"Awakening" is the second single from Switchfoot's sixth studio album, Oh! Gravity.. The single was released to radio in March 2007. It hit Hot AC radio stations with an impact day of March 26, 2007 and eventually peaked at No. 54 on that format's charts. It was also slated for release to Top 40, Alternative, and Active Rock stations, [1] but saw virtually no play on any of those formats.

The song was written during some time off between tours supporting the band's fifth record, Nothing Is Sound. "We had two or three weeks off tour in January of this last year," bassist Tim Foreman said. "We were touring in support of 'Nothing is Sound' and we had some time to go into the studio. "We didn't really have a plan," noted Switchfoot singer/songwriter Jon Foreman about that time in the studio. This lack of deadline pressure allowed the band to write music freely, and out of those sessions came "Awakening."

It was the first official track recorded when it came time to begin actual recording for Oh! Gravity. and was produced by Steve Lillywhite, whose credits include U2 and Dave Matthews Band. "We just love his big-picture input on the song 'Awakening.'” said Tim.

About the song itself, songwriter Jon Foreman said, "Perhaps to be truly reborn death is not optional. Here’s a firsthand story about new life, it always starts at the bottom."

A music video for this song was filmed February 28, 2007 in Toronto, one of the stops on the band's Winter/Spring Tour.Brandon Dickerson (director of "You Already Take Me There" and "New Way to Be Human" videos) directed the Awakening music video. It was released leaked, April 5 by the band's web content designer, Dale Manning on YouTube.

The official release date for the music video was Tuesday, April 10. It premiered on the band's official YouTube account and on the website. The video is different from the band's previous videos because the video is not overtly related to the song or the meaning of the song. It is also different in the fact that the band funded the video out of their own pockets, without support from their record label.

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Wikipedia