The Used
The Used is an American alternative rock band from Orem, Utah. Their sound … Read Full Bio ↴The Used is an American alternative rock band from Orem, Utah. Their sound has been classified under many sub-genres of rock. They signed with Reprise Records in late 2001 and rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their debut self-titled album, The Used. Soon after a CD/DVD package named "Maybe Memories" was released containing unheard demos and a "behind the scenes" story of the band/band's past. They followed up with their second album, In Love And Death, in September 2004 and their third album, Lies For The Liars, in May 2007. An EP, Shallow Believer, was released in February 2008 that featured most of the band's B-sides to date. They spent the entire year of 2008 working on their fourth studio album, Artwork, which was released September 1st, 2009. The band has achieved both Gold and Platinum statuses in over 6 countries worldwide. Speaking with Songfacts
in a 2012 interview, The Used bassist Jeph Howard said that "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" is probably his favorite song by the band.
A few years ago, while preparing to send the album art for b-side collection Shallow Believer to his record label, Bert McCracken scrawled the word “Artwork” across its cover in silver ink. The sentiment, which, to Bert and his bandmates in The Used, resonated with both extreme simplicity and indescribable complexity, said everything without really having to say anything. Now, the Utah band has titled their fourth full-length album with that very word: Artwork.
The group started writing the album after finishing the Taste of Chaos International tour in 2007, slowly collecting and jamming out ideas with no concrete intention beyond making the songs as dirty as possible. The Used, whose last album, 2007’s Lies For the Liars, debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200, spent the first half of 2008 in LA exploring and refining these ideas, eventually piecing tangential riffs and melodies into a scattering of songs that contained a surprisingly cohesive sensibility. The band members dubbed the music they were writing “gross pop,” their own new genre of hook-laden numbers that pushed the boundaries of the grotesque. Tracking for the album began in June of 2008 with producer Matt Squire and eventually concluded in February of 2009, primarily at LA studios The Lair and NRG. Between a few sporadic tours, the band spent about three months total recording with Squire where they allowed their creativity to dictate when they worked on something.
“I wouldn’t say it was hard to make any of the record but it definitely was time consuming,” Bert says. “We worked on our time table. The band allowed me to create when I was able to create, which was a good thing. I didn’t feel pressure to force things. There was no specific time I had to do anything. If we were in the studio and I’d been working on lyrics for five hours and nothing came out, we would just try again tomorrow.”
In the studio Squire approached the recording process with a laid-back attitude the band both appreciated and needed. The decision to work with a new producer after establishing a longtime relationship with producer John Feldman, who was at the helm of the band’s past three albums (Lies For the Liars, as well as 2004’s In Love and Death and 2002’s The Used, both of which were certified gold), was derived from a simple desire for change. The Used wanted to see what would happen if they entered the studio with someone different, a process guitarist Quinn Allman compares to “breaking up with your girlfriend not because you don’t love her but because you need to try something new.”
“It wasn’t that we absolutely didn’t want to work with Feldman or that we absolutely wanted to work with Squire,” Bert explains. “It was more that the band needed a change. We wanted to try something different and have it sound a lot different. It took a few weeks for us to get a vibe for each, but once we got used to it, it was really easy. Squire brought in this willingness to try anything and an open mind and a good attitude. I feel like he was really in touch with what the band wanted to do and he was really supportive of our ideas.”
The result is a raw collection of twelve songs that not so delicately teeter the line between being aggressively discordant and charmingly hooky. The first single “Blood On My Hands,” which Quinn describes as the song that “sums up everything about The Used,” is confined chaos, brutally thrashing one moment and proffering a pop-driven, sing-along chorus the next. “Empty With You,” a track Bert says is “about feeling empty and lonely but as long as you have someone who can feel lonely with you then everything’s okay,” surges with passion and gripping honesty, while “Cut Yourself” balances the album’s predilection for propulsive rage with its quieter, piano-driven exploration of what it means to have someone to lean on.
“This record is more sincere,” Quinn says. “It’s got a sound more reminiscent of the first record. Lyrically, it completely engulfs you and makes you feel safe but it’s all about feeling alone and empty and knowing there’s always a light. If you’re frustrated that much it means you care that much. The lyrics carry you through the record and you’re right with Bert and where he’s at. The music isn’t showing off. It’s just being what it is. I think the fans will appreciate all that.”
“This record is about coming together,” Bert adds. “Whether it’s through positivity or negativity, it’s about coming together through anything.”
Artwork encapsulates the past eight years of a band that’s played tours and festivals like Warped Tour, Ozzfest, Projek Revolution, Give It a Name, Reading and Leeds and SxSW, and sold over two million albums in the States alone, while simultaneously urging them forward. It’s a collaborative effort that drew The Used closer together during its creation. It’s about love and mortality and the basic human emotions we all experience every day. It’s biting and gritty, and it’s melodic and catchy. It’s a new chapter for a band that’s constantly sought to redefine the bounds of pop music—and have always successfully done so. It’s a reminder, as Bert says, “we’re all artists creating our own art just by living it.”
“I Come Alive” is the first single from The Used's fifth album, Vulnerable. It is the first release on the band's own label, Anger Music Group, an imprint of Hopeless Records. The song was released on January 17, 2012. (I Come Alive Songfacts).
in a 2012 interview, The Used bassist Jeph Howard said that "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" is probably his favorite song by the band.
A few years ago, while preparing to send the album art for b-side collection Shallow Believer to his record label, Bert McCracken scrawled the word “Artwork” across its cover in silver ink. The sentiment, which, to Bert and his bandmates in The Used, resonated with both extreme simplicity and indescribable complexity, said everything without really having to say anything. Now, the Utah band has titled their fourth full-length album with that very word: Artwork.
The group started writing the album after finishing the Taste of Chaos International tour in 2007, slowly collecting and jamming out ideas with no concrete intention beyond making the songs as dirty as possible. The Used, whose last album, 2007’s Lies For the Liars, debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200, spent the first half of 2008 in LA exploring and refining these ideas, eventually piecing tangential riffs and melodies into a scattering of songs that contained a surprisingly cohesive sensibility. The band members dubbed the music they were writing “gross pop,” their own new genre of hook-laden numbers that pushed the boundaries of the grotesque. Tracking for the album began in June of 2008 with producer Matt Squire and eventually concluded in February of 2009, primarily at LA studios The Lair and NRG. Between a few sporadic tours, the band spent about three months total recording with Squire where they allowed their creativity to dictate when they worked on something.
“I wouldn’t say it was hard to make any of the record but it definitely was time consuming,” Bert says. “We worked on our time table. The band allowed me to create when I was able to create, which was a good thing. I didn’t feel pressure to force things. There was no specific time I had to do anything. If we were in the studio and I’d been working on lyrics for five hours and nothing came out, we would just try again tomorrow.”
In the studio Squire approached the recording process with a laid-back attitude the band both appreciated and needed. The decision to work with a new producer after establishing a longtime relationship with producer John Feldman, who was at the helm of the band’s past three albums (Lies For the Liars, as well as 2004’s In Love and Death and 2002’s The Used, both of which were certified gold), was derived from a simple desire for change. The Used wanted to see what would happen if they entered the studio with someone different, a process guitarist Quinn Allman compares to “breaking up with your girlfriend not because you don’t love her but because you need to try something new.”
“It wasn’t that we absolutely didn’t want to work with Feldman or that we absolutely wanted to work with Squire,” Bert explains. “It was more that the band needed a change. We wanted to try something different and have it sound a lot different. It took a few weeks for us to get a vibe for each, but once we got used to it, it was really easy. Squire brought in this willingness to try anything and an open mind and a good attitude. I feel like he was really in touch with what the band wanted to do and he was really supportive of our ideas.”
The result is a raw collection of twelve songs that not so delicately teeter the line between being aggressively discordant and charmingly hooky. The first single “Blood On My Hands,” which Quinn describes as the song that “sums up everything about The Used,” is confined chaos, brutally thrashing one moment and proffering a pop-driven, sing-along chorus the next. “Empty With You,” a track Bert says is “about feeling empty and lonely but as long as you have someone who can feel lonely with you then everything’s okay,” surges with passion and gripping honesty, while “Cut Yourself” balances the album’s predilection for propulsive rage with its quieter, piano-driven exploration of what it means to have someone to lean on.
“This record is more sincere,” Quinn says. “It’s got a sound more reminiscent of the first record. Lyrically, it completely engulfs you and makes you feel safe but it’s all about feeling alone and empty and knowing there’s always a light. If you’re frustrated that much it means you care that much. The lyrics carry you through the record and you’re right with Bert and where he’s at. The music isn’t showing off. It’s just being what it is. I think the fans will appreciate all that.”
“This record is about coming together,” Bert adds. “Whether it’s through positivity or negativity, it’s about coming together through anything.”
Artwork encapsulates the past eight years of a band that’s played tours and festivals like Warped Tour, Ozzfest, Projek Revolution, Give It a Name, Reading and Leeds and SxSW, and sold over two million albums in the States alone, while simultaneously urging them forward. It’s a collaborative effort that drew The Used closer together during its creation. It’s about love and mortality and the basic human emotions we all experience every day. It’s biting and gritty, and it’s melodic and catchy. It’s a new chapter for a band that’s constantly sought to redefine the bounds of pop music—and have always successfully done so. It’s a reminder, as Bert says, “we’re all artists creating our own art just by living it.”
“I Come Alive” is the first single from The Used's fifth album, Vulnerable. It is the first release on the band's own label, Anger Music Group, an imprint of Hopeless Records. The song was released on January 17, 2012. (I Come Alive Songfacts).
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
The Used Lyrics
01. Take It Away I'm lying to myself And this dagger is my excuse I'm a…
02. This Fire True, we acted like we should And did all that we…
04. Put Me Out You bought your smile in a corner You paid a pretty…
07. A Box Full Of Sharp Objects It's our time to shine through the down Glorified by what…
07. Give Me Love I lived out more than a little, Give my insides out…
12. Pieces Mended Being faced with what I'm faced with I feel Like I…
1984 No one is safe. Closer than I wanna be. Imaginary…
801 Underground (Bridge) Kids round here got a different way of doin' it L…
A Box Full of Sharp Objects It's our time to shine through the down Glorified by what…
A Box Full of Sharp Objects (D It's our time to shine through the down Glorified by what…
A Song To Stifle Imperial Progression God bless the USA God bless the USA God bless the USA We're…
About You Paid for what's been used It's nowhere in my mind Was it…
All I've Got So deep that it didn't even bleed and catch me Off…
Alone This Holiday Maybe light a candle Don't say a prayer for me Feel alone…
Back Of Your Mouth (hidden track on Japanese version of In Love and Death)…
Bert V1 I said too many goodbyes I've wasted everyones time i wis…
BIG WANNA BE Born ready to go I never had my fill I waited all…
Blood On My Hands You felt the coldness in my eyes And it's something I'm…
Bloody Nose Do you think I had a choice? Tell me where…
Blow Me It felt so heavy in my hands Looking scary through your…
Blue Yellow And it's all in how you mix the two And it…
Blue + Yellow And it's all in how you mix the two And it…
Blue and Yellow And it's all in how you mix the two And it…
Born to Quit Exercise the demon that is living up inside you After all…
Box Full Of Sharp O It's our time to shine through the down Glorified by what…
Bulimic From the way that you acted To the way that I…
Buried Myself Alive You almost always pick the best times to drop the…
Buried Myself Alive (Radio Edi You almost always pick the best times To drop the worst…
Burn Down The House Watch out, you might get what you're after Go baby, strange…
Burried Myself Alive You almost always pick the best times To drop the worst…
Bury Myself Alive You almost always pick the best times to drop the…
Cathedral Bell I hear sounds that my mouth didn't make. I hear…
Cherry I feel like burning it to the ground I build it…
Choke Me (British hooker hired by bert's bandmates sings "Happy Birth…
Circles You took it back How could you go and do something…
Cold War Telescreen Why postulate? My eyes are closed Malnourished, made My bag …
Come Undone Opened up my failure When you refused to go insane. I felt…
Cry You'll never know what it feels like 'til you're there When…
Cut Up Angels If we cut out the bad Well then we'd have nothing…
Dancing With A Brick Wall Fighting death is dancing with a brick wall It never bends,…
Dark Days I've seen the way that the sun sets in your…
Darkness Bleeds FOTF I'm asking for it. Not worried bout my reputation I'm beggin…
Devil Beside You Just by the look of it As in the way you…
Disaster If you need me I'll be out with the night. If…
Dopamine I love the way that you choke me to death Silently…
Earthquake She had an earthquake on her mind I almost heard her…
El-Oh-Vee-Ee Stuff your pockets stuff your mouth Much more than feeding Y…
Empty with You I haven't lost anything except my mind Expect a thousand con…
Evolution Call me a traitor, For changing my mind. Call me a criminal,…
Find A Way Lay your head down just for now Space fills your mind And…
Force Without Violence Our voices still silence The plans that we've made The dead …
Fuck You Yeah! Cannot move the misery Need to go back to sleep Never…
Generation Throwaway Whoa Generation throwaway Whoa Generation throwaway Get cau…
Getting Over You I still remember all the back and forth you couldn't…
Give Me Love I lived out more than a little, Give my insides out…
Giving Up Yesterday I woke up wanting to die Haven't seen the sunlight…
Goodbye To You Cut yourself in conversation, cut the line to make me…
Gravity's Rainbow Gravity's rainbow above me A screaming tears across the sky …
greener with the scenary You took it back How could you go and do something…
Hands and Faces How can I not taste it When it's right there put…
Hard to Say The singer finished singing and she's walking out The singer…
Headspace Broken limbs can be fixed, put them back into place What…
Heartwork Fists clenched in prepared kindness. Jaw grinds in syncopati…
Hospital This feeling never leaves you alone You pull the trigger on…
House of Sand I watch all the seasons change And the plans I've…
Hurt No One I never meant to hurt no one Nobody ever tore me…
I Small, simple, safe price. Rise the wake and carry me with…
I Caught Fire Seemed to stop my breath My head on your chest Waiting to…
I Come Alive Breathing in now I try counting my blessings Picturing the…
I Hate Everybody (I hate everybody) All my friends are falling in love But I…
I'm a Fake Small, simple, safe price. Rise the wake and carry me with…
Iddy Biddy I'll take one for the money 'Cause I've already paid I'll ta…
im a fake Small, simple, safe price. Rise the wake and carry me with…
Imaginary Enemy I wasn't made to understand. I've given up my name, forgotte…
Into My Web Whoaaa oh, oh. Whoaaa oh, whoa. Whoaaa, whoa, whoa oh, oh …
It Could Be A Good Excuse Blind on a ledge, not a thing, not a, Road of…
It's Hard To Say The singer finished singing and she's walking out The singer…
i’m a fake Small, simple, safe price. Rise the wake and carry me with…
Just a Little Surprise me I'm looking out looking out Surprise me you jump…
Kenna Song Kenna song Shine a light on what we think Kenna song Move th…
Kiss It Goodbye Cut yourself in conversation Cut the line to make me feel…
Kissing You Goodbye Cut yourself in conversation, cut the line to make me…
Let It Bleed This poison's my intoxication I broke a needle off in my…
Liar Liar Liar liar, pants on fire And the pills go down and…
Light With A Sharpened Edg Free from the torment of sin All this I'm giving up Much…
Light With A Sharpened Edge Free from the torment of sin All this I'm giving up Much…
Listening Your skin attached is a fragile cliche Of my broken heart…
Love Heart Don′t have time to go back to sleep I feel it…
Lunacy Wake up My love Never thought you'd make me, break…
Machine Can't watch with mechanical eyes, we say ahh-oh. You light a…
Make Believe I can't see what it is that you want me…
Maybe Memories As we trudge along through the mud And we tried to…
Meant To Die Past midnight, Breathing in the dark. Same strange friend co…
Men Are All The Same Always safe to know, what is good for taking Blood stains…
Moving On I might have so far to go And the moments left…
Moving the Mountain In climbing up I'm not surprised by where I've come Odysseus…
My Pesticide Stuck sitting in your own mess sinking Call up arms to…
Noise & Kisses Look in my eyes I'm jaded now whatever that means By…
Now that You "I began to spoke, my brain's holding the grip of…
Numb Wake up and I'm underground I can't see no sign of…
Obvious Blasé Go Obvious blasé Broken so completely Built me up in the sam…
On My Own See all those people on the ground, wasting time I try…
On The Cross We kill the fagots, we kill the lesbians, I said goddammit…
Overdose Does it start all at once? Or come as slow as…
Pain Fade away So you don't make a scene Close your mouth and…
Paradise Lost a Poem by John Milton To whom it may concern And all the tragic we've been…
Paralyzed Before I could ever let you go Gonna beg until I…
Pieces Mended Being faced with what I'm faced with I feel Like I…
Pinky Swear Tie your hand to mine, so you can't go away…
Poetic Tragedy The cup is not half empty as pessimists say As far…
Pretty Akward Handsome Kickin' it out Your dream vacation Small hostage refuge A w…
Pretty Picture My back to the wolf With the plans that I made…
Put Me Out You bought your smile in a corner You paid a pretty…
Quixotica Ink into tattoo, it's your favorite, it's your birthday The …
Revolution "All revolutions are impossible until they happen, then they…
River Stay Sleepwalking the empty like there′s x's on my eyes Held me…
Say Days Ago I still remember a year ago The times we spent I think…
Share With Me The way I broke your heart very literally This ghost haunts…
Shine How long was I sleeping? did you wake me? didn't…
Sick Hearts Call this a mask, call me strong; Call me a…
Sing Out Of Tune The prophet has a wife who has a girlfriend with…
Slit Your Own Throat I gotta take this moment Just to push you down Spin you…
Smother Me Let me be the one who calls you baby all…
Smother Me / Queso Let me be the one who calls you baby All the…
Sold My Soul I think about the worm that I've become, Left blind…
Sound Effects and Over Dramatics When the shirt came off, it was all in time When…
Sound Effects And Overdramatics When the shirt came off, it was all in time When…
SoundEffects And Overdramatics When the shirt came off, it was all in time When…
Sun Comes Up And it all falls down at once And I try to…
Surrender Started out as a feeling But the feeling it started to…
Take It Away I'm lying to myself And this dagger is my excuse I'm a…
Taste of Ink Is it worth the can you even hear me Standing with…
The Back Of Your Mouth The worms they crack like words and Turn you teeth up…
The Best Of Me I could forget your name I could forget your face forever I…
The Bird & The Worm He wears his heart safety pinned to his backpack His backpac…
The Brothers Karamazov I see myself in everything I hate about you I shut…
The Lighthouse I give myself to the shipwrecked I give myself to the…
The Lonely I see that face, that look in your eyes It's so…
The Lottery Gathered all in a circle. It's Ritualistic. Just like before…
The making of Buried Myself Alive You almost always pick the best times To drop the worst…
The Making of the Taste of Ink Is it worth the can you even hear me Standing with…
The Ocean Of The Sky The war is over if there was a war I hope…
The Ripper Time kills Go ask Jesus I'm done Makes no difference Stare s…
The Taste of Ink Is it worth the can you even hear me Standing with…
This Fire True, we acted like we should And did all that we…
This Is It Rumors silenced every note Big shot courage never known Forc…
Thought Criminal I made a deal with the holy ghost I made a…
To Feel Something Used to feel so satisfied, I'd waste my time, like…
Together Burning Bright Feel the pain wash over me Feel the salt that's burning…
Top of the World Without you I'm nothing There's a black hole on my heart I'm…
Tunnel I set out alone, Crawl through the tunnel, My eyes can har…
Under Pressure Pressure pushing down on me Pressing down on you no man…
Vertigo Cave The comfort of the shadow dance With a purpose, so demeaning…
Wake The Dead This is not natural A bunch of holes where the dead…
Watered Down In my eyes Course and jaded It's no surprise The lights have…
With Me Tonight The way I broke your heart very literally This ghost haunts…
Worst I've Ever Been (The sky is falling) I'm the worst I've ever been Cue the…
Wow I Hate This Song Bad songs sneak up on me like a horror film.…
Yesterday Close my eyes and move to the back of my…
Zero Mechanism It takes more, it takes more It takes more And now that…