It's Been Awhile

"It's Been Awhile" is a song by American rock band Staind, released on March 27, 2001, as the lead single from their third studio album, Break the Cycle (2001).

The song is Staind's most successful, becoming a number-five hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in October 2001—their only song to reach the top 10. It spent a second-best 20 weeks at number one on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart (behind "Loser" by 3 Doors Down) and a then-record 16 weeks at number one on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Worldwide, the single became a top-20 hit in Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Background
Aaron Lewis originally wrote this song around 1996 along with "Outside" slightly prior to the release of Dysfunction and performed it with a short-lived acoustic side project called J-CAT, before abruptly shelving it until 2000 during the recording sessions of Break the Cycle.

Reception
Eric Aiese of Billboard reviewed the song favorably, saying that the group handles the ballad well and packs "a lot of punch into the cut." Aiese said that the song "may be the group's greatest splash yet."

Music video
The music video was directed by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. It had its world premiere on MTV's Total Request Live program on April 13, 2001. The music video begins with Aaron Lewis going through some old photographs, one of which is a picture of his wife. The video switches between him writing a letter to his wife and the band performing in a room full of candles. There are brief shots of Aaron alone in the streets and looking at himself in the mirror while having second thoughts. Throughout the video, Aaron is seen smoking cigarettes. At the end of the video, one of those cigarettes falls onto the floor and burns down his apartment.

Track listings
UK CD1
 * 1) "It's Been Awhile" (clean edit) – 3:51
 * 2) "Suffocate" – 3:17
 * 3) "It's Been Awhile" (album version) – 4:25
 * 4) "It's Been Awhile" (enhanced video)

UK CD2
 * 1) "It's Been Awhile" (live version) – 4:40
 * 2) "Spleen" – 4:40
 * 3) "It's Been Awhile" (acoustic version) – 4:31

European CD single
 * 1) "It's Been Awhile" (edit) – 3:56
 * 2) "It's Been Awhile" (acoustic version) – 4:31

Australian maxi-CD single
 * 1) "It's Been Awhile" (edit) – 3:56
 * 2) "It's Been Awhile" (acoustic version) – 4:31
 * 3) "Suffocate" – 3:17