"I Stand Alone" is a song by the American rock band Godsmack. It was released to radio in February 2002 as the lead single from the Scorpion King soundtrack. It would reappear on Godsmack's third studio album, Faceless, the following year. It won a 2002 Metal Edge Readers' Choice Award for "Song of the Year From a Movie Soundtrack."
"I Stand Alone" reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock chart and No. 20 on the Modern Rock chart in the US. The single achieved Gold certification for more than half a million copies shipped in the United States, spurring sales of over 1.5 million copies for Faceless and propelling Godsmack to worldwide popularity.
Writing and production
"I Stand Alone" was written by Sully Erna and produced by Mudrock for the film The Scorpion King, with the band receiving a script and a trailer, deciding to then write about the main character, Mathayus. The film's star, Dwayne Johnson, complimented the result, saying "When you see that on the trailer, "I Stand Alone", that's a hot, hot song, and very indicative of what the character's all about." Erna elaborated on how the song was created: "I had a little bit of time before we started writing the new album. And it turned out that The Scorpion King director Chuck Russell was a fan of Godsmack and wanted to use our song "Voodoo" in the movie. Because the song was a little dated, he wanted me to redo it, and I wasn't really up for that. Instead I submitted some new music I had written 'I Stand Alone'. Once we were working together, he leaned on me a little bit to help him find some of the best up-and-coming bands."
In terms of production, Robbie Merrill stated that Mudrock managed to bring Sully to another level with his vocal range and trying different ideas that the band wouldn't have tried in the past. They wanted to give the producer a chance and it worked out well.
Music and lyrics
"The song was written about the character, the Scorpion King, in the movie," Erna explained on the set of the accompanying video. "It's about him being this big, masculine badass, but he has this hidden sensitive side to him. He feels like he's isolated, and he likes to do things alone because he was hurt in the past or whatever. I don't really know why he is the way he is. I guess there's always this mystique about those people who are really tough but maybe feel a little bit lonely inside. So the lyrics are kind of based on his character — being as masculine as he can be but yet isolated and a loner."
"I Stand Alone" features a chugging main riff enhanced by textural, single-note guitar lines and powerful, melodic vocals. The song starts with a lunging beat and a guitar riff that shifts between a low, rumbling buzz and an eerie series of notes much higher up the fretboard. Then, for the verse, the song locks into a crunching, percussive riff reminiscent of Metallica before kicking back into the eerie opening passage with Sully Erna scream-singing the song's title and the lines "I'm not afraid of fading/ Feeling your sting down inside of me/ I'm not dying for it." During the midsection of the song, the music turns creepy and atmospheric, and the singer moans, "It's my time to dream/ Dream of the skies/ Make me believe that this place isn't made by the poison in me/ Help me decide if my fire will burn out before you can breathe."
Music video
The music video is based on The Scorpion King, and it also features clips from the film. It was directed by the Brothers Strause. The video was made at a cost of approx $750,000.
Appearances
The song was also featured in the video game Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, used both for its trailer and the ingame music that mimics the song. The main theme of the game revolves around The Prince trying to change his fate all by himself, while the Time Guardian known as the Dahaka tries to end his life. An instrumental version of the song (without the lyrics) is played when the Prince is being chased by the Dahaka in some parts of the game.
"I Stand Alone" is also the entrance song of Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt as well as former Boston Red Sox pitcher Craig Hansen.
On January 20, 2009, the song became available for download in the Rock Band series, marking the first time Godsmack is represented in a music video game.
The song also featured in 2005 film Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis.
The song featured in video games Guitar Hero 5 and Rock Band Unplugged as DLC.
The song appeared in the 2012 film Here Comes the Boom, as the entrance song of UFC champion Ken "The Executioner" Dietrich (played by Krzysztof Soszynski).