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).
Make Believe
The Used Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Let alone could I ever believe
That there is only one way to be
And somehow you were given the key
I was just a kid, I trusted you
You never meant to lie, you didn't know the truth
Don't get to tell me what to do anymore
I don't need it keep my head out of the clouds
Don't need it keep my feet back on the ground
I'm never buying what you're selling
To me it's only make believe
I won't do what it is that you tell me to do
I have seen what you had to go through
Not what I had expected from you
I guess I had expected the truth
I was just a little kid, thought you'd teach me how to live
Put my trust in you, but all I got was rules
Don't get to tell me what to do anymore
Don't get to tell me how to live anymore
I don't need it keep my head out of the clouds
Don't need to keep my feet back on the ground
I'm never buying what you're selling
To me it's only make believe
I don't need a map to find my way back home
Don't need a book to teach me how to love
Don't tell me that you know the ending
To me it's only make believe
You don't get to tell me what to do anymore
You don't get to tell me how to live anymore
You don't get to tell me what to do anymore
You don't get to tell me how to live anymore
You don't get to tell me what to do anymore
You don't get to tell me how to live anymore
You don't get to tell me what to do anymore
You don't get to tell me how to live anymore
Anymore, anymore, anymore
I don't need it keep my head out of the clouds
Don't need to keep my feet back on the ground
I'm never buying what you're selling
To me it's only make believe
I don't need a map to find my way back home
Don't need a book to teach me how to love
Don't tell me that you know the ending
To me it's only make believe
The Used's song "Make Believe" is an anthem about breaking free from the expectations and constraints of others. The singer claims that they refuse to be told what to do or how to live their life. They express disappointment in someone who they once trusted and looked up to who didn't teach them how to live but only gave them rules to follow. The singer acknowledges that life doesn't have one way to be. They reject the notion that anyone has the key to life or that there is one correct way to live. In the end, the singer declares that they don't need anyone else's guidance or validation because everything they need to find their way is already within them.
The song seems to speak to the experience of growing up and realizing that the people who are supposed to have all the answers don't really know any more than you do. It is about recognizing that you have agency over your own life and that you don't have to follow the rules or expectations that others set for you. The repeated refrain of "anymore" emphasizes the singer's desire to break free from the expectations that have been placed upon them and to find their own way.
Overall, "Make Believe" is a song about self-determination and the importance of finding your own path in life, even if it means rejecting the guidance of others.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't see what it is that you want me to see
I cannot understand your perspective or what you are trying to show me
Let alone could I ever believe
Especially because I cannot understand, I also cannot believe
That there is only one way to be
It seems like you are telling me there is only one correct way to act or live
And somehow you were given the key
And you believe that you are the only one who knows what that way is
I was just a kid, I trusted you
When I was young, I had faith in you and your direction
You never meant to lie, you didn't know the truth
I realize now that you were not intentionally deceitful, but rather ignorant
Don't get to tell me what to do anymore
You no longer have the authority to dictate my actions
Don't get to tell me how to live anymore
Nor do you have the right to tell me how to live my life
I don't need it keep my head out of the clouds
I do not require your guidance to keep my thoughts realistic
Don't need it keep my feet back on the ground
I do not require your guidance to keep me grounded
I'm never buying what you're selling
I am not accepting or following the ideas you are promoting
To me it's only make believe
To me, what you are saying is not reality, but rather fiction
I won't do what it is that you tell me to do
I will not perform the actions that you command
I have seen what you had to go through
I understand the hardships you have faced
Not what I had expected from you
However, I did not anticipate certain aspects of your character
I guess I had expected the truth
I was hoping for honesty and transparency in our interactions
I was just a little kid, thought you'd teach me how to live
When I was young, I believed that you would be my guide in life
Put my trust in you, but all I got was rules
But all you provided me with were strict regulations to follow
You don't get to tell me what to do anymore
You do not have the power to instruct me any longer
You don't get to tell me how to live anymore
Nor can you dictate how I live my life
Anymore, anymore, anymore
Repeated phrase for emphasis and finality
I don't need a map to find my way back home
I am capable of finding my own way back home
Don't need a book to teach me how to love
I don't need your guidance to lead a loving life
Don't tell me that you know the ending
I reject your notion that you possess knowledge of how things will turn out
To me it's only make believe
Once again, to me, your claims are fictitious
Lyrics © THE BEST MUSIC COMPANY, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN FELDMANN, ROBERT MCCRACKEN, QUINN ALLMAN, DANIEL WHITESIDES, JEPH HOWARD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
reza taufiq
I can’t see what it is that you want me to see
Let alone could I ever believe
That there is only one way to be
And somehow you were given the key
I was just a kid, I trusted you
You never meant to lie, you didn't know the truth
Don’t get to tell me what to do anymore
Don’t get to tell me how to live anymore
I don’t need it keep my head out of the clouds
Don’t need it keep my feet back on the ground
I’m never buying what you’re selling
To me it’s only make believe
I won’t do what it is that you tell me to do
I have seen what you had to go through
Not what I had expected from you
I guess I had expected the truth
I was just a little kid, thought you’d teach me how to live
Put my trust in you, but all I got was rules
Don’t get to tell me what to do anymore
Don’t get to tell me how to live anymore
I don’t need it keep my head out of the clouds
Don’t need to keep my feet back on the ground
I’m never buying what you’re selling
To me it’s only make believe
I don’t need a map to find my way back home
Don’t need a book to teach me how to love
Don’t tell me that you know the ending
To me it’s only make believe
You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore
You don’t get to tell me how to live anymore
You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore
You don’t get to tell me how to live anymore
You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore
You don’t get to tell me how to live anymore
You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore
You don’t get to tell me how to live anymore
Anymore, anymore, anymore
I don’t need it keep my head out of the clouds
Don’t need to keep my feet back on the ground
I’m never buying what you’re selling
To me it’s only make believe
I don’t need a map to find my way back home
Don’t need a book to teach me how to love
Don’t tell me that you know the ending
To me it’s only make believe
Ilenia Trange
I don't GIVE A SHIT. It doesn't matter what people say on this album. THAT'S PERFECT. Every lyrics is perfect. EVERYTHING around it is perfect. And every song hit me right in the heart.
Thanks, The Used.
Ruby Dragon
Ylenia Strange
you are right
nirkwana
Lyrics 👍👍👍👍👍
BPLove
Grrrr... you're feisty.
Tucker V Skele
I do agree.
Pandababy0993
I have been listening to the used since i was 13. All i can say is that I love how this band has grown with me. Their songs like this one that really fit with how my life has changed now that I'm not a teen and am in my 20's. I've seen them in concert 5 times and will see them again if i can <3!
AstoriaEdition
Definitely one of my favorites from The Used all together.
Pachara Apiwatvarachai
can i add your FB you're so cute
Prerecorded Response
I didn't think that music could still mean something to me with all of the crap that's cone out lately, but once again The Used has done it. Making music that still saves peoples lives.
Crypto Speedster
one main reason i choose to stay alive is because music like this exists, beautiful ,, been listening to the used for forever now