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.
Snow Globe
Armor for Sleep Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And all of the world was just a show inside my own mind.
The dog's on a leash, tied to a pole, shaking above the snow
I try to pretend, I try to pretend, everything's just in my head.
The choir's in line, belting its soul, over the dying crowd.
Singing for love, their voices will soar, and disappear through the floor.
And all of the world was just a show inside my own mind.
The lyrics to Armor for Sleep's song Snow Globe explore the idea of feeling isolated and disconnected from the world around us, almost as if we are living in our own personal bubble or snow globe, where everything else is just a manufactured illusion. The opening lines, "I used to believe that no one else was alive. And all of the world was just a show inside my own mind," suggest a deep sense of loneliness and detachment, perhaps stemming from feelings of depression or anxiety.
As the song progresses, we are introduced to various images and metaphors that further embody this sense of isolation. The dog on a leash, shaking above the snow, represents a real, tangible moment that the singer is trying to ignore or brush off as just another figment of their imagination. Meanwhile, the choir belting their soulful voices over a dying crowd symbolizes a loss of connection and empathy within society at large.
Overall, Snow Globe is an introspective and haunting exploration of the human experience, and the struggle to find meaning and connection in a world that often feels overwhelming and alienating.
Line by Line Meaning
I used to believe that no one else was alive.
I used to think that I was the only one alive and everyone else was just a figment of my imagination.
And all of the world was just a show inside my own mind.
I believed that everything around me was just a projection of my own thoughts and not actually real.
The dog's on a leash, tied to a pole, shaking above the snow
I see a dog shivering in the cold winter weather, tied to a post and unable to move.
I try to pretend, I try to pretend, everything's just in my head.
Despite the reality around me, I try to convince myself that it's all just a figment of my imagination.
The choir's in line, belting its soul, over the dying crowd.
There is a choir singing with all their heart and soul over a crowd of people who are slowly losing their lives.
Singing for love, their voices will soar, and disappear through the floor.
The choir is singing with love and their voices are powerful, but their message is not reaching anyone and is going unheard.
Contributed by Sebastian A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.