Sum 41 released their debut album, All Killer No Filler, in 2001 and achieved mainstream success through the album's first single, "Fat Lip", which reached number-one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart; it remains the band's most successful single to date. As of February 2017, they have since released five more studio albums: Does This Look Infected? (2002), Chuck (2004), Underclass Hero (2007), Screaming Bloody Murder (2011) and 13 Voices (2016).
The band was formed by singer-songwriter Deryck Whibley and drummer Steve Jocz, after Whibley convinced Jocz to join his band. Jocz was a drummer in another band and Whibley was convinced that "he was the best drummer around". The duo then added Dave Baksh as lead guitarist a year later and after going through several bassists, ended up picking Jason McCaslin to complete their lineup.
On May 10, 2006, Dave Baksh announced in a statement through his management company that he was leaving Sum 41 to work with his new band, Brown Brigade, which has a more "classic metal" sound. Baksh cited "creative differences" as the reason for his departure but claimed that he was still on good terms with the band. On March 9, 2010, Steve Jocz confirmed that new lead guitarist Tom Thacker will take part in the writing and recording.
On April 18, 2013, drummer Steve Jocz announced he would be leaving the band via his official Facebook page, leaving Whibley as the sole founding member of the band. Their follow up album will be the band's second collaboration as a trio and first with Whibley and McCaslin as the only two bandmates from their original release left.
In 2015 Frank Zummo became the drummer of the band replacing Jocz after his departure in 2013. On July 9, 2015, the band launched a PledgeMusic campaign for its comeback album. On July 23, 2015, the band played its comeback show at the Alternative Press Awards, which featured former lead guitarist Dave Baksh, joining the band on stage 9 years after officially leaving the band. The band's set also featured DMC as guest. Since the performance, rumors speculated that Dave had returned to the band rather than being just a guest. On August 14, 2015, Sum 41 announced through Alternative Press that Baksh had made his official return to the group, and will appear on the group's sixth album. On December 26, 2015, Sum 41 teased two new songs on Instagram's account. On January 1, 2016, Deryck Whibley published on the Facebook page that the new album is almost finished.
The band is set to perform on the 2016 Warped Tour. On May 11, 2016, the group announced its signing to Hopeless Records. On June 1, 2016, the band announced that an album was set to be released in the fall of 2016. On June 6, 2016, the group announced that the album would be titled '13 Voices and that it is scheduled for release on October 7, 2016. The first song off of the upcoming album, "Fake My Own Death", was released on June 28, 2016 through Hopeless Records' official YouTube channel, along with a music video for the song. The song was performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on October 3, 2016. The album's first official single, "War", was released on August 25, 2016.[61] On September 28, 2016, the album's eighth track, "God Save Us All (Death to POP)" was leaked online, before being officially released (along with a live music video) on September 29, 2016.
Their seventh studio album, Order in Decline, was released July 19, 2019. The second single from the album "A Death in the Family" was released along with a music video on June 11. On June 18, "Never There" was released as the third single, along with a video. On July 8, the band released "45 (A Matter of Time)" as the fourth single, along with a video. On May 28, 2021, the band released a version of "Catching Fire" featuring Nothing, Nowhere, along with a music video.
On February 22, 2022, the band announced a U.S. tour with Simple Plan called the Blame Canada tour. The tour is set to run from April to August 2022. On March 23, 2022, the band announced their eighth studio album, 'Heaven and Hell', which is set to be a double album. 'Heaven' will be a pop punk album much like the band's early material while 'Hell' is a continuation of the band's more recent heavier metal sound.
Studio Albums:
'All Killer No Filler' (2001)
'Does This Look Infected?' (2002)
'Chuck' (2004)
'Underclass Hero' (2007)
'Screaming Bloody Murder' (2011)
'13 Voices' (2016)
'Order in Decline' (2019)
'Heaven and Hell' (2024)
Website: www.sum41.com
King of Contradiction
Sum 41 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Or were you just a jester all along, a simple pawn?
Don't you know you can't count your tears like your money
Running down the drain
[Chorus:]
You don't need to pray for me 'cause I'm not the one to blame
I can't wait to see you going down in flames
You lost the human race?
I hope you burn like a cigarette in ashes
Your head comes down and crashes
Your throat pours blood from slashes
And I hope you never forget like a tattoo of regret this time, this time
[Chorus]
Now you're replaced now
Nice to know you
Now your time is up so
Just drop dead
In this song, Sum 41 is mocking a person who is a hypocrite and a liar. The lyrics "I've dethroned the king of contradiction" show that the person being addressed has been dethroned because their lies and hypocrisy have been uncovered. The line "Or were you just a jester all along, a simple pawn?" suggests that this person was just pretending to be superior to everyone else, and was in fact just a fool. The lyrics "Don't you know you can't count your tears like your money, running down the drain" means that the person's tears are as worthless as the money they have wasted, all going to waste and no impact on the situation.
The chorus of the song is very blunt, with lyrics like "You don't need to pray for me 'cause I'm not the one to blame" showing that the person singing the song is not the one who has done wrong. The lyrics "I can't wait to see you going down in flames" is a direct attack on the person being addressed, wanting to see them fail miserably. The lyrics "How could it be - no, not what we became, you lost the human race?" means that this person has failed as a member of the human race, with the song implying that they had great potential but lost it because of their lies and deception.
Overall, Sum 41's "King of Contradiction" delivers a very biting criticism of a person who was once powerful but has now been exposed as a liar and hypocrite.
Line by Line Meaning
I've dethroned the king of contradiction
I have defeated the person who always contradicted himself
Or were you just a jester all along, a simple pawn?
Were you always a fool, someone who was easily controlled?
Don't you know you can't count your tears like your money
Tears cannot be counted or compared to money
Running down the drain
Tears aren't beneficial when they are shed and lost
[Chorus:]
Refrain:
You don't need to pray for me 'cause I'm not the one to blame
There's no use praying for me since I'm not at fault
I can't wait to see you going down in flames
I'm anticipating your downfall
How could it be - no, not what we became
What went wrong with our relationship, it's so different from what we were.
You lost the human race?
Have you lost all sense of humanity?
I hope you burn like a cigarette in ashes
I pray that you die a painful death
Your head comes down and crashes
Your demise will be humiliating
Your throat pours blood from slashes
You'll have cuts on your throat that will not stop bleeding
And I hope you never forget like a tattoo of regret this time, this time
I want you to have this experience etched in your mind as a permanent reminder of your failure.
[Chorus]
Refrain:
Now you're replaced now
You've been replaced
Nice to know you
It was nice to know you (sarcasm)
Now your time is up so
Now's the end of the line for you
Just drop dead
Just die
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: DERYCK WHIBLEY, DERYCK JASON WHIBLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
J-BOOT
on In Too Deep
"I LIKE POOP!!!"