[5] The song's lyrics are of a "struggle to get through to his girl",[9] and contain an extended metaphor, relating his fight for love to that of moving mountains, wishing for the situation to change.

[7] Leah Greenblatt called it "an easy pick" as a single,[4] while Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine lauded it as "further evidence that Usher always delivers musically".

[14] "Moving Mountains" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number seventy-two on the chart date June 14, 2008.

[20] "Moving Mountains" was commercially well received in the rest of Europe, reaching the high point of number twenty-two on the European Hot 100 Singles.

[21] In individual countries, the song reached the top forty in Austria,[22] Czech Republic,[23] Germany,[24] Ireland,[25] Slovakia[26] and Sweden.

[28][29] The song also had chart success in Japan and Australia, reaching the high positions of thirty-three and thirty-six, respectively.

[30][31] "Moving Mountains" had the most impact in New Zealand, where it reached number six on the singles chart,[32] and, on March 29, 2009, was certified gold by the RIANZ for over 7,500 sales.

As the song begins, Usher inspects the smoking ruins and imagines a woman in a shard of a broken mirror.

As the video ends, Usher kneels, and the mountains breaks around him, leaving a sole pillar for him to stand on.