Ocean Avenue (3:19)

“Ocean Avenue” was Yellowcard’s breakthrough single. This song is the second single from Ocean Avenue and the third track. It is known for bringing them into the mainstream, as it received numerous spins on MTV and increasing radio airplay. Ocean Avenue is a street in Neptune Beach, which is one of the beach suburbs of Jacksonville, the band’s stomping grounds, which they left behind when they moved to LA.

While the song was not officially released until September 2004, it was played on several radio stations in the US throughout the summer before.

On Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009, “Ocean Avenue” was released as a downloadable song for the music/rhythm game, Rock Band.

Background

According to former guitarist Ben Harper, “Ocean Avenue” is written about Jacksonville. “It’s this place where we used to hang out in Jacksonville. Instead of talking about a girl, it’s talking about a scene and a feeling that we want to get back to: hanging out and writing, before we moved to California.”