text: crawl ( chris brown song ) " crawl " is a song by american recording artist chris brown . it is the second single from his third studio album graffiti , released as a digital download on november 24 , 2009 . the song was produced by the messengers and was written by nasri atweh , adam messinger , luke boyd , and brown . the song is about yearning to rebuild a failed relationship and was interpreted by critics as being about brown 's former relationship with barbadian singer rihanna . however , brown has stated the song is not about any of his previous relationships . the song received positive to mixed reviews . it charted in the top twenty in japan and new zealand , and the top forty in the united kingdom and ireland . it peaked in the united states at number fifty - three . the accompanying music video features brown and american r & b singer cassie as his love interest . in the video , he yearns for their relationship on a winter night in a city and in a desert scene . brown performed the song on his 2009 fan appreciation tour , and on bet 's sos : help for haiti telethon , which benefited victims of the 2010 haiti earthquake . background the song was leaked to internet on october 21 , 2009 , one day after ex - girlfriend rihanna 's ballad " russian roulette " was also leaked . the song , which has been described as " melancholy " , sees brown singing about a relationship that has slipped out of his hands with its chorus calling for an " incremental reconciliation " of the unspecified relationship . jayson rodriguez of mtv news noted that both " crawl " and rihanna 's " russian roulette " would inevitably be interpreted as being about brown and rihanna 's relationship . in an interview with mtv news , brown stated that the song is not about rihanna or any of his previous relationships . he called the message of the song " universal " , and not just about love but " any type of heartache . " about the track he said , " when i heard the whole concept and everything i was like , ' yo , this is crazy . so being able to express the feelings , it was like , probably one of the best [ records i 've done . ] but it was more than me trying to do a record that meant crawl to love , crawl back to love . meaning whether it 's from your negative situations , whether it 's from any problems you 've dealt with , like anybody 's situation . " although he stated his concept for the song was about love , he said for anybody , the song could be " inspired as far it being the war or a death in the family , whether it 's anything , anybody just crawl back to love . " critical reception the song received mixed to positive reviews . greg kot of the chicago tribune said the song was one of several on parent album graffiti that " flirt with a public apology . " kot went on to state that a " funeral organ " hovers over the song , and " the narrator longs for a second chance : " ' so where do we go from here / with all of this fear in your eyes ? ' " jon caramanica of the new york times said that both " crawl " and another song from graffiti , " so cold " , come off as " thoughtful , even if they 're not quite mea " and further suggested that " in these moments mr. brown is pining , mildly apologetic . " leah greenblatt of entertainment weekly called the song a " genuinely affecting second single " , and stated that " less forgiving listeners " looking for " signs of contrition " may find them on the track . dan gennoe of yahoo ! music uk said that , of the six tracks on the album 's deluxe edition that could be interpreted as dealing with brown 's relationship with rihanna directly , " crawl " is " by far the most catchily contrite . " rap - up said that the song shows brown " taking baby steps back to love and into the spotlight , " and said that it found brown " longing to mend a broken relationship " as in his 2008 jordin sparks collaboration , “ no air ” . chart performance after the song 's premiere on brown 's website , " crawl " made its official debut on the r & b / hip - hop songs chart at number ninety - nine . after its release for digital download on november 23 , 2009 , it later peaked at fifty - nine . on the week ending december 12 , 2009 , " crawl " debuted on the billboard hot 100 at sixty - eight and peaked at fifty - three . on december 19 , 2009 , " crawl " debuted on the uk singles chart at seventy - six . in february , the song re - entered the chart at eighty - five , and debuted on the uk r & b chart at twenty - five . on the week of february 27 , 2010 , the song reached its peak of number thirty - five on the singles chart , and eventually peaked at number eight on the r & b chart . the song debuted and peaked on the new zealand singles chart at number sixteen on the week beginning february 1 , 2010 . the song debuted and peaked at number thirty - nine on the irish singles chart , and reached number eight on the dutch singles chart . it peaked at number twenty on the japan hot 100 , and ninety - seven on the european hot 100 . music video the music video was edited by david blackburn and directed by joseph kahn , who also worked with brown on the " i can transform ya " and " forever " videos . the video features american r & b singer cassie as brown 's love interest . kahn had previously directed the video for britney spears 's 2008 ' comeback ' song , " womanizer " , after her public breakdown . in an interview with mtv news , kahn said , " i seem to be the guy that record companies go to when they need help , " he joked . " i truly feel [ brown ] is remorseful . you don 't drop people just because they made a mistake ( even if it was a big mistake ) . " kahn said that the entire idea for the video was brown 's : " it 's an interesting video for me , because it 's so rare that music videos ever try to achieve anything emotional . chris just basically told me a story of what he felt this video was going to be , with his heart glowing and how he 's , like , cold . it is a very personal story . but it 's told in such a graphic manner that i fell in love with the idea . it 's chris ' story . period . i am the pencil that put it down on the paper . " when comparing the song 's video to that of " i can transform ya " , the director said , " ' crawl ' is my favorite one , because — gosh , i 'm going to let you in on this — ' cause it 's probably his most personal thing he 's ever done . " he went on to say , " i mean , everything that 's happened to him in the year , i think this is going to be his big statement , in terms of what he 's feeling and what he 's living through right now . " when talking about the ideas and concepts of the video , kahn said that the video , his first ballad with brown , should speak for itself through the ideas that he had and the " genesis " of what that idea was . on november 2 , 2009 , several stills from the video were released onto the internet . the photos focused on two sets of the video , a desert location , and a snow and puddle - spotted alleyway . in both settings , brown wears the same thick black glasses , brown leather trench coat , white t - shirt , and fingerless gloves , among other attire . cassie appears in a photo from the alleyway scenes , as the desert scenes show brown in " deep contemplation " . the video first aired on the wendy williams show on friday , november 13 , 2009 , when brown was a guest on the show . the video opens with brown sitting on an edge of a bed wearing a plain white t - shirt . as the music begins and he starts singing , his heart is shown lit up red and beating in his chest . the singer then walks into an alleyway on a winter 's night , revealed in the air as he breathes . brown walks past several storefronts , seeing images of cassie broadcast on television . he then sees paparazzi taking photos of her , but she does not notice him . brown is shown in a desert scene , and then returns to the winter night scene as cassie sees him and they walk towards each other meeting face - to - face . they gather close , but brown does not reel her in as the video ends . the music video ranked at forty - eight on the bet : notarized top 100 videos of 2009 countdown . live performances brown performed the song on his 2009 fan appreciation tour , and on black entertainment television 's sos saving ourselves : hope for haiti telethon , to raise money for the country after the 2010 earthquake that devastated the area . eric ditzian of mtv news noted that although the song was rumored to be about rihanna , " the lyrics also at times seemed to fit the evening 's focus , like when brown sang , " if we crawl till we can walk again / then we 'll run until we 're strong enough to jump . " track listing digital download " crawl " – 3 : 57 germany digital download crawl - 3 : 56 graffiti - 5 : 12 credits and personnel songwriting - chris brown , nasri atweh , adam messinger , luke boyd production - adam messinger , nasri atweh background vocals - adam messinger , nasri atweh vocal recording - brian springer mixing - manny marroquin , assisted by christian plata & erik madrid source charts and certifications weekly charts release history