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).
Lunacy Fringe
The Used Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My love
Never thought you'd make me, break me
Now I'm up from below
Such a brilliant star you are
And will your love keep burning baby
Burn a hole right through my eyes
All these short times feel like no time
I'm so far gone now I been running on empty
I'm so far gone now
Do you want to take me on?
Do, Do you, Do you know?
Do you know how long I've waited?
To look up from below,
Just to find someone like you?
And will your love like burn me, baby?
Burn a hole right through my heart
I think I might just trust you, maybe
But I'm not sure
I'm not sure I want to know
I'm so far gone now I been running on empty
I'm so far gone now
Do you want to take me on?
Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa
I think you could make me girl
Could make me take my life
I know you can break me girl
Take all of me
All of me, yeah hey
Wake up
My love
Never thought you'd make me, break me
Now I'm up from below
Such a brilliant star you are
The lyrics to The Used's song Lunacy Fringe seem to be about someone who has been hurt in a past relationship but has found someone new and is wary of putting their trust in them. The opening line "Wake up my love" is a call to the new partner to pay attention and see the singer's vulnerability. The line "Never thought you'd make me, break me" suggests that the singer may have been hurt before and is afraid of being hurt again. The line "Such a brilliant star you are" is a compliment to their new lover and an acknowledgement of their positive qualities.
The chorus repeats the lines "I'm so far gone now I been running on empty" and "Do you want to take me on?" which seem to suggest that the singer has been emotionally drained and is unsure if they can handle a new relationship. The next verse continues with the theme of uncertainty, as the singer asks "Do you know how long I've waited?" and wonders if the new partner will "burn a hole right through my heart."
Line by Line Meaning
Wake up
Begin to see things as they really are
My love
The object of my affection
Never thought you'd make me, break me
You surprised me with how much power you have over me
Now I'm up from below
I'm starting to see things from a different perspective
Such a brilliant star you are
You shine so brightly in my eyes
And will your love keep burning baby
Can your passion for me keep up?
Burn a hole right through my eyes
Intense emotions can be so overwhelming
All these short times feel like no time
Moments with you seem to fly by
I thought you ought to know
I wanted you to be aware of my thoughts and feelings
I'm so far gone now I been running on empty
I'm exhausted from chasing after you
Do you want to take me on?
Would you like to have me as your partner?
Do, Do you, Do you know?
Do you have an idea of what I'm feeling?
Do you know how long I've waited?
I've been waiting for someone like you for ages
To look up from below,
To finally feel like I have hope
Just to find someone like you?
To come across a person who is so special
And will your love like burn me, baby?
Will your passion be too much for me to handle?
Burn a hole right through my heart
Intense feelings can be both powerful and painful
I think I might just trust you, maybe
I'm not sure if I can trust you completely, but I'm willing to try
But I'm not sure
I have doubts and uncertainties
I'm not sure I want to know
I'm afraid of what I might learn
Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa
Expression of strong emotions
I think you could make me girl
I believe you have the power to change me
Could make me take my life
You could become so important to me that my life revolves around you
I know you can break me girl
You have the ability to hurt me deeply
Take all of me
I'm willing to give you everything I have
All of me, yeah hey
I'm giving you my all
Lyrics © SPIRIT MUSIC GROUP
Written by: BRANDEN STEINECKERT, JEPH HOWARD, QUINN ALLMAN, ROBERT MCCRACKEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind