The song became the group's third single to sell 2 million downloads in the United States, after "How to Save a Life" and "Over My Head (Cable Car)".
It has sold 3.6 million copies in the US as of February 2015, making it one of the most downloaded rock songs. The single was certified double platinum by the RIAA and the ARIA in 2009.
The song was nominated for a Choice Music: Rock Track award at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards. The song was ranked No. 13 on the Hot 100 Songs of 2009 list and No. 36 on Billboard's Best Adult Pop Songs of the Decade list. It was also ranked No. 42 on Billboard's Top 100 Digital Tracks of the Decade listand No. 61 on the ARIA's list of the Top 100 Tracks of the Decade.
In an interview, lead singer and pianist Isaac Slade expressed his meaning behind the lyrics of the song:
"'You Found Me' is such a great song you should really listen to it. I love it as if it were my own child. The heart ache, the let down that comes with life. Sometimes you're let down, sometimes you're the one who lets someone else down. It gets hard to know who you can trust, who you can count on. This song came out of a tough time, and I'm still right in the thick of it. There's some difficult circumstances my family and friends have been going through over the past year or so and it can be overwhelming. It wears on me. It demands so much of my faith to keep believing, keep hoping in the unseen. Sometimes the tunnel has a light at the end, but usually they just look black as night. This song is about that feeling, and the hope that I still have, buried deep in my chest."
In another interview Isaac Slade declared that:
"I kept getting these phone calls from home – tragedy after tragedy... If there is some kind of Person in charge of this planet – are they sleeping? Smoking? Where are they? I just imagined running into God standing on a street corner like Bruce Springsteen, smoking a cigarette, and I'd have it out with Him."
In a Reuters article about the album, Slade stated that the lyrics for "You Found Me" were written in 2007, and that the song asks about the problem of evil, why bad things happen to good people, after some of their friends and family went through very tough times.
"You Found Me" debuted at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the band's highest debut on the chart to date. On the February 7, 2009, issue of Billboard magazine, the single jumped to number eight on the strength of a 91% digital single sales increase from the previous week and steady airplay gains on several radio formats, becoming the Fray's third career Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit after "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life". It peaked at number seven, their second highest peaking song on the chart. On the Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart, the song reached number one, making it their third top five hit and second number one on that chart. The song reached 3 million in downloads in the US by October 2011, and has sold 3.6 million copies as of January 2015.
On the Canadian Hot 100 it debuted at number 51, and jumped to number 13 the following week also based on sales strength and would go on to peak at number 12 in mid-February. In the United Kingdom, the song reached number 35.
In its first week on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, the song debuted at number 998 and peaked at number one. It marks the Fray's first ever number-one song in Australia and second top-ten hit after "How to Save a Life". The Fray held this spot for four weeks until Flo Rida's "Right Round" knocked it off the top spot. More than two and a half years since exiting the ARIA Top 50, it returned to the chart at No. 50 for the week starting November 28, 2011, on the back of The X Factor Australia runner-up Andrew Wishart collaborated with the Fray on the show's grand finale.
The B-side track to the single is a cover of R.E.M.'s "The Great Beyond". The track was originally covered for BBC Radio 1's compilation album, Radio 1 Established 1967, in which 40 artists were asked to cover a song for each year from 1967 to 2007 to celebrate the station's 40th anniversary.
The video was shot in Chicago with Josh Forbes as the director and premiered on January 10, 2009, on VH1 and on the VH1 website. The video was inspired by Wim Wenders' film Wings of Desire. It depicts scenes of the band members in different roles- playing the song on a steel bridge, unknown people, and the members of the band are standing on top of skyscrapers looking towards the sky, and at a car accident at which the band oversees those involved, somehow being their own "guardian angel". The video ends with all material objects being lifted into the air.
You Found Me
Fray Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the west was all but won
All alone
Smoking his last cigarette
I said where you been?
He said, ask anything
Where were you
All my days
Spent by the telephone
That never rang
And all I needed was a call
That never came
From the corner of First and Amistad
Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait?
Where were you, where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me
In the end
Everyone ends up alone
Losing her
The only one who's ever known
Who I am, who I'm not, and who I wanna be
No way to know
How long she will be next to me
Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait?
Where were you, where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me
Early morning
City breaks
I've been calling
For years and years and years and years
And you never left me no messages
You never send me no letters
You got some kind of nerve
Taking all I want
Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Where were you? Where were you?
Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait?
Where were you, where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me
Why'd you have to wait
To find me?
To find me?
The Fray’s song “You Found Me” is a song about the feeling of abandonment and loneliness, and in the key moments of despair when we question our faith, hence the line “I found God on the corner of First in Amistad, where the West was all but won.” It explores the singer’s disappointment in God for not coming to their aid during their time of trouble. These times might have been in a financial breakdown, a broken relationship or a malaise in their spiritual journey. The singer is broken and lying helplessly without anyone around for a rescue; until an unexpected person, God comes to them at ‘the little late’ hour.
Further, the song discusses how the only person the singer relied on has abandoned them, and they are alone. The loss of this one person has made the singer insecure and unsure of their identity. They found adrift, wondering who they are and what they want to be. However, at the brink of their disintegration, comes a savior, someone who is a little late but has come regardless. The singer questions where this person was when they were falling apart alone and if they could have come sooner, their lives would have been different.
Line by Line Meaning
I found God on the corner of First in Amistad
I found faith and hope while standing on the street corner of First and Amistad
Where the west was all but won
Where the hardships and challenges were overcome in the western part of the country
All alone
Feeling isolated and lonely
Smoking his last cigarette
Finishing up the last cigarette before moving on
I said where you been?
I asked where have you been all this time?
He said, ask anything
He told me to ask him anything I wanted
Where were you When everything was falling apart?
Where were you during the difficult times when everything was breaking down and falling apart?
All my days Spent by the telephone That never rang
I spent all my days waiting for a call that never came
And all I needed was a call That never came
I just needed one call but it never came
From the corner of First and Amistad
I was waiting for the call at the corner of First and Amistad
Lost and insecure You found me, you found me
I was lost and unsure, but you found me and rescued me
Lying on the floor Surrounded, surrounded
I was lying on the floor with my problems surrounding me
Why'd you have to wait? Where were you, where were you?
Why did you wait so long to find me? Where were you all this time?
Just a little late You found me, you found me
Although it was a bit late, you found me and helped me
In the end Everyone ends up alone
Eventually, everyone will be alone
Losing her The only one who's ever known Who I am, who I'm not, and who I wanna be No way to know How long she will be next to me
Losing the only person who truly understands me and who knows who I am, who I am not, and who I want to be. There's no way to know how much longer she will be with me
Early morning City breaks I've been calling For years and years and years and years
When the city was still waking up, I have been calling for years with no response
And you never left me no messages You never send me no letters
You never bothered to leave me a message or send me a letter
You got some kind of nerve Taking all I want
You have the audacity to take away what I want and leave me with nothing
Why'd you have to wait To find me? To find me?
Why did you have to wait so long to find me and help me?
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ISAAC SLADE, JOSEPH KING
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Ch4rlz_ThA_Princ3
Hey bud. You are an alternate version of myself, crafted uniquely, delicately and with genuine passion & thought.
You were crafted by the force that first put all forces into motion. The force that came before both the chicken AND the egg. People have many names for this force, but in truth, the label is irrelevant.
And thus I cannot bite my tongue here.
You must stand up and keep fighting. Do not be discouraged. Simply begin again. Start over as many times as you need.
This is why we're here.
@abril-rp7xw
¿Boulevard?
¿Pushi?
¿No lo superas, no?
¿Sigues llorando escuchando You Found Me?
Y ahora te encanta esta banda y en especial está canción ¿Cierto?
Gracias Luke ahora tengo diferente tipo musical y está canción es mi favorita✨
Edit: sigues aquí? Que patética que eres, Weigel.
Edit 05-12-21
"Hoy es 05 de diciembre del 2021</3"
Y aquí estoy escuchando esta canción otra vez😭✨
@KeemiRobinson
I just know someone is listening to this song in 2024
@ephemeralIove
me :)
@dansmith6574
I know I am
@jermvelez3444
Almost every day I put this on
@joshuacrayford7462
I'm listening to this song because I forgot what it was called because I remember when it came out
@champagnearti
Of course man The Fray will forever be goated
@britneybarzallo3653
"Mierda, Weigel. ¿Donde estuviste todo este tiempo?"🌈⃤
@ludmilaruiz6164
🥺🥺🥺🥺
@greyschavez6940
Pushi💙
@samarita23vp95
Luke😭