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).
Tunnel
The Used Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Crawl through the tunnel,
My eyes can hardly see the other side,
No longer cold,
Or feeling in trouble,
I realize that I am just alive....
So let it shine,
We are the living and dying,
See how we are, alone in the world,
We are the light in the tunnel,
That's all.....
Moving so slow, towards the end of the tunnel
I don't pretend I'll see the other side
I trudge through the mud
I push through the rubble
To realize that I am just alive
So let it shine
Cause we are, the light in the tunnel,
We are the living and dying,
See how we are, alone in the world
We are the light in the tunnel
The world is not leaving us (leave us behind)
But we will be leaving this world
Yeah, the world is not leaving us (leave us behind)
Do we believe in this world?
Cause we are, the light in the tunnel,
We are the living and dying,
See how we are, alone in the world
We are the light in the tunnel
That's all....
We are the light in the tunnel
That's all....
We are the light in the tunnel
That's all....
The lyrics to The Used's song "Tunnel" describe the journey of a person who is going through a difficult time, represented by crawling through a tunnel. The tunnel serves as a metaphor for life's struggles, and the singer's perseverance through it all is emphasized. The first verse describes feeling lost and unable to see a way out, but in the second verse, the singer pushes through the difficulties and comes to the realization that simply being alive is a reason to embrace life's challenges.
The chorus reinforces the idea that people can be a light in the world, even in the midst of darkness. Despite feeling alone, the singer is part of a larger community of people who are "living and dying" together. The bridge of the song adds a new layer of complexity, as the lyrics suggest that while the world may seem chaotic and uncertain, people still have agency to make choices and affect change. The song's overall message is one of resilience and hope, encouraging listeners to find strength in their own struggles and to recognize the light that exists within themselves and the world around them.
Line by Line Meaning
I set out alone,
Starting my journey on my own,
Crawl through the tunnel,
Slowly making my way through a dark and narrow space,
My eyes can hardly see the other side,
Unable to see the end or what lies beyond,
No longer cold,
Feeling warm and alive,
Or feeling in trouble,
No longer struggling or facing adversity,
I realize that I am just alive....
Coming to the realization that being alive is a gift and a purpose in itself,
So let it shine,
Embracing and celebrating my existence,
Cause we are, the light in the tunnel,
Acknowledging that we are the beacon of hope and inspiration for ourselves and others,
We are the living and dying,
Experiencing both life and death as part of our journey,
See how we are, alone in the world,
Realizing that ultimately we are alone in our journey but still able to shine in darkness,
Moving so slow, towards the end of the tunnel
Gradually making progress towards the destination at the end of the tunnel,
I don't pretend I'll see the other side
Not expecting to know what will come after the end of the journey,
I trudge through the mud
Persisting through difficulties and unpleasant situations,
I push through the rubble
Overcoming obstacles and challenges along the way,
The world is not leaving us (leave us behind)
The world will keep moving forward even if we are not ready to move on,
But we will be leaving this world
We will eventually depart from this life and move on to another existence,
Do we believe in this world?
Questioning our faith or belief in the reality around us,
That's all....
Accepting and being content with the simple truth that we are the light in the tunnel.
Contributed by Victoria B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.