[1] "Meant to Live" is the first track on the group's 2003 major-label debut album The Beautiful Letdown.

Singer/writer Jon Foreman has said, "Maybe the kid in the song is me, hoping that I'm meant for more than arguments and failed attempts to fly.

"Meant to Live" is an alternative rock song that lasts for a duration of three minutes and twenty seconds.

[4] "Meant to Live" is composed in the key of B minor, while Jon Foreman's vocal range spans one octave and three notes, from a low of D3 to a high of G♯4.

[5] Heather Phares of AllMusic's claims that the song "has its cake and eats it too, musically and lyrically speaking.

"[5] She continued writing, "Meant to Live"'s sympathetic, idealistic (not preachy) viewpoint, combined with its powerful guitars, make the song successful as both an alternative CCM and modern rock single.