are indeed identical and largely responsible for its criticism. An additional guitar melody and drums enter shortly after with lonesome singing. The pre-chorus introduces a bittersweet violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 and eventually enters an aggressive, heavy chorus. Lyrically, "Why I'm Here" describes people's vague resentment toward the narrator as well his/her indifference toward a significant other

Significant other

Significant other is colloquially used as a gender-blind term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming anything about marital status, relationship status, or sexual orientation, as it is vague enough to avoid offense by using a term that an individual...

, shouting "I can't love you anymore/I'm scared of the sound of it."

The promotional CD single of "Why I'm Here" includes both the album version and a "No Strings Attached" version which omits the violin.

Regarded among popular post-grunge singles, "Why I'm Here" has appeared on compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

s such as Now That's What I Call Music! 3

Now That's What I Call Music! 3 (U.S. series)

-Chart performance:...

in 1999 and Universal Smash Hits in 2000. The song was featured in the Dawson's Creek

Dawson's Creek

Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...

second season finale, "Parental Discretion Advised."

Reception

Despite the song's undeniable similarities to "Heart-Shaped Box

Heart-Shaped Box

"Heart-Shaped Box" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. The song was released as the first single from the group's third and final studio album, In Utero, in 1993. It was one of two songs from the album mixed by Scott Litt in order to augment...

," Allmusic's Heather Phares named "Why I'm Here" one of three AMG Album Picks in her review of February Son. She regarded it as among the band's "finest post-grunge-isms." However, Noel Murray of The A.V. Club

The A.V. Club

The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...

viewed the song more negatively, regarded Oleander as "[arriving] too late for grunge

Grunge

Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...

 and too early for emo

Emo

Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...

." He elaborated that "the band gamely struggles to justify its existence to major-label masters who can hear something marketable, but can't figure out who'd want to buy it."

Track listing

Charts

Chart (1999)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...	7
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	3
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	13