In 2008, lead singer Ronnie Radke was involved in an altercation in Las Vegas that resulted in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Cook. While Radke did not shoot Cook, he was indicted on battery charges. These charges, combined with Radke's past troubles with narcotics and rehab, led to a suspended sentence and five years probation. After he failed to report to his probation officer he was arrested in June 2008, where his probation was revoked and he was mandated to serve his original sentence of two years in prison. At the time, Ronnie Radke was the lead singer of post-hardcore band Escape the Fate, which in 2006, released its debut album, Dying Is Your Latest Fashion. Following Radke's incarceration, he was ejected from the band and replaced by former Blessthefall lead singer Craig Mabbitt. Max Green, bassist of Escape the Fate, stated about Radke's law problems that, "First we couldn't tour out of the country, then out of the state." Radke was released on December 12, 2010.
During his time in prison, Radke formed a new band called From Behind These Walls. He officially began creating media with the band upon his release, but was later forced to change its name to Falling in Reverse due to copyright infringement. In 2009, with Radke still in prison, he was able to launch a demo of his band, due to contacts with several musicians he had. The demo contains four songs that were not put on the debut album The Drug in Me Is You. The original lineup consisted of Radke and bassist Nason Schoeffler, who helped find guitarist Jacky Vincent and rhythm guitarist Derek Jones. The band went through several drummers. Nick Rich was later replaced by Oscar Garcia, Khaled Biersack, and former LoveHateHero member Scott Gee, as official members, before finding former the Bigger Lights drummer Ryan Seaman. Schoeffler quit the band in April 2011 and was replaced by Mika Horiuchi, formerly of the band Cellador, who also later departed from the band after issues with Radke.
In January 2010, the band began recording for the first time. The group announced on December 20 that it would go to Orlando, Florida to record a full-length debut album over a period of two months with a tentative release date of the first quarter of 2011. The band also confirmed that Radke's friend, Michael Baskette, who has worked on Blessthefall's album Witness and Radke on Escape the Fate's debut Dying Is Your Latest Fashion, would produce the album. It was soon confirmed that the band was signed with Epitaph Records, Radke's former label with Escape the Fate, and the band released its debut album in 2011. The album was soon titled The Drug in Me Is You and was slated for a July 26, 2011 release date, with pre-orders beginning on June 7. The eleven song track list was released soon after. With the help of Executive Producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, mixing and tracking for the album concluded on April 2, 2011. The album spawned the singles "Raised by Wolves" and "The Drug in Me Is You". The band's first music video was released for "The Drug in Me Is You" on June 28, 2011. The Drug in Me Is You was released in the United States on July 26, 2011 to mostly mixed reviews, but managed to sell 18,000 copies in its first week in the US charting at number 19 on the Billboard 200. A third single, "I'm Not a Vampire", was released a few months after the album's release on October 24 with an accompanying music video.
The songs for the debut album were all written by Radke during his imprisonment. Lead vocalist Ronnie Radke has often called the album a breakup record, but with a band and not a girl. Radke said that, "I would think all day, for days and days, about what people would want to hear. I would dissect my old album and read all the fan letters and the reasons why they loved my band and why they listened to it. And I wrote about that, but in different ways. I don't know why these kids love the tragedies that I write about. I guess they can relate to it."
In January 2012, former I Am Ghost bassist Ron Ficarro began filling in as Falling in Reverse's The Drug in Me Is You Tour touring bassist due to the departure of former bassist Mika Horiuchi. Later on Ronnie announced on stage that Ron Ficarro was replacing Mika permanently.
Vocalist Ronnie Radke had been hinting on Twitter that the group had been working on the band's second album, with tweets such as "You guys don't understand how many light years my next album is from the last one". He and bandmate Ron Ficarro tweeted pictures of them in the studio with Ryan Ogren working on some new music. Ronnie had said a little bit about the new album to Marshal Music News. He said that, "The last record was so vengeful and bitter and spiteful - so everyone is wondering what I'm gonna sing about next. And I'm just not quite ready to let people know. I'm sorry. When people hear the new stuff though I promise you they will lose their mind. It's light years ahead of my last album. We're demoing new songs right now, as we speak, and I'm telling you, people are seriously gonna lose their mind." During the band's performance at Dirt Fest 2012 in Birch Run Michigan, Radke announced to the crowd that it would be the group's last show before returning to the studio for the band's second album. Ronnie also said in an interview that the band would be in the studio late 2012 with demos already and hoping for an early 2013 release.
On May 7 the band released the first single and music video, "Alone", from the second album, titled, Fashionably Late. The cover, merchandise, and a June 18, 2013 release date was revealed on May 7 as well.
On May 21, the title track, "Fashionably Late" was released as the second single. Later, on May 30, the song, "Born to Lead" was streamed through YouTube. The entire album was uploaded to Epitaph Records' YouTube channel on June 12, allowing fans to listen to the album before the official release date.
On October 28, 2013, Falling in Reverse, along with Ronnie's former band Escape the Fate, announced that they would be touring together, with Falling in Reverse headlining, on the Bury The Hatchet Tour. The bands posted a video through Alternative Press with Ronnie and Escape the Fate singer Craig Mabbit being interviewed about the tour, stating that the tour came about due to the groups' acceptances of each other. During the tour, Ronnie made appearances on stage with Escape the Fate, singing the singles from Escape the Fate debut album Dying Is Your Latest Fashion ("Situations" and "Not Good Enough for Truth in Cliché").
In March 2014, Radke announced that the band had begun recording its third album. On May 12, 2014, it was announced by Alternative Press that Falling in Reverse had parted ways with bassist Ron Ficarro, reporting that former Escape the Fate bassist Max Green (who announced his departure from Escape the Fate just 3 days before on May 9, six months after rejoining Escape the Fate) would be his replacement. Ronnie is quoted as saying "Ron was probably the best bass player I've ever played with, but at this moment in time I feel it is best to part ways with him. I respect him and wish nothing but the best for him. Max quitting Escape The Fate was like a godsend. It was a no brainer to have him join. I've known him half my life and this will be a great new chapter to start. "
In an interview with MTV, Radke stated that the next album would be nothing like the single Alone from Fashionably Late as it has no raps throughout the album; he stated that it is heavier and will contain more screams, moving his passion for rapping into his solo career. Radke explained in another interview that the third album will be more like a "sequel" to the Escape the Fate album Dying Is Your Latest Fashion and is aimed to be nostalgic to people who were fans of the band since then.
On December 15, 2014, the first single from the band's third album, Just Like You, titled "God, If You Are Above..." was released. On January 13, 2015, the group released its second single "Guillotine IV (The Final Chapter)" from the album. Just Like You was released on February 24. In February 2015, touring bassist Jonathan Wolfe was replaced by the official new member, and former Black Tide bassist, Zakk Sandler. "Stay Away", another single off of Just Like You, premiered on the BBC Radio1 Rock Show on February 15. The group premiered its new single, Sexy Drug, via Alternative Press the next day.
On February 17, 2015, a full album stream of Just Like You was released, a week before the scheduled release of the album. On February 24, 2015, Just Like You was released as planned, along with a music video for the song Just Like You.
On October 30, 2015, lead guitarist Jacky Vincent left the band on good terms before the band's fall tour with Attila, Metro Station and Assuming We Survive to focus on his solo career. On November 4, 2015, Christian Thompson confirmed himself as the new lead guitarist of the band. The video for the single Chemical Prisoner was released on January 27, 2016. The single performed moderately well on UK rock radio.
On January 6, 2016, the band members announced that they had begun work on their next album stating that it would be "It's a huge left turn. It sounds like nothing we’ve ever done. Every song is very vibey, There's more feeling in it instead of a lot of metal.", further stating that "We’re challenging ourselves now more than we ever have in the weirdest ways possible because you would think writing the craziest solo or riffs would be the challenging part. But the challenging part is trying to stick to a theme and not go all over the place like we would normally do." On December 19, the band officially released the first single "Coming Home" from the untitled album. In January 2017, Radke began performing guitar for the band. On January 20, 2017, the band announced their next album Coming Home, which was released on April 7. Around the time of its release, it was rumoured that drummer Ryan Seaman parted ways with the band. This was confirmed when the band performed on May 8, without Seaman with Chris Kamrada playing drums as a touring member, who since left to play for Dashboard Confessional.
On February 23 2018, the band released a song called, Losing My Mind.
On April 16 2018, Christian officially announced via his Instagram page that his time with Falling In Reverse had come to an end. Though there was some controversy over the exact reason behind it, claims came from both sides that the departure was mutual but talk arose of irreconcilable differences and a decision was made to go separate ways. It has since been claimed that the split was due to differences between members causing an uneasy working environment.
On June 26, 2018, the band released a song called, Losing My Life along with a music video as a continuation of where the music video for Losing My Mind ended and featured a new line-up for the band which consists of Tyler Burgess on bass, Max Georgiev as lead guitarist, drummer Brandon "Rage" Richter, and Zakk Sandler on keyboards and rhythm guitar. The band also announced that they will be performing selected dates at the final year of the annual Vans Warped Tour with the new line up.
In April 2020, rhythm guitarist Derek Jones passed away. He was 35 years old.
Where Have You Been
Falling in Reverse Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My life's not the same without you in it
My love I've watched you disappear
Right before my eyes
Right before I told you how I felt
No I must thank you now
For the things you've done
Like a mother to her son.
Whoa where have you been
My life's not the same without you in it
Whoa forever I'll wait
Your live and affection is all that I crave
I long for your kiss and your memory still remains.
My heavy heart you carried on your back
And right before your eyes
I stood back up and picked up all the slack
My love I have done my best to
Hold my head up high ill never be the same
Without you in my life
Whoa where have you been
My life's not the same without you in it
Whoa forever I'll wait
Your live and affection is all that I crave
I long for your kiss and your memory still remains.
Blood in blood out
Whoa where have you been
My life's not the same without you in it
Whoa forever I'll wait
Your live and affection is all that I crave
Whoa where have you been
My life's not the same without you in it
Whoa forever I'll wait
Your live and affection is all that I crave
I long for your kiss and your memory still remains.
I long for your kiss and your memory still remains.
The lyrics of Falling in Reverse's song "Where Have You Been" convey a sense of longing and loss for a person who was once integral to the singer's life but has disappeared. The song appears to be addressed to the missing person, expressing the singer's feelings of emptiness and sadness since their departure. The opening lines of the song, "Where have you been? My life's not the same without you in it," convey a sense of desperation as the singer realizes how much their life has been affected by the other person's absence.
The second verse of the song speaks to the support the singer received from the missing person while struggling with personal demons. The line, "You helped me fight my demons like a mother to her son," presents a poignant image of the supportive relationship the singer once had with the missing person. It appears that the singer is acknowledging the role the other person played in their life, and expressing their gratitude for that support.
Overall, the song "Where Have You Been" is a heartfelt expression of loss, grief, and longing for the person who has disappeared from the singer's life. While the lyrics do not offer any specific information about why the person is gone or what may have happened to them, the emotion behind the words is palpable and relatable to anyone who has experienced a significant loss.
Line by Line Meaning
Where have you been?
Asking where the person has been and expressing that the singer's life has been affected by their absence.
My life's not the same without you in it
Stating that the absence of the person has changed the singer's life.
My love I've watched you disappear
Expressing sadness over the person's disappearance.
Right before my eyes
Emphasizing how the person disappeared and how quickly it happened.
Right before I told you how I felt
Regretting not having told the person how the artist felt before they disappeared.
No I must thank you now
Acknowledging that the person's absence has had an impact on the singer's life.
For the things you've done
Grateful for the positive impact the person had before they disappeared.
You helped me fight my demons
The person provided emotional support and helped the artist deal with their personal struggles.
Like a mother to her son.
The person provided nurturing and comforting support, like a mother would to her child.
Whoa where have you been
Repeating the question of where the person has been, emphasizing their absence.
Forever I'll wait
Expressing a desire to wait for the person's return.
Your live and affection is all that I crave
Desperately wanting the person's love and attention.
I long for your kiss and your memory still remains.
Remembering the good times shared with the person and missing their physical touch.
My heavy heart you carried on your back
The person provided emotional support and helped the singer deal with difficult times, carrying their pain.
And right before your eyes
Emphasizing how the person was present to see the singer's struggles.
I stood back up and picked up all the slack
Describing how the artist persevered and regained strength after struggling, despite the person's absence.
My love I have done my best to
Expressing effort the artist has undergone to try to move on without the person.
Hold my head up high ill never be the same
Despite moving forward, the singer acknowledges that their life is still impacted by the person's absence.
Blood in blood out
Possible allusion to the idea that once someone is in your life, they will always be a part of it, like family.
I long for your kiss and your memory still remains.
Repeating the desire for the person's physical touch and memories shared together.
Lyrics © MOTHERSHIP MUSIC PUBLISHING
Written by: DEREK JONES, JACKY EUGENE DESPRES VINCENT, RONNIE RADKE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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