Written by singer and guitarist Ed Roland, it peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart for nine weeks, becoming that chart's most successful song of 1995.

In Canada, the song reached number two on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart, becoming the band's highest-charting single until "The World I Know" attained the top spot in March 1996.

In a December 2017 interview with Songfacts, lead singer Ed Roland explained the inspiration behind "December": We were going through a tough time with our first manager, and I just felt like at the time, a lot of stuff happened really quickly.

You've got to remember, we had a hit song before we had a label or even a true band.

Burmese rock band Iron Cross has "copied" the song live in concert.