Song · Shinedown
“45” by Shinedown
From the album Leave a Whisper (2003)
“45” by Shinedown appears on 13 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 2003 and 2025. It was first released in 2003 on the album Leave a Whisper. Its best result is #8 on the CHOI Top 98 Songs of 2004. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #102 alternative song of 2004 and #4,758 alternative song of all time.
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"45" is the brooding heart of Leave a Whisper, the 2003 Shinedown album on Atlantic, and it caught on fast as a single. Brent Smith wrote it with producer Tony Battaglia, who recorded and mixed it with Pete Thornton, and the band behind Smith (Jasin Todd on guitar, Brad Stewart on bass, Barry Kerch on drums) builds it from a brooding hush to a big, bruised post-grunge roar.
The title sounds like a gun, and plenty of listeners took it that way, but Smith has explained that the .45 stands for the world and whatever it throws at you each day. The song is really about looking in the mirror one morning and deciding to get comfortable in your own skin, because you have to make yourself happy before you can make anybody else happy. It went top three on the Mainstream Rock chart, and an acoustic take turned up on the album's 2004 re-release.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 37 | WCCC The Rock Hartford, CT | WCCC Top 106 Songs of 2003 | 106 |
| 2004 | 52 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2004 | 101 |
| 2004 | 52 | Y100 Philadelphia, PA | Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2004 | 99 |
| 2004 | 8 | CHOI Radio X Quebec City, QC | CHOI Top 98 Songs of 2004 | 98 |
| 2004 | 87 | Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA | Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2004 | 105 |
| 2004 | 33 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2004 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 59 | WJRR | WJRR Top 101 Songs of the Decade | 101 |
| 2010 | 162 | 94.1 The Zone | 94.1 The Zone 210 Most Played Songs of the Decade | 210 |
| 2014 | 363 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) | 500 |
| 2015 | 387 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) | 500 |
| 2019 | 458 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) | 500 |
| 2023 | 453 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) | 500 |
| 2025 | 80 | 94.1 WJJO | WJJO Frequent Rocker Top 100 Songs of 2025 | 100 |
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