"Will You" is a song by American 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 P.O.D.

P.O.D.

Payable on Death is an American Christian metal band formed in 1992. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Sonny Sandoval, drummer Wuv Bernardo, guitarist Marcos Curiel, and bassist Traa Daniels. Their Christian faith is an important part of their music.They have released seven studio albums and...

 and 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 third studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

, Payable on Death

Payable on Death

Payable on Death is the eponymous fifth studio album and third major label release by Californian metal quartet P.O.D.. This is also their first album to include guitarist Jason Truby and their last album produced by Howard Benson. Payable on Death was released on November 4, 2003 through Atlantic...

. Released on September 22, 2003, the song charted at #17 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart on December 2 that year.

Composition

The band chose "Will You" as a lead single to demonstrate a new side both lyrically and musically as noted by MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

's Jon Wiederhorn:

"The surging rhythm and audible tension are instantly familiar, as is the bottom-heavy groove laid down by bassist Traa

Traa Daniels

Mark "Traa" Daniels is the bass guitarist of the San Diego, California rock band P.O.D. He has been a member since 1994 and has performed on all of the bands official records....

 and drummer Wuv, but the technical guitar fills and rap

Rapping

Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

-free vocals of Sonny Sandoval

Sonny Sandoval

Paul Joshua "Sonny" Sandoval is an American singer and rapper. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band P.O.D..-Biography:...

 give the band a new vibe."

"Will You" features lyrics of anxiety and desperation amidst a turbulent and potentially crumbling relationship. Sandoval explained the song's nature in an interview:

"We always said we wanted to do something like that, but it just kinda turned darker than your average 'I love you' type of song. It's about sticking with the one you love and putting up with that person and being there through thick and thin."

Music video

Shot in September 2003 in Los Angeles, the music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 was directed by Marc Webb

Marc Webb

Marc Preston Webb is an American music video, short film and major motion picture director. He directed the 2009 romantic comedy-drama Days of Summer and is currently directing the 2012 Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man.-Life and career:Webb was born in Bloomington, Indiana, the son of...

 who also directed P.O.D.'s previous video

Sleeping Awake

"Sleeping Awake" is the lead single by P.O.D. from The Matrix Reloaded: The Album. The film soundtrack was released on May 6, 2003 by Warner Bros. Records/Maverick Records with the single itself available May 26...

. "Will You" carries the Christian message of turning the other cheek and deals with the problems faced by four adolescents

Adolescence

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...

 with little in common. A young preppy

Preppy

Preppy, preppie, or prep refers to a modern, widespread United States clique, often considered a subculture...

 girl is pressured into sex before being comforted by a punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 girl; an interracial couple

Interracial marriage

Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...

 is harassed at a party; and a youth deals with an alcoholic

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

 mother. This is accompanied by sped-up footage of P.O.D. performing the song in a vacant lot.

Track listing

1. Will You (Album version) - 3:48
2. Will You (Chris Vrenna remix) - 3:54
3. Cain - 3:27

Official Versions

• Will You 3:47
• Will You (Video/Radio Edit) 3:44
• Will You (Chris Vrenna Remix) 3:56
• Will You (Tommie Sunshine New Mix) 6:27
• Will You (Tommie Sunshine Original Remix) 5:37
• Will You (Tommie Sunshine Special Original Gigolo Instrumental) 5:37

Chart positions

Chart	Peak position	Year
Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...	12	2003
Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...	12	2003