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.
Skeleton Song
Sevendust Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With all these familiar faces
And shutout everyone else
From the world we created
Instead of becoming the sick and twisted
I'll lose myself in a song again
[Chorus]
In being far from right
Another skeleton song
Stuck in my head all night
And there's something wrong
When everything goes right
Another skeleton song
Will save my life tonight
Was it that hard, to open the door for faith
When everyone feels the same
A different face but on the same page
We don't need something
That hurts more than nothing
So I lose myself in a song again
[Chorus]
So I try my best to see how you can relate to so much grief
Never stop forgetting why it is you came here
For awhile it seems to be,
It's all you ever think and sleep
Just reach back for me, I'll find another place to go
The lyrics of Sevendust's song Skeleton Song carry an important message that revolves around the idea of finding solace in music. The song's subject is struggling to deal with the harsh realities of life and people's expectations, and in doing so, they find comfort in familiar places and reject the influence of outsiders. The phrase "I'll stay right here with all these familiar faces and shutout everyone else from the world we created" emphasizes this idea of finding safety and understanding within the confines of a familiar space.
The chorus repeats the phrase "Another skeleton song stuck in my head all night" which implies that the struggle with life and the need for comfort in the form of music is recurrent. The song is a reminder to find hope in music when facing difficult times. The lyric "Was it that hard, to open the door for faith, when everyone feels the same" highlights the significance of faith in finding peace amid a sea of troubles. It suggests that we should be open to the possibility of a mental shift, a change in perspective, in order to cross over to a place of peace and clarity.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll stay right here
I choose to stay in this familiar place with people who understand me
With all these familiar faces
I am surrounded by people I know and trust
And shutout everyone else
I block out those who do not understand me or who could hurt me
From the world we created
We have developed our own safe space
Instead of becoming the sick and twisted
Rather than let my emotions consume me and turn me into someone twisted or broken
I'll lose myself in a song again
I will find solace in music and let it heal me
There's nothing wrong
It is okay for things to not be perfect
In being far from right
It is okay to be wrong sometimes or not have all the answers
Another skeleton song
Another song that I can relate to on a deep, emotional level
Stuck in my head all night
The song is resonating with me and I cannot stop thinking about it
And there's something wrong
It is not healthy to be perfect all the time
When everything goes right
When everything is perfect, there can still be underlying issues
Another skeleton song
Another deeply relatable song that can help me cope
Will save my life tonight
This music is an escape and can keep me going
Was it that hard, to open the door for faith
Is it really that difficult to let go and believe in something greater?
When everyone feels the same
Many people are going through similar struggles and can relate
A different face but on the same page
Individuals may seem different, but we all have similar struggles and emotions
We don't need something
We do not necessarily need a solution to our problems
That hurts more than nothing
We should not engage in activities that negatively impact our well-being
So I lose myself in a song again
I turn to music to escape and heal
So I try my best to see how you can relate to so much grief
I attempt to connect with others and understand their pain
Never stop forgetting why it is you came here
Remember why you are here and what makes you happy
For awhile it seems to be,
Sometimes our struggles feel all-consuming
It's all you ever think and sleep
Our problems may consume every waking moment and even invade our dreams
Just reach back for me, I'll find another place to go
Connect with me and I will help you find a new place of solace
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN CONNOLLY, VINCE HORNSBY, CLINT LOWERY, MORGAN ROSE, BUTCH WALKER, LA JON WITHERSPOON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alex Kalogeropoulos
Sevendust is so talented, yet so uappreciated. The way they combine their hard, metal tones with their soft, melodic ones is incredible. That's very hard for a band to do, but they probably do it the best.
e epic
Sevendust is an underrated band for sure. The singers have beautiful voices and creative lyrics. This band is so amazing
TerraJane
This song has haunted my dreams very well over and over. This song is the most amazing song I have heard thus far.
Britney Hartless
2019, still listening. I have always and will always love this song.
seneca stevens
Its mu favorite sevendust song. Got me through some rough days
999Claymore
Damn straight
Mike Glaser
2020 and still listening been my favorite band for the past 20ish years!
Mike Glaser
Still listening, November 2020
Junior Neal
2021
Jason Roberts
I love all Sevendust music. Always have, always will.