Due to the success of rival boy band NSYNC's album No Strings Attached selling over 2.4 million copies in its first week, there were high expectations from industry experts and fans that the Backstreet Boys' next album Black & Blue would break the first week sales of No Strings Attached.

[citation needed] Craig Seymour of Entertainment Weekly gave the song a C− in his review, stating that the "mid-tempo ballad is more a joyless retread than a maturing makeover".

Jason Lipshutz of Billboard considered the song to be a disappointment, stating that it was a muted mid-tempo reflection on mistakes and weaknesses, as well as being "miscast as a flashy comeback that would return serve against *NSYNC and hijack pop radio for months.

[3] On MTV's Total Request Live the music video broke the Backstreet Boys' record for the longest-running number-one song, which was previously held by "Larger Than Life" (1999).

[7] The video shows the Backstreet Boys rehearsing lines for a production titled Shape of My Heart, printed on a script around an empty theater in places such as the backstage wall and on the stage.

The actress Sara Foster and the actor Ryan McTavish rehearse on the stage while another couple watches from a desk in front of the audience.