Barely Breathing

"Barely Breathing"
Single by Duncan Sheik
from the album Duncan Sheik
B-side	"Home"
Released	November 12, 1996
Format	CD single, Cassette single
Genre	Alternative rock, pop rock, soft rock
Length	4:15 (Album version) 3:56 (Radio edit)
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	Duncan Sheik
Duncan Sheik singles chronology
"Barely Breathing" (1996) "She Runs Away" (1997)
Music sample "Barely Breathing" A sample from "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik

"Barely Breathing" is the first single from the Gold-plus debut album of American singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik.

Details

Originally intended as a "throwaway" track written to complete the album, the song became Sheik's breakout hit, entering the top 20 of the U.S. Billboard charts, peaking at #16, and holding steady for 55 weeks. "Barely Breathing" also hit #19 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart.^[1] At the time, it was the fourth longest-running single in the Hot 100.^[2] It ranked #88 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s, and #8 on their 40 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 90s list.

Additionally, "Barely Breathing" earned Sheik a BMI Award for Most Played Song of the Year in 1997 and a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1998.^[3]

The song was most recently covered in the 4th episode of the 4th season of the American musical comedy-drama television series, Glee ^[4] by the late Cory Monteith and Darren Criss as the characters Finn Hudson and Blaine Anderson respectively.

Track listing

• US CD Single:

1. "Barely Breathing" - 4:15
2. "Home" - 4:48

• UK CD Single:

1. "Barely Breathing (Radio Edit)" - 3:57
2. "The End of Outside (Live)" - 5:02
3. "Rubbed Out" - 5:19

• Alternate CD Single:

1. "Barely Breathing (Radio Edit)" - 3:56
2. "Barely Breathing (Album Version)" - 4:15

Chart performance

Chart (1996-97)	Peak position
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[5]	20
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[6]	12
US Billboard Hot 100[7]	16
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[8]	19
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[9]	2
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[10]	10

Year-end

Chart (1997)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11]	18

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 220.
2. "Hip Online: Artists: Duncan Sheik". Archived from the original on 2006-10-31. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
3. "Duncan Sheik: CV". Archived from the original on 2006-11-29. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
4. "Barely Breathing (Glee Cast Version)". Amazon.com. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
5. Canadian Adult Contemporary peak Collections Canada
6. Canadian Top Singles peak Collections Canada
7. "Duncan Sheik – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Duncan Sheik. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
8. "Duncan Sheik – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Duncan Sheik. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
9. "Duncan Sheik – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Duncan Sheik. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
10. "Duncan Sheik – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Duncan Sheik. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
11. "Billboard Top 100 - 1997". Retrieved 2010-08-28.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics