“Misery” was released as the lead single from Maroon 5’s third studio album Hands All Over. The song became a top-ten hit in eight countries, and peaked in the top forty in every country it charted in. In the US, it peaked at 14.

Lyrically, the song is about the narrator finding himself in a difficult situation when a relationship fades. The song documents the decay of a relationship, familiar territory for the band.