The original lineup consisted of vocalist Jason Cruz, guitarists Jake Kiley and Rob Ramos, bassist Jim Cherry and drummer Adam Austin. After releasing a self-titled 7" record, they became one of the first bands to be signed to Fat Wreck Chords, the record label owned and operated by Fat Mike of the band NOFX. Austin left the band in 1992 and was replaced by Brad Morrison who also left the band and was replaced on drums by Jordan Burns, formerly of fellow Simi Valley natives Ten Foot Pole. Their first album, Another Day in Paradise, was released in May of 1994. Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues followed in 1996. In 1998 they released The Skinny Years...Before We Got Fat, a compilation album of their pre-Fat Wreck Chords material.
The band showed notable musical growth on their 1998 album Twisted by Design, which was both speedy and technical but also punk-based and with darker overtones. The album established a mixture of the fast, poppy sound the band had established with Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues but mixed it with more atonality and more abstract song structures. Bassist Jim Cherry left the band in 1999 and went on to play in Pulley and Zero Down, but died of heart failure in 2002. He was replaced by Chris Aiken, whose musical background had a strong impact on the 2000 album The Element of Sonic Defiance, which continued in the fast, melodic punk tradition of the band while introducing more hard rock and metal elements.
In 2002 the band released their fourth full-length album An American Paradox, their first release to appear in the Billboard Top 200. The initial production run contained a bonus song entitled "Don't Look Back". A video was filmed for the song "Cemetery" and was included on several punk rock video compilations. In 2003 they recorded and released a live album as part of the Fat Wreck Chords Live in a Dive series. Exile in Oblivion, was released in 2004, with a video filmed for the song "Analog." Strung Out released their sixth full-length album, Blackhawks Over Los Angeles on June 12, 2007.
In March 2009, Strung Out released a compilation of B-sides, demos, and covers called "Prototypes and Painkillers" with material from all eras of the band's history. Many of these tracks have been on various punk compilations and/or were included in their "Live in a Dive" recording.
On September 29, 2009, Strung Out Released a their 7th studio album titled Agents of the Underground.
Bring Out Your Dead
Strung Out Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
People in my life that have
Come and gone
One brief fleeting moment of
People I've loved and people that
I have wronged
Long lost are loved ones gone
But this bird cannot seem to
Lust for life dissipated and
A new greed rises for the
Needful things.
Don't want to think about it,
I indulge myself
Distraction eases pain, bury my
Emotions to protect myself.
Till I can't feel a fucking thing
I've dared to dream I've tried to live
But I've played it safe again
Just another slave to my vices now
Bring out your dead
Voices wither and crack then die
Ringin' in my ear would sing me
Soft asleep
Deathly silence now is all I hear
Has inspiration finally eluded me
[Chorus]
My addiction, my illness, my only
Trusted friend
My addiction my illness my only
Childhood fiend.
Your twisted warm embrace
Engulfing all I tried to be
My body's breaking under
Arms that will not set me free
Locked in this cage that I've
Built myself
Constructed out of twisted cold
Reminders of a Life once lost
But I've found my way again.
Here among the wreckage and the vampires
I'll play it safe again, just another
Slave to my vices now.
The lyrics to Strung Out's "Bring Out Your Dead" touch on themes of memory, addiction, and the grip of one's past mistakes. It begins with the singer reflecting on the fleeting nature of relationships, both positive and negative, that have passed through their life. The weight of these memories seems to pull on the singer's spirit, as they describe a "broken-winged bird" and a "lust for life dissipated."
The second verse shifts focus, with the singer describing their attempts to drown out these feelings with distraction and addiction. They describe themselves as a "slave to my vices" and indicate that they "play it safe again" rather than risking further emotional pain. In the chorus, the singer identifies their addiction as both a partner in crime and a "childhood fiend," suggesting they have struggled with these demons for some time.
The imagery in "Bring Out Your Dead" is often stark, with the singer describing "deathly silence" and "vampires" that surround them. It seems clear that they feel trapped in their emotional state, calling it a "cage that I've built myself." However, despite the bleakness of these lines, the singer expresses a sense of resolve in the final lines, claiming to have found their way again.
Overall, the lyrics of "Bring Out Your Dead" seem to be a reflection on the ways that our pasts and our mistakes can haunt us, and the struggle to move beyond them.
Line by Line Meaning
One brief recollection of all the
Reflecting on all the people who have come and gone in my life.
People in my life that have
Thinking about people who have been a part of my life.
Come and gone
Those people have left my life either by choice or through death.
One brief fleeting moment of
A momentary thought of people I've loved and wronged.
People I've loved and people that
People who I've cared for and those who I've hurt.
I have wronged
Those who I've hurt.
Long lost are loved ones gone
The people I've lost who I loved are now out of reach.
But this bird cannot seem to
I can't seem to move on from those losses.
Mend it's broken wings so the
I am still mentally and emotionally damaged.
Lust for life dissipated and
My desire to enjoy life has waned.
A new greed rises for the
A new selfishness has developed, replacing my desire for joy.
Needful things.
I now only care about my own wants and needs.
Don't want to think about it,
I don't want to dwell on my past.
I indulge myself
I distract myself from my problems.
Distraction eases pain, bury my
Distracting myself helps me forget about my emotional pain.
Emotions to protect myself.
I try to shield myself from feeling too much.
Till I can't feel a fucking thing
Eventually, my efforts to avoid my feelings numb me entirely.
I've dared to dream I've tried to live
Despite my struggles, I've attempted to experience life.
But I've played it safe again
However, I often revert back to being cautious.
Just another slave to my vices now
I'm addicted to my self-destructive coping mechanisms.
Bring out your dead
I'm trying to escape my past by bringing up old emotions.
Voices wither and crack then die
The memories and emotions I bring up fade away eventually.
Ringin' in my ear would sing me
The memories I bring back used to comfort me.
Soft asleep
I would feel comforted by my memories but now they cause me pain.
Deathly silence now is all I hear
Now, I'm left with nothing but painful memories and my own thoughts.
Has inspiration finally eluded me
I'm struggling to find inspiration in life.
My addiction, my illness, my only
I recognize my addictions and my emotional struggles as my biggest challenges.
Trusted friend
Despite the harm they cause me, I still rely on them.
My addiction my illness my only
Again, reflecting on my struggles with addiction and emotional turmoil.
Childhood fiend.
These struggles have been a part of my life since I was young.
Your twisted warm embrace
The comfort I feel from my addictions is unhealthy and damaging.
Engulfing all I tried to be
My addictions consume me, making it difficult to be who I want to be.
My body's breaking under
My addiction is taking a physical toll on my body.
Arms that will not set me free
Despite my pain, I can't seem to break free from my addictions.
Locked in this cage that I've
I feel trapped in my own life.
Built myself
I am responsible for my own problems and addictions.
Constructed out of twisted cold
My self-constructed cage is made up of unhealthy habits and negative emotions.
Reminders of a Life once lost
I am reminded of the life I've lost because of my addictions and emotional struggles.
But I've found my way again.
However, I'm still trying to work through my struggles and improve my life.
Here among the wreckage and the vampires
I am surrounded by the damage and negativity caused by my addictions and struggles.
I'll play it safe again, just another
Despite my efforts to break free, I often return to my old, comfortable habits.
Slave to my vices now.
I'm still struggling with addiction and emotional turmoil, and it's making it difficult for me to move forward and grow as a person.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Written by: JACOB IRA KILEY, JAMES PAUL CHERRY III, JASON ALEXANDER CRUZ, JORDAN LIEBERMAN, ROBERT J RAMOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Blodhosta
Like so many others I got into this kind of music in my early teens in the early-mid 90s, and this is one of the few songs that I still come back to and enjoy without a hint of irony or for the occasional nostalgia. This is just legit good shit, and the lyrics hit me right in the feels today in a way that they could never have done in my early teens.
They really capture not just the self-conscious and confusing aspects of self-destruction, but especially that grumpy, frustrated, hostile spirit that comes of it. When you can't help yourself and everyone who tries to help you just annoy you, so you end up taking the attitude that "I know it's bad but fuck off and just let me do my thing." Your relationships become fewer and more shallow since everyone who likes you really only like a part of you—the good part. But when you can't help it your only option is to pretend that the bad parts are a lifestyle choice you're proud of making, so you cling to that idea even though you know it's all a bunch of bullshit.
"Fuck it", or at least that's what you tell yourself. But deep down you know full well that you're wasting a much better life that is probably still in reach, but even acknowledging the possibility is too painful because it means accepting how fucking stupid you've always been—and you don't even know why. You just know this life so well and you feel so at home in it that everything else just feels foreign and speculative. So fuck it, right...?
But still there's that feeling of being an idiot who failed yourself, and any help feels like a reminder of that. So fuck 'em. Fuck 'em all. Fuck everything. Fuck yourself.
Right...?
Blodhosta
Like so many others I got into this kind of music in my early teens in the early-mid 90s, and this is one of the few songs that I still come back to and enjoy without a hint of irony or for the occasional nostalgia. This is just legit good shit, and the lyrics hit me right in the feels today in a way that they could never have done in my early teens.
They really capture not just the self-conscious and confusing aspects of self-destruction, but especially that grumpy, frustrated, hostile spirit that comes of it. When you can't help yourself and everyone who tries to help you just annoy you, so you end up taking the attitude that "I know it's bad but fuck off and just let me do my thing." Your relationships become fewer and more shallow since everyone who likes you really only like a part of you—the good part. But when you can't help it your only option is to pretend that the bad parts are a lifestyle choice you're proud of making, so you cling to that idea even though you know it's all a bunch of bullshit.
"Fuck it", or at least that's what you tell yourself. But deep down you know full well that you're wasting a much better life that is probably still in reach, but even acknowledging the possibility is too painful because it means accepting how fucking stupid you've always been—and you don't even know why. You just know this life so well and you feel so at home in it that everything else just feels foreign and speculative. So fuck it, right...?
But still there's that feeling of being an idiot who failed yourself, and any help feels like a reminder of that. So fuck 'em. Fuck 'em all. Fuck everything. Fuck yourself.
Right...?
Michael Pipkin
I just got sober. 19 years on serious pain pills. This song makes WAY more sense now than it did when I was 17.
evilillusionist
this is what good music is supposed to sound like
Hugo Jasper
FUCK YES MY DUDE!
Scrambles the Death Dealer
The difference is that this song isn't glorifying drug use, rather, it seems to be vilifying it.
ThatUJohnWayne
BF3_Pilot
Pretty sure he is talking about drugs though lol
Littletweeter
+evilillusionist exactly. not stupid rap where all they talk about is drugs sex and shit. this is real
bruno lopes
Muito bom
Charles Rielly
Sick lyrics. ....love them!
nepha
This sound was their peak, good shit