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).
Yesterday's Feelings
The Used Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The worries are washed out to sea
See the changes, people's faces blurred out
Like sunspots or raindrops
Now all those feelings, those yesterdays feelings will all be lost in time
But today I've wasted away for today is on my mind
Away from the light in my eyes
Holding tight and try not to hide how I feel
Now feelings mean nothing
All those feelings, those yesterdays feelings will all be lost in time
But today I've wasted away for today is on my mind (today is on my mind)
I can't get a worry
I'm feeling so lonely
Breaking apart all this love in my heart
Close my eyes and move to the back of my mind
Where feelings mean nothing
All those feelings, those yesterdays feelings will all be lost in time
But today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind
But today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind
But today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind
I can't get a worry
I'm feeling so lonely
Breaking apart all this love in my heart
The lyrics to The Used's song Yesterday's Feelings seem to describe a person trying to push away their past emotions and worries, hoping to forget about them and focus on the present. The song starts with the singer saying he's closing his eyes and moving to the back of his mind, trying to wash away his worries. He then talks about how the changes he sees around him, like blurred faces, are akin to sunspots or raindrops. He seems to be acknowledging that life is constantly evolving and changing, and that he needs to let go of the past to embrace the present.
The chorus talks about how all those "yesterday's feelings" will be lost in time, and the importance of focusing on today. The song seems to suggest that dwelling on the past and holding on to old emotions can keep us from living in the now. The verses continue with the theme of letting go, with the singer saying he's left his worries behind and is trying not to hide how he feels. However, he also seems to be struggling with loneliness and heartbreak. The song ends with the repetition of the chorus, as if to emphasize the message of moving on from the past.
Line by Line Meaning
Close my eyes and move to the back of my mind
I am trying to forget about my worries by pushing them to the back of my mind and ignoring them.
The worries are washed out to sea
My worries are fading away and I am losing track of them over time.
See the changes, people's faces blurred out
Due to my emotional state, my perception of reality is distorted and people around me are becoming less clear.
Like sunspots or raindrops
Just as it is difficult to see the sunspots or raindrops during a storm, I am struggling to understand and perceive reality due to my inner turmoil.
Now all those feelings, those yesterdays feelings will all be lost in time
The feelings that I had in the past will fade away and eventually become insignificant over time.
But today I've wasted away for today is on my mind
Although I know that past feelings will fade away, currently the present is taking up all of my attention and causing me distress.
Left the only worries I had in my hands
I have addressed and resolved all of my immediate concerns and anxieties.
Away from the light in my eyes
I am currently in a darker emotional state and don't feel like myself.
Holding tight and try not to hide how I feel
I am trying to be honest and transparent about my emotions and not hide them from others.
Now feelings mean nothing
Having experienced intense emotions previously, I am now feeling numb and indifferent to my current emotional state.
I can't get a worry
I am struggling to find something to worry about or be anxious about.
I'm feeling so lonely
Despite not having any immediate concerns or anxieties, I am feeling lonely and isolated from others.
Breaking apart all this love in my heart
My emotions are currently in conflict with each other and I am struggling to reconcile them.
Where feelings mean nothing
Given my current emotional state, my feelings and experiences are becoming insignificant to me.
But today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind
The present is continuing to take up all of my attention and causing me distress, even though I know that past feelings will fade away.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: QUINN ALLMAN, JEPH HOWARD, ROBERT C. MCCRACKEN, BRANDEN STEINECKERT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind