Ben Jorgensen created Armor for Sleep in 2001 and Nash Breen and PJ DeCicco later joined the band after leaving fellow New Jersey band Prevent Falls. He stated that the name of the band comes from his early experiences of writing music and not being able to sleep. After distributing demos Albany, New York-based indie label Equal Vision signed the band and released their first two concept albums: Dream to Make Believe, released in 2003, and What to Do When You Are Dead, released in 2005.
What to Do When You Are Dead spawned the popular singles "Car Underwater" and "The Truth About Heaven," receiving lots of airplay with their music videos. Each song on the album tells the story of the protagonist's suicide as well as his journey through the afterlife. The story goes through moments of personal introspection at the positive and negative aspects of his life while he quietly visits important locations of his past life without disturbing anyone. Analyzing the lyrics of each track, you can see him progress through the Kübler-Ross 5-stage model of grief management as he initially denies his situation, then wishes for a reversal, and finally accepts his fate. The album ends with the character finally coming to grips with his decision, and his spirit continues on, having completed his business in this life. Initial copies of the CD came with a bonus DVD that featured live footage of the band as well as the music videos for "My Town" and "Dream to Make Believe," both from Dream to Make Believe. It also included a making-of documentary and a small booklet titled "What to Do When You Are Dead: A Comprehensive Guide to The Afterlife" which featured satirical ways to cope with death should you unexpectedly perish. A remix by Machine Shop of "Remember to Feel Real" was featured on Snakes on a Plane: The Album in August 2006. A new song, "End of the World," was featured on Transformers - The Album. That song would be on their third and final album, Smile for Them, released through their new label Sire/Warner Bros..
Armor for Sleep released their first single from Smile for Them, "Williamsburg," on September 18, 2007, through iTunes. "Hold the Door" also received indie radio airplay. They played on Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution tour in 2008 on the US leg Revolution Stage to promote the album.
The band's final release, The Way Out Is Broken, was an EP released digitally on September 5, 2008. Fans were able to purchase download cards during the band's run on Projekt Revolution to use to download the EP on the release date.
On October 28, 2009, it was officially announced that Armor for Sleep would disband. Ben Jorgensen wrote a statement on AltPress.com informing fans of the inevitable, after the band had been inactive and not performing for over a year. Ben Jorgensen has since taken on a solo project and was associated with God Loves a Challenge with Sierra Shardae. PJ DeCicco has also moved on playing in Love Automatic with former Senses Fail bassist Mike Glita.
The band has embarked on multiple reunion tours, and played multiple reunion shows, the first of these being at Bamboozle 2012. They played three more shows following the festival appearance and then disbanded again. The band then announced an eight city tour to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their album What To Do When You Are Dead. On February 24, 2020, the band announced they would be reuniting for a summer tour with nineteen tour dates to celebrate the 15th anniversary of What To Do When You Are Dead. The tour was later postponed due to COVID-19, and later in year postponed dates for 2021 were announced.
Armor For Sleep officially returned with their new single How Far Apart on July 7, 2022. The band has signed back on to Equal Vision Records and are set to release their fourth full length album The Rain Museum in early September 2022.
Frost and Front Steps
Armor for Sleep Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We'll leave when you want
You're having a good time
And you know me
I'll wait around
I'm standing outside now
No one's around
I'll sit on the front steps
And wonder if I will completely freeze out here
I hear you from inside
You're laughing the way
You do when I'm not there
And you know me
I'll wait around
I'm standing outside now
No one's around
It's so cold my lips are numb
I'll sit on the front steps
And wonder if I will completely freeze out here
I think
That maybe I should get up and just drive away
I'm shivering hard now
My face has barely any feeling left anymore
I'm shivering hard now
The lyrics of Armor for Sleep's song "Frost and Front Steps" paints a vivid and melancholic picture of a person waiting for someone inside a warm house, while enduring the extreme cold temperature outside on the front steps. The first stanza illustrates the singer's commitment to staying by the front door and waiting for the person inside to leave. Even though the person is having a good time, the singer is willing to wait, indicating that they have deeper feelings for that person. The second stanza indicates that the singer is left outside in the cold with no one around as the person they were waiting for is still having fun inside. The last two lines of the stanza depict the harshness of the cold temperature, leading to the singer wondering if they will freeze out there.
The third stanza implies that the person inside the house is not fully aware of the singer's feelings. The singer hears them laughing in a particular way that they do when the singer is not present. The chorus 'I'm standing outside now, No one's around, It's so cold my lips are numb, I'll sit on the front steps, And wonder if I will completely freeze out here' is repeated twice, driving home the sense of loneliness and desolation. The final stanza describes that the singer is shivering so hard that their face is barely feeling any temperature. They are at the brink of deciding whether to drive away or continue waiting in the freezing outdoors to convey their feelings for the person they hold dear.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll be by the front door
I'll wait for you by the door so we can leave when you're ready.
We'll leave when you want
I'm flexible and willing to go when you're ready.
You're having a good time
I can hear you laughing and enjoying yourself from inside.
And you know me
You know that I'll wait for you and be patient.
I'll wait around
I'll be here waiting for you.
I'm standing outside now
I'm waiting for you outside in the cold.
No one's around
It's just me outside, and no one else is around.
It's so cold my lips are numb
The temperature is so low that my lips are starting to feel frozen.
I'll sit on the front steps
I'll sit outside on the front porch steps.
And wonder if I will completely freeze out here
I'm worried that I might get too cold and freeze while waiting for you outside.
I hear you from inside
I can hear you laughing and having fun from inside the house.
You're laughing the way
You're laughing in a way that I know means you're very happy.
You do when I'm not there
You often laugh like that when I'm not around.
I think
I'm considering leaving and going home.
That maybe I should get up and just drive away
I'm considering leaving without you and driving home alone.
I'm shivering hard now
I'm so cold that I'm shivering uncontrollably.
My face has barely any feeling left anymore
The cold has made my face feel completely numb.
I'm shivering hard now
I'm still shivering from the cold.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ANTHONY DIIONNO, BEN JORGENSEN, NASH BREEN, PETER JAMES DECICCO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Below. Average. Gamer B.A.G
This right here I'm 35 I was like 15 16 when this came out time moves fast.
Deftones87
Same bro! I’m 34… I haven’t slowed down on listening to this band whatsoever. I’ve been religiously listening to the same bands/music since I was like 14. It never gets old… in fact I wish the current music scene would go back to stuff like this, but unfortunately the masses have incredibly poor musical taste .. the 90s up until like the mid 2000s was the golden era of music. Don’t get me wrong, there still are some really awesome bands coming out these days, but you definitely have to really dig in order to discover them
Novuhs Asmr
Yep....
tra sava
Yeah...
coker1212
mhm…