| Five Candles (You Were There) | |
| Cover: | Jarsofclay_fivecandles.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Jars of Clay |
| Album: | Much Afraid |
| Released: | 1997 |
| Recorded: | 1997 |
| Genre: | Pop rock |
| Length: | 3:38 (Radio Edit) 3:48 (Album Version) |
| Label: | Essential/Silvertone |
| Producer: | Stephen Lipson |
| Prev Title: | Crazy Times |
| Prev Year: | 1997 |
| Next Title: | Fade to Grey |
| Next Year: | 1998 |
"Five Candles (You Were There)" is a song written and performed by Jars of Clay. It is the second radio single from their 1997 studio album Much Afraid. The song was initially written for the soundtrack to the motion picture Liar Liar, starring Jim Carrey. However, the ending credits, when the song would have been played, were changed to an outtakes and bloopers reel, thus cutting the song from the film. A working title of the song during the writing and recording studio sessions was "The Wish", which fits in with the themes of Liar Liar, just as the eventual title, "Five Candles", as the story of the film revolves around the wish Max made as he blew out the five candles for his fifth birthday. The song was later used in the 1998 Michael Keaton film, Jack Frost, and was featured on that film's soundtrack.
Written by Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason, Matt Odmark