"What If" is a song by Creed, released as the second single from their 1999 album Human Clay on January 31, 2000 and it was also the lead single for the soundtrack to Scream 3, for which the band helped to produce.
Writing and recording
"What If" was written by singer Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti. Along with the rest of Human Clay, the song was recorded at a house outside of Tallahassee. Lead singer Scott Stapp moved there after reading that Jim Morrison had lived in Tallahassee.[1]
Music and lyrics
In the song, Scott Stapp sings about hatred and those who oppress others.[1] According to guitarist Mark Tremonti, the intro was inspired by the 1966 song "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones.[1] Along with "Bullets", it is one of Creed's heaviest songs.
Music video
The music video was directed by David Meyers and it features David Arquette reprising his role as Dewey Riley. The story revolves around Dewey getting call at 11:36 pm from Ghostface that sets off a chain of events at Sunrise Studios, the fictional filming location seen in Scream 3 where the Stab films were filmed. Each member of the band gets "killed" by the killer while their respective girlfriends run away, only to reveal to them and Dewey towards the end of the video that the guys created the prank. The real killer calls Dewey again, saying they're not finished yet before he starts attacking him from above which then cuts to black.[2] The music video can be found in the home media releases of Scream 3.
