Collective Soul released "The World I Know" off their self titled album in 1995. The song peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained at #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks.
In a December 2017 interview with Songfacts , lead singer Ed Roland explained the inspiration behind "The World I Know":
I wrote that when we had a day off in New York City. This was 25 years ago, when we were in Times Square, which is not what Times Square is now, which is like Disneyland. There was still some grit and dirt to New York City - especially around Times Square and Union Square back then. I literally walked out of the room, took a two-hour walk around New York, and just absorbed and observed from the highs and lows of what society was offering in the greatest city in the world.
Collective Soul was very hands off when it came to making videos. They let the directors do their thing. Guy Guillet created this amazingly expressive video.
Collective Soul "The World I Know" 1995
David Cook sang "The World I Know" on the last day of competition on American Idol season 7 where he faced off against David Archuleta.