Jumper (song)

"Jumper"
Single by Third Eye Blind
from the album Third Eye Blind
B-side	"Graduate" (remix)
Released	August 1998
Format	CD,
Recorded	1995
Genre	Alternative rock, pop rock
Length	4:32 (Album Version) 4:06 (Radio Edit)
Label	Elektra
Writer(s)	Stephan Jenkins
Third Eye Blind singles chronology
"Losing a Whole Year" (1998) "Jumper" (1998) "Anything" (1999)

"Jumper" is a song by the American rock band Third Eye Blind and written by vocalist Stephan Jenkins. It was released in August 1998 as the fifth and final single from their self titled album. The song reached number 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart^[1] The song also peaked number 9 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Background and writing

Lead singer Stephan Jenkins has said that the song is "about a friend who's gay, jumping off a bridge and killing themselves."^[2] The song is also about Jenkins' own difficult, often alienating childhood experiences. He says, "My parents divorced, and that hurt me. We were poor and I went to a rich high school. I was dyslexic and had attention deficit disorder, which I still have. So I carried all these things with me. One afternoon, I had this epiphany. I said 'You know what? I don't have it all together. I come from stuff that was really difficult, and that's me. That's who I am.' I embraced that. There's a line in the song that says, 'Everyone's got to face down the demons/Maybe today we can put the past away.' It's very much a song about putting the past away."^[3]

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1998–99)	Peak position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	10
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4]	5
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[4]	9
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks[4]	5
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[4]	2

End of year charts

Chart (1999)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5]	40

Appearances in other media

• The song is featured in the 2008 film Yes Man, as Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) uses an acoustic serenade to try to prevent a suicidal man (Luis Guzmán) from jumping off the ledge of an apartment building.
• A cover of the song has been recorded by BEDlight for BlueEYES featuring Sebastian Davin of Dropping Daylight for the album Punk Goes 90's. Indie-pop band Daphne Loves Derby also regularly covers this song in concert.
• This song was used for a public service announcement on Season 5, Episode 3 of MTV's Road Rules titled "The Blind Leading the Blessed." The show originally aired on January 26, 1998.^[6]
• This song was featured in the 2011 film 30 Minutes or Less on a mixtape made by Travis (Nick Swardson).
• This song was featured in the American Dad! episode "The Scarlet Getter".
• This song was featured in the 2011 film My Suicide.
• A remixed version entitled, "Jumper '09" was added to the Rock Band Music Store as DLC through the Rock Band Network in 2010.
• The song was sung during a skit on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake on December 16, 2014.^[7]

References

1. Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th ed, Billboard Publications, Inc. 1996. ISBN 0-8230-7632-6
2. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/08/stephan_jenkins.html
3. "Third Eye Blind make a lyrical leap of faith", Teen People, February 1999
4. "Chart Performance: Third Eye Blind". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
5. "Billboard Top 100 - 1999". Retrieved 2010-08-28.
6. http://www.tv.com/road-rules/the-blind-leading-the-blessed/episode/167929/summary.html
7. "BFFs Justin Timberlake And Jimmy Fallon Just Went All '90s At Camp". Huffington Post. December 17, 2014.