Getting the Lyrics Right for "How Do I Live"
LeAnn Rimes recorded "How Do I Live" in 1997. It was written by Diane Warren. The song became a massive hit and stayed on the charts for over a year. People always ask about the lyrics because there are a few versions floating around, some with small differences in wording. The official version goes like this: If I had to live without you
There'd be no reason for me to go
There'd be no day for me to see
And I would have to find some other way to live
Without dying first
You are everything, everything I need
Everything I do
I know that I would never survive on my own
'Cause how do I live without you I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything I've done
Is nothing compared to going on without you
Living without you You are everything, everything I need
Everything I do
I know that I would never survive on my own
'Cause how do I live without you
How do I live without you
How do I live without you
I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything I've done
Is nothing compared to going on without you
Living without you You are everything, everything I need
Everything I do
I know that I would never survive on my own
'Cause how do I live without you
How do I live without you
How do I live There is a Jason Aldean country version from 2013 that shares the same core lyrics but rearranges a few lines. The Warren original for Rimes is the version most people reference.
Get the Full Details
I spent time looking into this because I ran into a problem years ago where someone submitted lyrics to a karaoke database that had the bridge order swapped. The second chorus came before the verse instead of after. It threw off anyone trying to sync lyrics to the track. The workaround was just cross-referencing the actual album release on Spotify and comparing it line by line. Took about ten minutes instead of chasing down five different websites that all copied the same error. One thing people miss is that the line "When everything I've done / Is nothing compared to going on without you" gets misquoted a lot. A lot of sites flip it to "nothing compared to living without you." Those are close but not identical, and if you are syncing lyrics or doing a cover, using the wrong words throws off the meter. Warren wrote it as "going on." Stick with that. Another edge case: the song was originally intended for the Con Air soundtrack. Steinberger Productions fought for the rights because they liked the demo. That is why the Rimes version exists at all. There was never an official alternate take with different lyrics. Any version that changes the core lines significantly is fan-made or a cover interpretation.
The song runs about four minutes and fifteen seconds in its original form. Covers tend to stretch or compress depending on tempo. The lyrics themselves don't change structurally between versions, just the delivery. If you need an accurate source, the official publisher is Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Licensed lyrics through that route will match the released recording. Third-party lyric aggregators sometimes have typos that persist across their networks. I learned to just pull the audio and write it out rather than trust a site that copies from other copied sites. Saves you from the bridge swap issue I mentioned. That's basically it. The lyrics are straightforward. The main trap is relying on unverified lyric sites that spread the same errors around. Cross-check against the actual recording and you should be fine.
