Peak
2
Weeks
54
Score
10,655
Chart Year
2001
Lifehouse lead singer Jason Wade wrote this song. When we asked him in 2017 what it means to be "hanging by a moment," he replied: "I just feel like my whole life has been a series of moments where you're just trying to hold on and not get swept away. I grew up all over the place - I lived in Hong Kong for a couple of years. I didn't grow up with any roots really, so in my teenage years when I started to write songs to try to interpret the earlier half of my life, it seemed we were just constantly in turbulence and moving and changing and shifting. And from that point on, when I wrote that song, it took us on this crazy, wild adventure. But, yeah, I would say it is about just trying to stay in the moment, stay present, and enjoy the moments as they're happening around you." Wade claims he wrote this in about 5-10 minutes on acoustic guitar. Said Wade: "I remember just sitting on the couch in the studio and I heard the melody in my head while I was doing another vocal track, which is really weird, it'll kinda give you a headache. I don't recommend it, but anyway, I went into the other room and picked up a guitar and it just kind of happened, so from that moment on I learned when you have to write a song, when the melody is in your head." >> This was the most-played song on US radio in 2001, owing much of its success to cross-generational appeal. Jason Wade was just 21 when it was released, and while many Lifehouse fans were his age, many more were older, earning the song airplay on both MTV and VH1, and also on Rock, Pop, and Adult Contemporary radio stations. This song has often been mistakenly called "Hanging By a Thread," "Living on a Moment," and "Living By the Moment." None of which are correct. Asked by Billboard magazine if he is singing about God, Jason Wade replied: "I didn't really think about it when I was writing it. I knew at the end of it that it was a love song, and I kind of come from that world, so it can be interpreted as a spiritual song or a love song. I feel like people have just been taking it for whatever they want it to be through the years - which I'm totally fine with, because I think that music should be interpreted how the listener wants to interpret it." Report an ad The droning sound that starts this song is not a cello, but an upright bass played with a bow. Lifehouse had three official members when they recorded this song, and all of them were very green. Many session musicians were brought in to help out, even on instruments the band played. Like the listeners who heard this song over and over on the radio, Jason Wade grew weary of this song when Lifehouse hit the road. "I'm a little tired of it," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I've probably played it 400 times."
I'm desperate for changing Starving for truth I'm closer to where I started I'm chasing after you I'm falling even more in love with you Letting go of all I've held onto I'm standing here until you make me move I'm hanging by a moment here with you Forgetting all I'm lacking Completely incomplete I'll take your invitation You take all of me now I'm falling even more in love with you Letting go of all I've held onto I'm standing here until you make me move I'm hanging by a moment here with you I'm living for the only thing I know I'm running and not quite sure where to go And I don't know what I'm diving into Just hanging by a moment here with you There's nothing else to lose There's nothing else to find There's nothing in the world That can change my mind There is nothing else There is nothing else There is nothing else I'm desperate for changing Starving for truth I'm closer to where I started I'm chasing after you I'm falling even more in love with you Letting go of all I've held onto I'm standing here until you make me move I'm hanging by a moment here with you I'm living for the only thing I know I'm running and not quite sure where to go And I don't know what I'm diving into Just hanging by a moment here with you Just hanging by a moment (here with you) Hanging by a moment (here with you) Hanging by a moment (here with you) Hanging by a moment here with you Writer/s: Jason Wade
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 10, 2001 | 76 | 50 |
| 2 | Feb 17, 2001 | 64 | 62 |
| 3 | Feb 24, 2001 | 53 | 73 |
| 4 | Mar 3, 2001 | 47 | 79 |
| 5 | Mar 10, 2001 | 40 | 86 |
| 6 | Mar 17, 2001 | 30 | 96 |
| 7 | Mar 24, 2001 | 21 | 105 |
| 8 | Mar 31, 2001 | 20 | 106 |
| 9 | Apr 7, 2001 | 14 | 112 |
| 10 | Apr 14, 2001 | 14 | 112 |
| 11 | Apr 21, 2001 | 10 | 116 |
| 12 | Apr 28, 2001 | 6 | 120 |
| 13 | May 5, 2001 | 4 | 122 |
| 14 | May 12, 2001 | 4 | 122 |
| 15 | May 19, 2001 | 4 | 122 |
| 16 | May 26, 2001 | 4 | 122 |
| 17 | Jun 2, 2001 | 4 | 122 |
| 18 | Jun 9, 2001 | 3 | 123 |
| 19 | Jun 16, 2001 | 2 | 124 |
| 20 | Jun 23, 2001 | 2 | 124 |