Maroon 5
Harder To Breathe
Everyone knows that this song is about some kind of failing relationship with a significant other or friend. It seems pretty obvious from the lyrics:
You should know better, you never listened to a word I said
Clutching your pillow and writhing in a naked sweat.
Well, the song is not about a typical relationship in the sense, but about a relationship between an artist and record label.This song is actually about their record label! The executives demanded more songs for Maroon 5’s debut album Songs About Jane. Furious, Adam Levine turned his rage into song lyrics:
Is it painful to learn
That it’s me that has all the control.
Well, Levine should buy those execs a bottle of wine! “Harder to Breathe” was well-received by critics, reached No. 18 on Billboard’s Hot 100, and catapulted Maroon 5 to international fame.