‘I Lived’ is the fifth single taken from ‘Native’ (2013), the latest album from the American pop rock band One Republic. The single follows the success of their previous track, ‘Something I Need’, which could be heard on all the main American radio stations during the first few months of 2014.
‘Native’ is the bands third studio album and marks a change of direction in their style. This change hasn’t been a huge success, from a commercial point of view – with the exception being the huge hit ‘Counting Stars’ which is still at Nº3 on the iTunes charts in America. ‘I Lived’ is an emotional homage to Bryan Warnecke, a young fan who has battled for 15 years with cystic fibrosis, a terrible hereditary condition that primarily affects the lungs and has a life expectancy of not much more than 36 years.
The video shows footage of a young Bryan talking about his treatment and shows images of his childhood – playing sports and overcoming the hurdles of daily life. “It feels like you are breathing through a straw. When I try to breathe hard, it really hurts. But I want to make the most of the life I have and enjoy myself as much as possible. My biggest fear is not being able to do that”, says Bryan during the video. The video was produced by Taylor Vandegrift and has its high point when Bryan goes to a OneRepublic concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, after being sent a special invitation by frontman Ryan Tender.
The video concludes with a message that says how Bryan and his friends have traveled more than 1200 miles and raised $300,000 for cystic fibrosis research.
