{{Short description|1999 single by Oleander}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox song | name = Why I'm Here | cover = OleanderWhyI'mHere.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Oleander | album = February Son | released = {{start date|1999|1|25}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Adds for January 25 & 26|magazine=Gavin Report|issue=2239|page=36|date=January 22, 1999}}</ref> | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Post-grunge<ref>{{cite web|publisher=AllMusic|last=Phares|first=Heather|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/february-son-mw0000049231|title=February Son – Oleander|access-date=January 6, 2021}}</ref> | length = 3:58 | label = * Universal * Republic | writer = * Thomas Flowers * Oleander | producer = Steven Haigler | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = I Walk Alone | next_year = 1999 }}
"'''Why I'm Here'''" is a song by American hard rock band Oleander. It was released the lead single from their major label debut album, ''February Son'', in January 1999. The track was previously included on Oleander's eponymous EP in 1996 and their independent LP, ''Shrinking the Blob'', in 1997. Despite comparisons to Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box," or perhaps because of them,<ref>{{cite web | title=Thomas Flowers of Oleander | author=Michael Christopher | url=http://www.popmatters.com/feature/oleander-030505/ | access-date=December 7, 2013 | publisher=PopMatters}}</ref> "Why I'm Here" would become Oleander's highest-charting song in the United States. The promotional CD single of "Why I'm Here" includes both the album version and a "No Strings Attached" version that omits the violin.
==Composition== {{Original research section|date=December 2022}} The melancholy power ballad features various hallmarks of post-grunge. A simple, clean guitar pattern strikingly similar to "Heart-Shaped Box" by Nirvana begins the song; the first three notes, as well as the dynamic contour, 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 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, singing "I can't love you anymore/I'm scared of the sound of it."
==Reception== AllMusic's Heather Phares named "Why I'm Here" one of three AMG Album Picks in her review of Oleander's album ''February Son''. She regarded it as among the band's "finest post-grunge-isms." However, Noel Murray of ''The A.V. Club'' viewed the song more negatively, regarding Oleander as "[arriving] too late for grunge and too early for emo." 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."<ref>Murray, Noel [https://web.archive.org/web/20090707084034/http://www.avclub.com/articles/inventory-16-fadingfrommemory-hits-from-the-now-th,1621/ Inventory: 16 Fading-From-Memory Hits From The Now That's What I Call Music! Collection] ''The A.V. Club'' (October 27, 2006). Retrieved on 7-18-09.</ref>
==Track listing== {{track listing | headline = CD single | title1 = Why I'm Here | note1 = LP version | length1 = 3:57 | title2 = Why I'm Here | note2 = acoustic | length2 = 4:11 | title3 = Silver Lined | length3 = 2:47 | title4 = Candy Store | length4 = 4:23 }}
==Charts== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}}
===Weekly charts=== {|class="wikitable sortable" !Chart (1999) !Peak<br />position |- {{single chart|Canadarock|8|chartid=8151|access-date=January 24, 2024}} |- {{single chart|Billboardbubbling100|7|artist=Oleander|access-date=September 14, 2021}} |- {{single chart|Billboardalternativesongs|13|artist=Oleander|access-date=September 14, 2021}} |- {{single chart|Billboardmainstreamrock|3|artist=Oleander|access-date=September 14, 2021}} |} {{col-2}}
===Year-end charts=== {|class="wikitable sortable" !Chart (1999) !Position |- |Canada Rock/Alternative (''RPM'')<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.9960&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.9960.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.9960|title=RPM 1999 Top 50 Rock Tracks|magazine=RPM|via=Library and Archives Canada|access-date=January 24, 2024}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|43 |- |US Mainstream Rock Tracks (''Billboard'')<ref name="usrockye">{{cite magazine|title=1999 The Year in Music|magazine=Billboard|volume=111|issue=52|page=YE-90|date=December 25, 1999}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|10 |- |US Modern Rock Tracks (''Billboard'')<ref name="usrockye" /> | style="text-align:center;"|40 |} {{col-end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Oleander}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1990s ballads Category:1996 songs Category:1999 debut singles Category:Oleander (band) songs Category:Rock ballads Category:Republic Records singles