After several lineup changes, the band acquired Billy Hamilton, a local fan who learned of the band's need for a bassist on the Internet message board "The 905 Board" (an Ontario area outreach board which used to be for local musicians). In Christmas of 2001, he joined the band after Shane Told helped him learn the music for the songs. Following a rehearsal on Boxing Day (December 26) in 2001, he officially debuted with Silverstein. The next spring, original guitarist Richard McWalter left the band to move to Victoria, British Columbia to study engineering. He was then replaced by Neil Boshart, childhood friend of Shane Told. The new lineup recorded a second EP, When the Shadows Beam, in preparation for their first tour in Eastern Canada.
The band then signed to Victory Records in October of 2002 with a complete lineup as Hamilton attempted to complete his secondary education one semester early. The January after, the band recorded their full-length debut CD When Broken Is Easily Fixed, released on the Victory Records label.
In August 2005 the band's second studio album, Discovering the Waterfront, was released through Victory Records. It was the first album to be produced by Cameron Webb, and marked the beginning of a long relationship between the band and the American producer. It also marked a shift in sound from When Broken Is Easily Fixed, with faster paced and more energetic songs, and with the band also incorporating more punk rock aspects into their music. Told's clean and unclean vocals had matured since their previous effort. Discovering The Waterfront opened the band up to a wider audience, with the music video for the first single "Smile in Your Sleep" receiving airplay on stations such as FUSE and IMF. The album sold 26,229 copies in its first week.
The band's third full-length album, Arrivals And Departures, was released on July 3, 2007, and was designated by AP Magazine as one of the most eagerly anticipated CDs of 2007. Mark Trombino (Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, Finch) produced the CD. The album sold 27,000 copies in its first week. Silverstein also contributed a new acoustic version of their song "Red Light Pledge" to the Punk Goes Acoustic 2 compilation, released May 8, 2007 through Fearless Records.
On December 14, 2008, the band announced by Myspace bulletin that their fourth album would be released by March 31, 2009. The name of the new album, A Shipwreck in the Sand, was announced on January 29, 2009, when the band concluded a viral marketing campaign by announcing the track listing via an album website, also revealing it would be a concept album. Along with the demo of "Broken Stars", which the band had been performing during their final U.S. tour in support of "Arrivals and Departures", short clips of the songs "Vices", "Born Dead" and "American Dream" were made available on MySpace On March 17, the band filmed a music video for "Vices" with director Robby Starbuck. Later, on March 23, 2009, the band posted the full album to stream on their official MySpace page.
A Shipwreck in the Sand was released on March 31, 2009 and sold nearly 17,000 copies in its first week. The iTunes version of the album includes four bonus cover songs, "Help!" (The Beatles cover), Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac Cover), Three Miles Down (Saves The Day cover), and Total Bummer (NOFX cover).
Silverstein contributed a cover version of "Apologize", originally recorded by OneRepublic, to the Punk Goes Pop 2 compilation album.
On October 8, 2010, online rumors spread about their new album reportedly being titled Set This All Ablaze, and that it would again be released through Silverstein's long time label, Victory Records. The band later rejected the rumor that the new album will be titled Set This All Ablaze, although they did confirm their departure from Victory. However, as of the first week of October 2010, Silverstein's official website contained a banner stating Set This All Ablaze.
On November 15, Silverstein announced on Facebook that they have signed with Hopeless Records in the USA/Europe/Japan and with Universal Music in Canada. They also said that a new EP entitled Transitions will be released December 7 and will feature two songs from their new album coming out next year as well as three additional b-sides. In response to a fan on Tumblr, Shane Told described the new music as "a cross between Discovering the Waterfront and A Shipwreck in the Sand". On December 3, 2010, the band posted the first single, Sacrifice, off of the new EP. On February 9, 2011, Silverstein confirmed on their Facebook and Tumblr that their new album will be called Rescue. On February 15, 2011, the band posted the album artwork for Rescue on their official Facebook page. On February 19, 2011, 89X Radio aired a new song from the band named "Burning Hearts". On February 22, 2011, in response to a fan on Facebook, the band stated that they were not releasing a traditional lead single from the new album, and that they had made three music videos so far. They then went on to state that the new record has "tons of screaming and breakdowns". The album, Rescue, was released on April 26, 2011. Silverstein has also recorded a song featuring Ryan Key of Yellowcard called "Stay Posi" (Stay Positive) for the Take Action! Vol 10. Compilation.
On October 17, 2011, the band posted a new video on their YouTube channel about an upcoming release. They announced that are in process of recording a new album called Short Songs with producer Jordan Valeriote, scheduled for release on February 7, 2012. They also said that the EP will contain 22 songs under 90 seconds with half songs being covers of punk songs that influenced them. Silverstein contributed a cover version of "Runaway", originally recorded by Kanye West, to the Punk Goes Pop 4 compilation album, released in November 21, 2011. On December 1, 2011, the band streamed two songs off Short Songs, "SOS" and "Brookfield", as well as their covers of Green Day's "The Ballad of Wilhelm Fink" and NOFX's "It's My Job to Keep Punk Rock Elite" on PunkNews.
On the SHORT TOUR, the band began announcing that they would have a new album in 2013. On September 25, 2012, the band announced that Neil Boshart was no longer a member of the band, after 11 years together. He was replaced by former I Am Committing A Sin guitarist Paul Marc Rousseau. Told later revealed that Boshart's replacement was due to many years of growing apart, stating there was very little contribution to Short Songs from Boshart.
On November 26, 2012, the band announced that their seventh studio album would be titled This Is How the Wind Shifts and would be released on February 5, 2013. A few hours later they also released the first single, titled "Stand Amid The Roar". On January 15, 2013 the band released the lyric video for the song "Massachusetts" from their seventh album.
The band's eighth studio album I Am Alive In Everything I Touch was released on May 19, 2015. Coinciding with the album's announcement, Silverstein released a music video for the track "A Midwestern State of Emergency." On March 4 the band released the second single from the album, Milestone, with a lyric video to accompany the release. On March 16, 2016, Silverstein released the third music video from the album, "The Continual Condition." Later, on July 27, 2016, they released a music video for "Toronto (Unabridged)".
On October 13, 2016, Silverstein announced the streaming "Ghost" on SiriusXM. Later that day, they released the music video on YouTube and the song on iTunes. Silverstein said on social media that the upcoming studio album will be released in 2017. On Thursday, May 18, 2017, Silverstein released the second single from the record, "Retrograde", as well as announced the track listing and title of the record, "Dead Reflection", which was released on July 14, 2017. Dead Reflection was released worldwide on July 14, 2017.
Fist Wrapped in Blood
Silverstein Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Break all the bonds, sever the ties
And now your mission is complete, find and destroy me.
Torturing me, with words from our lips
Filleting my skin, pulling my teeth
Please forgive me for not being good enough.
Drown your sorrows in my pain
When I'm choking on words you'll never say
And you'll never feel the same
Bound and gagged, I cannot move or speak
These things I want to say, I can't explain them anyway
So if I had it all again, if I could start from the first words I ever said
I would do it all the same.
Drown your sorrows in my pain
And its something you can't explain.
When I'm choking on words you'll never say
And you'll never feel the same
Your joy is my pain.
My fingers are yours to cut off
And my bones are yours to shatter in pieces.
My teeth are yours to pull out and my soul is yours to slowly rip apart.
I can't trust anyone I meet from now on
My chest feels more like a fist wrapped in blood
The lyrics to Silverstein's song "Fist Wrapped In Blood" depict a person who has been betrayed and tortured by someone they loved. The first verse suggests that the person who hurt them had a plan to break all bonds and ties, and that their mission was to find and destroy the singer. Their torture includes using hurtful words and causing physical pain, leaving the singer feeling inadequate and apologetic for not being good enough. The chorus suggests that the person who hurt them is using their pain as a way to drown their own sorrows, but the singer feels they will never understand the depth of their suffering.
The second verse indicates that the singer is bound and unable to speak, holding back everything they want to say. The singer expresses the desire to go back and change things if they could, but realizes they would still do it all the same. The final lines reveal the extent of their pain, conveying the sense that the singer's heart feels like a fist wrapped in blood and that they can no longer trust anyone they meet.
Overall, the song is a powerful portrayal of the lasting effects of betrayal and pain. The lyrics convey a deep sense of longing to undo what has been done, while also acknowledging that everything happens for a reason and cannot be changed.
Line by Line Meaning
Finish me off, follow the plan
Please complete the job of making me suffer according to our agreement
Break all the bonds, sever the ties
Destroy all the connections and relationships we shared
And now your mission is complete, find and destroy me.
You have fulfilled your task of causing me harm, now end my existence
Torturing me, with words from our lips
Inflict emotional pain on me by saying hurtful things
Filleting my skin, pulling my teeth
Physically harm me by cutting my skin and extracting my teeth
Please forgive me for not being good enough.
I apologize for not meeting your high expectations and standards
Drown your sorrows in my pain
Find comfort in my suffering and misery
And its something you can't explain.
You cannot justify or rationalize the satisfaction gained from my pain
When I'm choking on words you'll never say
I struggle to express my desires and feelings that you will never acknowledge
And you'll never feel the same
You will never understand or experience the pain that you inflict upon me
Bound and gagged, I cannot move or speak
I am trapped and silenced, unable to express myself
These things I want to say, I can't explain them anyway
Even if I could speak, I would struggle to articulate my thoughts and feelings
So if I had it all again, if I could start from the first words I ever said
Given the chance to redo things, I would do everything exactly the same
I would do it all the same.
My actions and words led me to this painful situation, yet I have no regrets
Your joy is my pain.
Your happiness only comes from causing me harm and agony
My fingers are yours to cut off
You have complete control over my physical being and can harm me as you please
And my bones are yours to shatter in pieces.
You have the power to break me down and leave me in ruins
My teeth are yours to pull out and my soul is yours to slowly rip apart.
You can extract anything from me, both physically and emotionally
I can't trust anyone I meet from now on
This experience has made me unable to have faith in anyone again
My chest feels more like a fist wrapped in blood
I am filled with intense pain and anger that feels like a bloody fist clenching my heart
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Shane Told
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind