In the lyrics, you don't tell the whole picture: You give a road to start on that people can relate to.

[5] It is composed in the key of D minor with Wade's vocal range spanning from the low-note of A3 to the high-note of E5.

[5] Dave Urbanski of Today's Christian Music questioned whether the lyrics "I’m trying to identify the voices in my head / God, which one’s you..." were about God or a girl, but applauded their "skillful musicianship" and "poetic insight".

[6] John DiBiase of Jesus Freak Hideout said that the song has catchy rock, but noted how it "tends to find itself getting a little monotonous at times.

"[7] "Breathing" had limited commercial success and debuted on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart at number 39 for the week of November 10, 2001.