During this time, Staind played a show with Limp Bizkit. When Fred Durst saw the controversial cover of the group's self produced album; tormented, he tried to have the band kicked off the bill, but when he saw the band's live show, he changed his tone and befriended them. Durst later sang harmonies on the live version of Outside, which was recorded at a Family Values Tour concert in Biloxi, MS, in late October 1999. Durst went on to be one of the executive producers for Dysfunction and Break the Cycle. He also directed a few videos for the band later on, including It's Been Awhile.
Dysfunction
The band's big break came in October 1997 after Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst witnessed the band open up for them at a Hartford, Connecticut show, eventually signed them to his Flip record label, and co-produced their 1999 breakthrough Dysfunction with Terry Date. Although it is supposed that the band owe a lot of success to Durst, Aaron Lewis has expressed in interviews that Durst never had much of a relationship with either the singer or the band, claiming the band 'only worked on four songs with Durst and recorded the rest of the album themselves.' [4] Staind has not been associated with Durst since he directed several videos from their 2001 follow-up. Dysfunction has sold over two million copies in the U.S. alone. The album was given mediocre reviews by critics for being "indicative of the times", but a large number of the band's fans nonetheless regard it as the group's best work. The nine-track LP (with one hidden track, "Excess Baggage") produced three singles, all of which enjoyed radio play. The most well known, "Mudshovel", (which also appeared on Tormented, spelled as "Mudshuvel"), has since become a staple of the band's live shows.
Break the Cycle
Staind toured with Limp Bizkit for the Family Values Tour during the fall of 1999, where Aaron Lewis performed their first mainstream hit "Outside" (a song he was working on at the time but had not yet finished—he finished it on the fly while performing) with Fred Durst to hundreds of waving cigarette lighters, and which set them up for their smash hit 2001 album Break the Cycle, which brought them international success (it went number 1 in both the U.S. and the UK), sold more than 7 million copies, and had first week sales of over 767,000 in the U.S. alone. The album sees the band move away from the nu metal sounds of their previous album and resort to an alternative metal sound [5] which has spawned five hit singles to date, "It's Been Awhile", (which hit the Billboard Top 10) "Fade", (which has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks and television shows), "Outside", "For You", and the acoustic ballad "Epiphany", and included a track called "Waste", devoted to two teenage fans who committed suicide shortly before the album was released. The album also received mixed critical praise; Rolling Stone magazine called them "the grim genre's most song-oriented, downright sensitive band in years" [3] while New Musical Express referred to the album as "14 tracks of parent-friendly grunge-flavoured soft rock that make Creed sound like GG Allin." [4]. 'It's Been Awhile' spent a total of 16 and 14 weeks on top of the modern and mainstream rock charts, respectively, making it one of the highest joint number 1s (30 weeks) of all time.
14 Shades of Grey
In early 2003, Staind embarked on a worldwide tour to promote the release of the follow-up to Break The Cycle, 14 Shades Of Grey, which sold two million albums and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The fourteen-track collection was the band's most mainstream yet[6], and showed Aaron Lewis writing songs about his daughter, as well as moving on with his life and forgetting his past, hence the title representing uncertainty for the future and forgiveness. The album provided two mainstream hits: the lead single "Price to Play", and "So Far Away" (which spent 14 weeks on top of the rock chart); in addition, two other singles failed to crack the Hot 100—"How About You" and "Zoey Jane"— but "How About You" was a fairly popular song on modern rock radio. Their song "Price to Play" was the official theme song of WWE's Vengeance pay-per-view event in July 2003. As well, their song "So Far Away" was featured on an episode of WWE RAW as part of a video tribute to hardcore wrestling legend Mick Foley. The band's appearance at Reading Festival during the 2003 tour had another impromptu acoustic set, this time due to equipment failure. The singles "So Far Away" and "Price to Play" came with two unreleased tracks, "Novocaine" and "Let It Out", which were released for the special edition of the group's Chapter V, which came out in late 2005. In 2003, Staind unsuccessfully sued their logo designer Jon Stainbrook in New York Federal Court (blabbermouth.net) for attempting to re-use the logo he had sold to the band. They re-opened the case in mid-2005.
Chapter V
After extensive promotions, including an appearance on Fuse TV's 7th Avenue Drop, Staind's newest album, titled Chapter V was released on August 9, 2005, and became their third consecutive number one. The album opened to sales of 185,000 and has since been certified platinum in the U.S. The first single "Right Here" has been the biggest success from the album thus far, garnering much mainstream radio play and peaking at number 1 on the mainstream rock chart. "Falling" (the video of which does not feature the band members at all) was released as the second single, followed by "Everything Changes" and "King of All Excuses." Staind have been on the road since the album came out doing live shows and promoting it for a full year, including participating in the Fall Brawl tour with P.O.D., Taproot and Flyleaf, a solo tour across Europe and a mini-promotional tour in Australia for the first time. Recent live shows have included a cover of Pantera's This Love, a tribute to Dimebag Darrell. Staind appeared on The Howard Stern Show on August 10, 2005, to promote their new album Chapter V. They performed acoustic renditions of the single Right Here and Beetlejuice's song "This is Beetle." Their rendition of "Beetle" is immensely popular with fans and listeners alike and became a staple of the show. Staind also performed a version of "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. Kevin Lofton, who does all the animation for the Howard Stern website, created a black-and-white animated video for the song. During a January 2006 Episode of WWE RAW, a tribute video to then WWE Champion Edge featured the band's song "Right Here". In early November 2005, Staind released the limited edition 2-CD/DVD set of Chapter V. The set included several rarities and fan favorites— music videos; a complete, 36-page booklet with exclusive artwork; an audio disc with an acoustic rendition of "This is Beetle"; the original, melodic rendition of "Reply"; the previously released B-side singles "Novocaine" and "Let It Out"; and live versions of "It's Been Awhile" and "Falling", among many others.
The Singles: 1996-2006
Staind announced that they would be performing an acoustic show in the Hiro Ballroom, New York City on September 6 and the songs played would be recorded for their upcoming "Greatest Hits" album, scheduled for a November 14 release. They played sixteen songs including three covers: Tool's Sober, Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb and Alice in Chains's Nutshell.
The title was later renamed to "The Singles" and finally "The Singles: 1996-2006". The album had most of Staind's singles (including "Everything Changes" which was recorded at the New York show), the three covers performed at the New York show and a remastered version of "Come Again", from Staind's first independent release Tormented.
It was released on November 15, 2006.
The Illusion Of Progress
On August 19, 2008, Staind released their 5th studio album (6th overall), The Illusion of Progress. A limited edition of the album was also made available to fans, which included 3 bonus tracks and a year membership in the Staind Fan Club, along with other items (the first 200 fans who pre-ordered the album through Atlantic Records received a signed copy of the album by the band). Prior to the album's release, the track "This Is It" was available for download on the iTunes store, as well as for Rock Band. The album debuted at #3 on US Billboard 200, #1 on the Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums Chart, #1 on the Top Digital Albums Chart, and also #1 on the Top Internet Albums Chart, with first week sales of 91,800 units. The first single on the album, "Believe", topped Billboard's Top 10 Modern Rock Tracks on September 05, 2008.
Not Again, the first single from Staind's self-titled seventh album was released to active radio stations on July 19, 2011 and made available for purchase on July 26, 2011. (Not Again Songfacts).
They are currently not Touring.
Everything Changes
Staind Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What could I really say?
Would it matter anyway?
Would it change how you feel?
I am the mess you chose
The closet you cannot close
The devil in you, I suppose
But everything changes
If I could
Turn back the years
If you could
Learn to forgive me
Then I could learn to feel
Sometimes the things I say
In moments of disarray
Succumbing to the games we play
To make sure that it's real
But everything changes
If I could
Turn back the years
If you could
Learn to forgive me
Then I could learn to feel
When it's just me and you
Who knows what we could do
If we can just make it through
The toughest part of the day
But everything changes
If I could
Turn back the years
If you could
Learn to forgive me
Then I could
Learn how to feel
Then we could
Stay here together
And we could
Conquer the world
If we could
Say that forever
Is more than just a word
If you just walked away
What could I really say?
And would it matter anyway?
It wouldn't change how you feel
The song "Everything Changes" by Staind is a reflection on the complexities of relationships and how difficult it can be to move forward after experiencing hurt and pain. The lyrics suggest a sense of regret and longing for a second chance to fix things. The first verse acknowledges that if the person the singer is addressing chooses to walk away there may be nothing he can say to change their mind or make them stay. He is not sure if anything he says will matter or if it will change how they feel. The next verse seems to admit that he is not an easy person to love, he is "the mess you chose," and perhaps difficult to deal with, but the person he is singing to has been unable to let him go entirely. The song's title phrase comes in for the first time during the chorus, which repeats that everything could change if they could turn back the years and forgive each other. Essentially, the song offers the possibility of a fresh start, a chance to set things right.
The lyrics demonstrate a self-awareness that the singer is aware of his own shortcomings in the relationship. He acknowledges that sometimes he can say hurtful and damaging things that unintentionally contribute to the disarray, which ultimately causes a rift between him and the other person. The final verse of the song seems to express hope that the two of them can work together to overcome their difficulties and make it through the obstacles that will ultimately come up in their everyday lives. Nonetheless, the chorus remains on the dreamy prospect of how different it might be if change was possible.
Line by Line Meaning
If you just walked away
If you decided to leave me
What could I really say?
What explanation or justification could I offer?
Would it matter anyway?
Would anything I say even make a difference?
Would it change how you feel?
Would your emotions towards me be altered?
I am the mess you chose
I am the person you picked in spite of my flaws
The closet you cannot close
My presence in your life can never be forgotten
The devil in you, I suppose
Perhaps I bring out the worst in you
Cause the wounds never heal
The hurt will persist
But everything changes
Despite the pain, things can get better
If I could
If it were possible
Turn back the years
To go back in time
Learn to forgive me
To understand and accept my mistakes
Then I could learn to feel
Then I can become open to experiencing emotions once again
Sometimes the things I say
In moments of confusion or frustration
In moments of disarray
Words said in a state of emotional chaos
Succumbing to the games we play
Falling victim to the unhealthy dynamics between us
To make sure that it's real
Trying to create authenticity in our relationship
When it's just me and you
During our intimate moments
Who knows what we could do
The possibilities are endless
If we can just make it through
If we can overcome our issues
The toughest part of the day
The most challenging moments in our relationship
Then we could
If we were able to achieve this
Stay here together
Remain committed to each other
And we could
Together we are capable of
Conquer the world
Overcoming any obstacle that comes our way
Say that forever
Promise to always
Is more than just a word
Meaningful and worth keeping
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Aaron Lewis, John April, John F. April, Jonathan Wysocki, Michael Mushok, Michael J. Mushok
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@richycycles2190
If you just walked away
What could I really say?
would it matter anyway?
would it change how you feel?
I am the mess you chose
the closet you can not close
The devil in you I suppose
'cuz the wounds never heal
But everything changes
if I could turn back the years
If you could learn to forgive me
then I could learn to feel
Sometimes the things I say
In moments of disarray
Succumbing to the games we play
To make sure that it's real
But everything changes
if I could turn back the years
If you could learn to forgive me
then I could learn to feel
When it's just me and you
Who knows what we could do
If we can just make it through
through this part of the day
But everything changes
if I could turn back the years
If you could learn to forgive me
then I could learn to feel
Then we could
Stay here together
And we could
Conquer the world
If we could
Say that forever
It's more than just a word
If you just walked away
What could I really say?
It wouldn't matter anyway.
It wouldn't change how you feel.
@ericburton4768
One of his best songs. Who’s here in 2023?
@kennethburkhart8935
Also helped me with a breakup. She was Barbie, an I was Ken-doll. I tried to help her for alcoholism at 28. Her good looks started fading fast an she passed 2 weeks after her 15 yes old dog at 36 in 2017. This song was just coming out.
@brettdegroot4388
Always Will Be... Actual Music for the Soul ☯️♾️💯
@brandonshook7407
Bingo
@johnnacrone524
L444⁴3rd JRSSEeeirIR8
@farmasifacialexpressionswi3559
@@kennethburkhart8935 I'm really sorry..I'm in recovery and I know how hard it is..
@tdshaker
Listen, I am 70. I went through this same adolescent thing when I was 15. In life you just have to be patient. All is not lost on your first real feelings for someone, that do not work out. it's not the end of the world, much better prospects are on the horizon, just believe, and be patient.
@amandaaustinwelch1873
tdshaker
@andyappleton3353
Thanks for your comment. We all know that at 70, you possess more wisdom than all of us. Godspeed
@fufufu418
tdshaker I'm only half ur age so can't imagine ur experiences and smarts but well said and happy to know a young man like urself listens to Staind!