Bassist Tim Foreman remarked that upon finishing the song, all the band members knew that they had really created something powerful. Jon Foreman (primary songwriter) said that "sometimes it still can move him to tears, and that he's glad it got a second chance, (on The Beautiful Letdown)." The reason the band gave the song a rewrite was "that song hadn't lived its shelf life yet". In addition, "after having played it a couple years live, I feel like we've got a better grip of how we want it to be on a record," he said.