The self-titled debut sold 311 copies its first week. However, through touring, and TVT support, the album gained charting success through Billboard and earned gold certification.
Bassist Vince Hornsby joined drummer Morgan Rose in 1994, in a band called Snake Nation. John Connolly, a drummer, left his current band and joined Snake Nation as a guitarist. They recorded their first demo. Not happy with vocals, however, Snake Nation spent a year searching for a new singer before finding Lajon Witherspoon. Six months passed, Clint Lowery joined the band and they renamed themselves Rumblefish.
Rumblefish was short-lived, however, because they found another band with the same name. They renamed themselves Crawlspace, and released My Ruin on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack album entitled More Kombat through TVT Records in 1996. Shortly after, another band named Crawlspace sent notice that they wanted $50,000 for the rights to their name. Rather than purchase the rights, the band members chose to rename themselves Sevendust.
Sevendust released their self-titled debut on April 15, 1997, known for its heavy riffs, angry vocals and thrash-like drumming, as the songs Black and Bitch. Black was the opening song for nearly every Sevendust concert until 2004. The debut album also contains the song My Ruin, from the Mortal Kombat soundtrack. Sevendust appeared on the Billboard 200, remained there for sixteen weeks and peaked at 165 on April 4, 1998. The album went gold on May 19, 1999.
In 1998, Sevendust performed at Dynamo Open Air (May 29–31) and Ozzfest 1998 (July through August). In the same year they released a compilation called Live and Loud which featured live footage of the bands September 16, 1998 performance at Chicago's Metro.
On August 24, 1999, they released their second album, Home. The album peaked at 19 on the Billboard 200 and featured Skin from Skunk Anansie and Chino Moreno from Deftones as guest vocalists. The two singles from the album, "Denial" and "Waffle", gave the band moderate chart success, and the latter of which was played on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien show. They appeared in Woodstock 1999 and have toured with many bands such as Korn, Staind, Nonpoint, Reveille, Godsmack, Mudvayne, Mushroomhead, Powerman 5000, Creed, Kid Rock, Machine Head, Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, and Metallica. In 1999, they gained European exposure by opening for Skunk Anansie at various shows in Germany. They also opened with Kid Rock and Ted Nugent for Metallica on New Year's Eve in 1999 at the Pontiac Silverdome near Detroit, Michigan. They also joined Slipknot, Coal Chamber and other bands on the Tattoo the Earth Tour in June 2000.
In November 2001, the band released their third album, Animosity. This album went gold and gained the band commercial success thanks to the success of singles "Praise" and "Angel's Son", which peaked at 15 and 11, respectively, on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. "Angel's Son" was a tribute to Lynn Strait, the lead singer of the band Snot, whom the members of Sevendust were friends with. Strait had died in a car accident in 1998. In addition to being included on Animosity, the song was included on the compilation album Strait Up. The band made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman playing an acoustic version of "Angel's Son" featuring Paul Shaffer on keyboards.
In the same year Sevendust was seen in the Chris Rock movie Down to Earth as a partial clip of "Waffle" is played.
Another friend of the band, Dave Williams the lead singer of Drowning Pool, died in 2002. Tragedy would strike again when Lajon Witherspoon's younger brother was shot and killed later that year. Due to his death, Sevendust went on hiatus in 2002.
In 2003, Sevendust returned with their fourth album, Seasons. The album debuted at #14 in the US, selling around 68,000 copies in its first week. This was one of the band's best received albums and to date features their highest charting single (tied with "Driven"), "Enemy," which peaked at #10 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. "Enemy" was made the official theme song for WWE Unforgiven 2003. Other singles released from the album, "Broken Down" and "Face to Face," met with more moderate success charting at 20 and 22, respectively.
In 2004, for the first time in the band's career, they released a live album on a CD/DVD double disk package titled Southside Double-Wide Acoustic Live. Both the CD and the DVD include a cover of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails which is dedicated to Johnny Cash.
On December 11, 2004, after playing a show in Columbus, Ohio, it was announced that Clint Lowery had left the band mid-tour, because he wanted to play with his brother Corey Lowery in his new band Dark New Day, who had reportedly just signed with Warner Bros. Records. A replacement was found for the rest of the dates and was eventually replaced by Sonny Mayo from Snot and Amen. At roughly the same time, Sevendust and TVT Records parted ways.
On March 26, 2008, Sevendust announced that Clint Lowery, former guitarist and vocalist for the band, had quit his duties as guitarist for Dark New Day and would be returning to the Sevendust lineup in place of Sonny Mayo. On Lowery's return, Morgan Rose stated "This was extremely tough considering Sonny is our brother and has been amazing to work with. [Sonny] didn't do anything wrong at all; we just owe it to ourselves and all the folks that grew up with us to put our original band back together."
Since formation, Sevendust has released thirteen studio albums, earned additional charting success and gold sales certifications. Their eighth studio album, titled Cold Day Memory was released on April 20, 2010. More recent studio albums include: Black Out the Sun, released on March 26, 2013, Time Travelers & Bonfires, released on April 15, 2014, Kill the Flaw, released on October 2, 2015, All I See Is War, released on May 11, 2018 and Blood & Stone, released on October 23, 2020
They also re-released their self-titled debut album as Sevendust: Definitive Edition which contains five new tracks and a DVD.
Prayer
Sevendust Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With you
I remember praying
With you
Feeling alone
And I'm by myself
I can't find no help
Thinking of you
Drives me crazy
I got a feeling of lazy, yeah
So much frustration
Built inside of me
It's killing me
Woah, it's killing me, oh
I can't lose you
Who do you pray to?
Who do you pray to?
Who do you pray to?
This is my prayer for you
This is my prayer for you
I stand alone
Looking at my shoes
They're making me think of you
Like my daddy said
"Boy be brave don't let them take you, no"
What can I do? I think I'm losing you
This is my prayer for you
This is my prayer for you
This is my prayer for you all
This is my prayer for you all
Hey, yeah
It's all I need, all I want (This is my prayer for you all)
For you, for you yeah, yeah
I remember praying with you
Yay-ay
I remember praying with you
Oh, yeah
Oh, you left me, you're gone, you're gone, you're gone, you're gone
I remember praying with you
Hey, hey, hey, hey, yeah
The song "Prayer" by Sevendust is about feeling lost and alone, and turning to prayer as a way to cope with those feelings. The lyrics describe praying with someone as a comforting and supportive experience, but also realizing that sometimes one has to face their struggles alone. The line "Thinking of you drives me crazy" suggests that the person the singer was praying with is no longer around, and their absence has created a great deal of emotional pain. The singer is struggling to find a way to move forward without their support, but feels overwhelmed and helpless. The repeated question "Who do you pray to?" may be a reflection of the singer's confusion about the role of prayer in their life, and their search for guidance and meaning.
The chorus, "This is my prayer for you," can be interpreted in a few different ways. On one level, the singer may be asking for whoever they are praying for to be safe and protected. On another level, they may be expressing their desire to be helpful or supportive in some way, even though they are unable to physically be there for the person. The line "Like my daddy said, 'Boy be brave don't let them take you, no'" suggests that the singer is drawing on the wisdom of their father or another figure in their life for comfort and guidance.
Overall, "Prayer" is a deeply personal song that explores themes of loss, loneliness, and faith. It speaks to the universal human experience of searching for meaning and connection in a world that can often feel confusing and chaotic.
Line by Line Meaning
I remember praying, yeah, yay
The singer recalls moments of praying in the past.
With you
The singer acknowledges that he prayed with someone.
Feeling alone
The singer feels lonely.
And I'm by myself
The singer is alone with nobody to comfort him.
I can't find no help
Despite his loneliness, there is no one to offer him any form of assistance or support.
Thinking of you
The singer is reminded of a particular person.
Drives me crazy
The thought of this person is making the singer feel agitated.
I got a feeling of lazy, yeah
The singer feels unmotivated due to thoughts of this person.
So much frustration
The singer is very frustrated.
Built inside of me
This frustration has been accumulating over time, and has reached a boiling point.
It's killing me
The frustration and distress are becoming unbearable.
Woah, it's killing me, oh
The singer's pain is so intense that he has to exclaim it.
I can't lose you
The presence of the person the singer is thinking about has become very important to him.
Who do you pray to?
The singer asks a rhetorical question directed at the person he has been thinking of.
This is my prayer for you
The singer is changing the focus of his thoughts, and now prays for someone else.
I stand alone
The singer continues to feel alone.
Looking at my shoes
The singer is distracted and looking down at his shoes.
They're making me think of you
Even ordinary objects can trigger thoughts of the person he has been thinking about.
Like my daddy said
The singer is reminded of advice his father once gave him.
"Boy be brave don't let them take you, no"
The singer's father advised him to be brave and not to give in.
What can I do?
The singer feels helpless and unable to change his situation.
I think I'm losing you
The singer believes he is losing the person he has been thinking of.
This is my prayer for you all
The singer extends his prayers to everyone listening to the song.
Hey, yeah
An exclamatory expression to emphasize the singer's emotions.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Capitol CMG Publishing
Written by: James Newton Howard
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind