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.
The Past
Sevendust Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's falling from my eyes
Lays a soul I've left behind
The edge of sorrow was reached but now I'm fine
I've filled the hole I had inside
I'll pray it doesn't scream my name
So I light a flame and let it breathe
[Chorus]
I'm up
I'm down
Like a roller coaster racing through my life
I've erased the past again
A risky morning
I feel like I'm alive
I can't believe I've made it through this time
The edge of sorrow I lived in for some time
(Lived in for some time)
Has left the hole I have inside
The burden is I try my hate
Was the last thing I ever felt
Or thought I could escape
[Chorus: x2]
You let me in then broke me down
The difference is this time around
I will not let you see me try
[Chorus: x2]
Erased the past again now
Erased the past again
Beneath the water
That has fallen from my eyes
The lyrics of Sevendust’s song, The Past, deal with the themes of pain, healing, and emotional growth. The opening verse conveys the idea of crying out all the pain and sorrow to let out the soul left behind. The singer struggled to come to terms with their past and the hurt that arises from it. However, they have reached the edge of their sorrow and overcame it, filling the hole inside. The lyrics demonstrate the journey of overcoming hardships and maturing in the process.
The chorus reflects the ups and downs of life, emphasized through the metaphor of the roller coaster. The singer talks about how they have erased the past, which can be interpreted as letting go of the attachment to the past events and moving forward. The second verse further emphasizes the struggle and the idea of overcoming through mentioning the feeling of being alive, despite the risky morning. The line ‘The edge of sorrow I lived in for some time’ symbolizes how living in the past misery can be like living beyond the edges of life, but overcoming them opens a hole for inner growth.
Line by Line Meaning
Beneath the water
I am crying and feel a deep sadness within me
That's falling from my eyes
I am shedding tears due to my inner turmoil
Lays a soul I've left behind
I have lost a part of myself that I cannot retrieve
The edge of sorrow was reached but now I'm fine
I have overcome my sadness and am in a better place now
I've filled the hole I had inside
I have healed from my emotional pain and am complete again
I'll pray it doesn't scream my name
I hope my past troubles do not haunt me
So I light a flame and let it breathe
I am using a symbolic fire to purge my negative emotions
The air that kills the shame
The cleansing process helps me let go of my guilt and shame
I'm up
I feel confident and positive about my future
I'm down
I still have moments of doubt and sadness
Like a roller coaster racing through my life
My emotions have been fluctuating and unpredictable
A risky morning
I am taking a chance to overcome my inner struggles
I feel like I'm alive
I feel energized and hopeful about my future
I can't believe I've made it through this time
Despite my doubts, I have actually managed to overcome my emotional obstacles
The edge of sorrow I lived in for some time
I had been trapped in a cycle of sadness and despair for a long time
(Lived in for some time)
Has left the hole I have inside
Overcoming my sadness has made me feel complete and happy
The burden is I try my hate
Although I have tried to hate others, the hate only harms me
Was the last thing I ever felt
I have deliberately let go of all hatred and negative feelings
Or thought I could escape
I had initially thought that hating others would help me feel better
You let me in then broke me down
Someone close to me had caused my emotional breakdown
The difference is this time around
I have learned from my past mistakes and will not let it happen again
I will not let you see me try
I will not let other people see me struggle with my emotions again
Erased the past again now
I have successfully moved on from my past troubles
Erased the past again
I have managed to overcome my emotional struggles multiple times
Beneath the water
I still feel sad, but I have learned to cope with it
That has fallen from my eyes
I still cry, but I am no longer consumed by my emotions
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: John M Connolly, La Jon Jermaine Witherspoon, Morgan J Rose, Ronald Jr Mayo, Shawn Grove, Vincent E Hornsby
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@donniedarko8012
I would listen to this song multiple times a day when it first came out. Sevendust is such s great band!
@oasis4ever718
Still do🥰🥰
@tommyruple8127
Sevendust and Daughtry together with this song is amazing
@nighthawk9682
Two great artists, One song... can't get much better than this
@mattangelo1280
Night Hawk the song with Miles Kennedy. 3 tracks after this. I believe called sorrow
@billyaubin5360
Lol
@ryanblake4277
Such powerful lyrics. I can relate to this a lot in my life today. No lie
@dimpap444
Definitely a Daughtr-ish song! It's weird how it wasn't included in a Daughtry album. Be that as it may, it's an awesome rock ballad! 🎸 🎼 🎧 🎵
@kylezawaski1287
@Viper Six while daughter 2 past albums proved. U wrong lol
@oasis4ever718
Wonderful song! Loved it for 10 years!