"The Middle" is a song by Russian-German record producer Zedd, American country singer Maren Morris, and American musical duo Grey.

Jimmy Eat World's single “The Middle” was a great teen film compressed into an under-three-minute pop song. Lyrically, singer Jim Adkins' message echoes what director John Hughes was telling teens in his heyday — you don't fit in with the cool kids and you don't play their games, but why should you?

The song asks "Why don't you just meet me in the middle?" . She is asking her lover to compromise with her. The phrase comes from financial dealings, say someone wants $100.00 for an item and someone else only wants to pay $80.00. One will suggest "Why don't we just meet in the middle?" and strike a deal at $90.00.

"The Middle" was written after Jimmy Eat World had been dropped from Capitol Records following the release of Clarity, their previous album. Their second album, Static Prevails, had sold just 10,000 copies in 1996 and Capitol Records decided to drop the band in 1999 due to a change in priorities.