in a 2012 interview, The Used bassist Jeph Howard said that "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" is probably his favorite song by the band.
A few years ago, while preparing to send the album art for b-side collection Shallow Believer to his record label, Bert McCracken scrawled the word “Artwork” across its cover in silver ink. The sentiment, which, to Bert and his bandmates in The Used, resonated with both extreme simplicity and indescribable complexity, said everything without really having to say anything. Now, the Utah band has titled their fourth full-length album with that very word: Artwork.
The group started writing the album after finishing the Taste of Chaos International tour in 2007, slowly collecting and jamming out ideas with no concrete intention beyond making the songs as dirty as possible. The Used, whose last album, 2007’s Lies For the Liars, debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200, spent the first half of 2008 in LA exploring and refining these ideas, eventually piecing tangential riffs and melodies into a scattering of songs that contained a surprisingly cohesive sensibility. The band members dubbed the music they were writing “gross pop,” their own new genre of hook-laden numbers that pushed the boundaries of the grotesque. Tracking for the album began in June of 2008 with producer Matt Squire and eventually concluded in February of 2009, primarily at LA studios The Lair and NRG. Between a few sporadic tours, the band spent about three months total recording with Squire where they allowed their creativity to dictate when they worked on something.
“I wouldn’t say it was hard to make any of the record but it definitely was time consuming,” Bert says. “We worked on our time table. The band allowed me to create when I was able to create, which was a good thing. I didn’t feel pressure to force things. There was no specific time I had to do anything. If we were in the studio and I’d been working on lyrics for five hours and nothing came out, we would just try again tomorrow.”
In the studio Squire approached the recording process with a laid-back attitude the band both appreciated and needed. The decision to work with a new producer after establishing a longtime relationship with producer John Feldman, who was at the helm of the band’s past three albums (Lies For the Liars, as well as 2004’s In Love and Death and 2002’s The Used, both of which were certified gold), was derived from a simple desire for change. The Used wanted to see what would happen if they entered the studio with someone different, a process guitarist Quinn Allman compares to “breaking up with your girlfriend not because you don’t love her but because you need to try something new.”
“It wasn’t that we absolutely didn’t want to work with Feldman or that we absolutely wanted to work with Squire,” Bert explains. “It was more that the band needed a change. We wanted to try something different and have it sound a lot different. It took a few weeks for us to get a vibe for each, but once we got used to it, it was really easy. Squire brought in this willingness to try anything and an open mind and a good attitude. I feel like he was really in touch with what the band wanted to do and he was really supportive of our ideas.”
The result is a raw collection of twelve songs that not so delicately teeter the line between being aggressively discordant and charmingly hooky. The first single “Blood On My Hands,” which Quinn describes as the song that “sums up everything about The Used,” is confined chaos, brutally thrashing one moment and proffering a pop-driven, sing-along chorus the next. “Empty With You,” a track Bert says is “about feeling empty and lonely but as long as you have someone who can feel lonely with you then everything’s okay,” surges with passion and gripping honesty, while “Cut Yourself” balances the album’s predilection for propulsive rage with its quieter, piano-driven exploration of what it means to have someone to lean on.
“This record is more sincere,” Quinn says. “It’s got a sound more reminiscent of the first record. Lyrically, it completely engulfs you and makes you feel safe but it’s all about feeling alone and empty and knowing there’s always a light. If you’re frustrated that much it means you care that much. The lyrics carry you through the record and you’re right with Bert and where he’s at. The music isn’t showing off. It’s just being what it is. I think the fans will appreciate all that.”
“This record is about coming together,” Bert adds. “Whether it’s through positivity or negativity, it’s about coming together through anything.”
Artwork encapsulates the past eight years of a band that’s played tours and festivals like Warped Tour, Ozzfest, Projek Revolution, Give It a Name, Reading and Leeds and SxSW, and sold over two million albums in the States alone, while simultaneously urging them forward. It’s a collaborative effort that drew The Used closer together during its creation. It’s about love and mortality and the basic human emotions we all experience every day. It’s biting and gritty, and it’s melodic and catchy. It’s a new chapter for a band that’s constantly sought to redefine the bounds of pop music—and have always successfully done so. It’s a reminder, as Bert says, “we’re all artists creating our own art just by living it.”
“I Come Alive” is the first single from The Used's fifth album, Vulnerable. It is the first release on the band's own label, Anger Music Group, an imprint of Hopeless Records. The song was released on January 17, 2012. (I Come Alive Songfacts).
Come Undone
The Used Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you refused to go insane.
I felt you get excited
When I whispered all the things you love to hate.
Like you're the one who kills.
Could kill me with a drug, your weapon.
Let's pretend there's
Hate me,
I'll be your, your loaded gun.
Burn me
Waiting to come undone.
I'll set it up inside you,
To watch you burn.
Hate me,
I'll be the, I'll be the end that you deserve.
Open lacerations,
A slower cut to feel your pain.
Heat the blood to boiling
As it passes from your lips into your brain.
'Cause you're the one who kills.
Could kill me with a drug, your weapon.
Let's pretend that
I'm not dead, it's in your head.
Hate me,
I'll be your, your loaded gun.
Burn me
Waiting to come undone.
I'll set it up inside you,
To watch you burn.
Hate me,
I'll be the, I'll be the end that you deserve.
I'll be the end that you deserve.
I can turn you on like fire.
Set fire deep inside you.
Eat you alive and watch you
Come and let me up the sonisphere!
I'll be your
I'll be your
I'll be your
I'll be the end that you deserve.
I'll be the end that you deserve.
Hate me,
I'll be your, your loaded gun.
Burn me
Waiting to come undone
I'll set it up inside you,
To watch you burn.
Hate me,
I'll be the, I'll be the end that you deserve.
I'll be the end that you deserve.
The Used's song Come Undone is a hauntingly beautiful rock anthem that depicts the vivid emotions of a person who desires to be destroyed by someone they love. The opening line "Opened up my failure" embodies the vulnerability of the singer who presents their flaws to their loved one. However, instead of accepting them, the loved one refuses to go insane and instead gets excited by the singer's faults. This creates a toxic cycle where the singer accepts the hatred, believing they are the one who deserves to be punished. The line "Like you're the one who kills. Could kill me with a drug, your weapon" implies that their loved one has the power to destroy them even with the drugs they consume.
The chorus "Hate me, I'll be your, your loaded gun. Burn me waiting to come undone. I'll set it up inside you, to watch you burn. Hate me, I'll be the, I'll be the end that you deserve" amplifies the torment experienced by the singer. They are willing to be the catalyst for their loved one's destruction just to feel loved for a moment. The line "I'll set it up inside you, to watch you burn" shows the level of control the singer desires over his loved one, creating a feeling of dominance that keeps the love flowing. The song concludes with the singer confirming that he is willing to be the end-point of his lover's life.
Line by Line Meaning
Opened up my failure
I exposed my own shortcomings
When you refused to go insane
When you wouldn't react the way I wanted you to
I felt you get excited
I sensed you enjoying the situation
When I whispered all the things you love to hate
When I reminded you of everything that bothers you
Like you're the one who kills
As if you have control over life and death
Could kill me with a drug, your weapon
You have the power to destroy me
Let's pretend there's nothing wrong with my direction
Let's pretend I know what I'm doing
Hate me, I'll be your, your loaded gun
You can direct your anger towards me
Burn me waiting to come undone
I'll endure the pain until it becomes unbearable
I'll set it up inside you, to watch you burn
I'll provoke you and watch you suffer
Hate me, I'll be the, I'll be the end that you deserve
You can direct your anger towards me, and I'll be the consequence you deserve
Open lacerations, a slower cut to feel your pain
I'll inflict slow and deliberate harm on you
Heat the blood to boiling as it passes from your lips into your brain
I'll intensify your agony to the point of madness
Let's pretend that I'm not dead, it's in your head
Let's pretend I'm not affected by your actions
I can turn you on like fire
I can ignite your fury
Set fire deep inside you
I'll make you burn with anger
Eat you alive and watch you come and let me up the sonisphere
I'll feed off your rage and take pleasure in your suffering
I'll be the end that you deserve
I'll be the inevitable outcome of your destructive behavior
Lyrics © THE BEST MUSIC COMPANY
Written by: QUINN ALLMAN, JEPH HOWARD, ROBERT MCCRACKEN, DANIEL WHITESIDES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind