Makes Me Wonder

Did You Know?

• The song set a record for the biggest jump to number-one in Billboard Hot 100 history, rising from number 64 to number one, a record later broken by Britney Spears' "Womanizer" and then by Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You."
• The music video was shot at the Los Angeles International Airport, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, and the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters, and was directed by John Hillcoat.
• The gate in the music video is labeled "M5," which stands for Maroon 5.

Background and writing

Adam Levine began writing parts of "Makes Me Wonder" years before its 2007 release. Maroon 5 recorded a demo while on the road, one of their first, but set the track aside. They revisited it for It Won't Be Soon Before Long; Levine recalled the label loved it. After a break from studio sessions to gain perspective, the band regrouped at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California, where they rethought and recut several songs. Struggling to finish the track, they could not formulate a matching chorus for music that had existed for four years. While working on another song at a Las Vegas studio, they came up with a part that worked after changing the chords, which became the chorus.

Production and music

Producer Mark Endert, who had contributed to the band's debut album, was asked to assist on "Makes Me Wonder" after working on another album track. The band did not like the song and felt it had not realized its potential, but were open to new ideas. Endert produced a mockup arrangement using his Logic system at Scream Studios, programming keyboards, bass, and guitars on an old '80s Roland. He flew to Los Angeles to present it to the band, who approved. At Sunset Sound studio, they added tracks and replaced parts from Logic with band instruments, making it sound like Maroon 5. The idea was to make the music contemporary and urban while referencing '70s and early '80s sound, shifting from a rock 'n' roll feel to a '70s funk vibe.

Lyrical meaning

"Makes Me Wonder" began as a love song about a failed relationship that went horribly wrong. The lyrics have two meanings: political insinuations disguised as a love song, and a straightforward love theme. Levine did not want to be preachy, so he combined frustration at a failed relationship with failure to understand or trust the country's leadership. The line "Give me something to believe in / Because I don't believe in you anymore" became the refrain. Levine said the lyrics were maybe not targeted at the Bush Administration but danced around that territory, reflecting the band's confusion about politics. He wanted to write a political song without coming off as preachy, so he alluded to it rather than stating it overtly. The second meaning concerns a relationship that went horribly wrong, tied to growing dissatisfaction and confusion.

Chart performance

"Makes Me Wonder" made an unusually fast impact on adult contemporary radio, with many stations adding it to heavy rotation just days after its release. It climbed to number 11 on the U.S. Adult Top 40 in only two weeks, making it just the third song since 2000 to reach the top 15 of that chart in two weeks or less. In the May 12, 2007 issue of Billboard, Maroon 5 earned their first number-one on the Hot 100, powered by strong airplay and 243,500 digital downloads.

That jump from number 64 to number one broke the record for the biggest leap to the top spot, previously held by Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This." The song stayed at number one for a second week, dropped to number two, then returned to number one the following week. By June 2014, it had sold 2,923,000 downloads in the United States. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 19 on downloads alone a week before its physical release, then rose to number two, kept from the top by Rihanna's "Umbrella." In Mexico, it sold over 420,000 digital downloads.