The Word Alive was founded in 2008 by Craig Mabbitt (lead vocals) with Zack Hansen (lead guitar) and Tony Pizzuti (rhythm guitar) who were former members of the bands Calling of Syrens and Clouds Take Shape. As a side-project of Mabbitt during his part in Escape the Fate, the remaining required members he recruited to start The Word Alive were chosen to be Nick Urlacher (bass), Dusty Riach (keyboard) and Tony Aguilera (drums). The group recorded songs with the intention of releasing them as a self-titled EP, despite that it never surfaced. Later on, the band forced Mabbitt to leave due to their dissatisfaction with Escape the Fate's schedules, which required Mabbitt to work as a full-time member.
The day after, Mabbitt posted a blog to his fans via his Myspace account explaining that leaving the band was not his decision and that "[The Word Alive] pretty much replaced me while I was on the road due to the fact that they wanted to tour and couldn't until I was available, I started that band with those guys and I'm very hurt at how they replaced me while I was touring...it's bullshit." On December 3, the band officially announced that Tyler "Telle" Smith, who was formerly one of the vocalists for In Fear and Faith and bassist for Greeley Estates, joined The Word Alive as their new frontman.
Feeling somewhat stagnant in their progression beforehand, the addition of Smith catapulted the band’s ambitions to the forefront. With this initiation, their goals and aspirations were much more a reality, and they set to work on what would become their record label debut, Empire.
During March 2009, the band were taken in with a contract by a new label, later on during the 26th of that month the group officially confirmed that the label they were then signed to was Fearless Records. Smith stated "We hope to just keep touring, touring, touring... we couldn't be happier or more appreciative to be on tour right now, I think despite having some of the worst luck in the early beginnings of being a touring band yet never missing a show, we always have a positive attitude and that will make us a stronger band." The band set out to create an EP to be released through the label wherein it was titled Empire and was recorded with producer Andrew Wade in Ocala, Florida. It was released on July 21, 2009 where it reached #15 on the Billboard Heatseeker chart.
During February the band reached an agreement to leave founding drummer, Tony Aguilera out of the group. Both parties (Aguilera and the rest of the band) shared their concerns and reasoning for the matter publicly. It was overall described that the band wanted to pursue a different percussionist of alternate talent than the founding member. Aguilera was replaced with Justin Salinas, whom previously was a part of the bands Scars of Tomorrow and Catherine as well as serving as a past live drummer for MyChildren MyBride.
In April 2010, The Word Alive entered the studio in Ocala, Florida with Andrew Wade to record their debut full-length album, Deceiver. By June, Deceiver was fully mastered and engineered. On June 23, 2010 the band premiered their first single from the album, “Epiphany” as streaming media online.The following day, Fearless Records released their 2010 Summer Sampler which also featured the track "Epiphany". A week later, the album's album art and track listing was released. Guitarist Zack Hansen explained upon this premiere that "We all felt like that was going to be the best choice considering how comfortable the recording process is with Andrew. The tracking was a lot of fun and everyone had a good time. We got the opportunity to stay in a house while we recorded and surprisingly we didn't party as much as I thought we would haha." Hansen later followed along explaining that his favorite track on the record is “The Hounds of Anubis”, which was written by him and Pizzuti and stated that he "wrote this song with an 'Egyptian feel' to it and I think we got our point across." Smith described that its lyrics describe the times of when The Word Alive overcame their hardships that they face with the help and support from their fans. "The Hounds of Anubis" was released as the album's second single on July 26, 2010. It premiered on the official Revolver website.
By November of 2011, the band made plans to return to the studio on February 7, 2012 with Joey Sturgis to begin recording their next album, with an expected recording session lasting from that time until mid-March. However by February (and before the date of entering the studio), the announcement of two members leaving occurred; keyboardist, Dusty Riach and drummer, Justin Salinas were simultaneously confirmed to no longer be a part of the band. Salinas stated his reason was because he grew tired of touring, although Riach's reason was preferred to be kept silent.
In regards to the band's second studio album, it was reported that 17 songs were recorded in its process. 13 of those will be on the standard edition of the album, while the another three will be included on the deluxe edition. The name of the album will be Life Cycles and both editions will be released the same day.On March 23rd of the year, the group issued a statement that 18-year old Arizona resident Luke Holland has joined as the new drummer, however, Holland was not included for the recording sessions of Life Cycles. The drumming for the record was done by a friend of the band named Matt Horn wherein Holland joined after these sessions were already completed.
On March 18, 2014, the band released a new single entitled "Play the Victim." Along with the song, they also announced their third full-length album Real. would be released on June 10. The album would be the first to feature Luke Holland on drums.
The band released their fourth album, Dark Matter, on March 18, 2016. The band also revealed the tracklist and a headlining North American tour with support from Fit for a King and Out Came the Wolves. The album's lead single, "Trapped", was released January 8.
In November 2016, Luke Holland announced he would be leaving the band at the end of 2016 after finishing their last tour of the year to pursue other musical endeavors. In February 2017, the band announced that Matt Horn would be taking Holland's place as drummer. Shortly after, a new single "Misery" was released.
On August 7, 2017, The Word Alive and Daniel Shapiro mutually announced they were parting ways due to a "new musical adventure" of Shapiro's. The next day, The Word Alive announced that they would be joining I Prevail on their Rage on the Stage Tour along with We Came as Romans & Escape the Fate.
Collapsing
The Word Alive Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bringing sorrow to many, men to their knees
You've built your life to live with no regrets
But the secret is none of us could ever really live
So here you are at the end of the road
Wondering which path to take, or if you'll ever know
You'll live to sing again, you'll live to sing again
You'll live to love again
Your world
Your world is falling apart
The darkness seizing your heart
You keep falling further away
These desperate feelings
You wish would go away
There are times
Nothing makes sense but the dark
Nothing makes sense but the dark
You know too well
And nothing matters
When you can't feel anymore
And nothings worth the fight
When the fights all you do any more
You'll live to love again
You'll live to love again
Your world
Your world is falling apart
The darkness seizing your heart
You keep falling further away
These desperate feelings, you wish would go away
You keep falling and you're not sure where you'll will land
These distant memories are all that you have
You'll live to love again
You'll live to love again
You'll live to love again
You'll live to love again
The Word Alive's song Collapsing is about feeling lost, hopeless and falling apart, but finding the strength to keep going and believing that you will find love and happiness again. The opening lyrics introduce the concept that desires can be dangerous and bring sorrow, yet the desire to live a life with no regrets is still present. The next verse addresses the feeling of being at a crossroads and not knowing which path to take. The chorus provides the hope that despite the darkness and desperate feelings, you will live to love and sing again. The lyrics speak to the struggles and pain that can arise in life but ultimately, encourage the listener to hold on and have faith that things will get better.
The verses of the song are quite straightforward, with the chorus being the standout part of the song. It's very positive and gives the listener a sense of hope, while also being really catchy. The song is an inspirational anthem about navigating the hard times and coming through the dark to find happiness and love.
Line by Line Meaning
Desires are dangerous things
Having strong passions and wants can be harmful
Bringing sorrow to many, men to their knees
Causing pain and suffering to others and breaking them down
You've built your life to live with no regrets
You have intentionally lived your life to avoid any feelings of remorse
But the secret is none of us could ever really live
The truth is that no one truly knows how to live life to the fullest extent
So here you are at the end of the road
You have reached a difficult point in your life and are uncertain of what to do next
Wondering which path to take, or if you'll ever know
Feeling lost and unsure about what direction to go in and if you will ever figure it out
You'll live to sing again, you'll live to sing again
Through all the hardships, you will find a way to continue doing what you love
Your world
Your entire existence
Your world is falling apart
Your life is crumbling and becoming chaotic
The darkness seizing your heart
A deep feeling of sadness and hopelessness consuming you
You keep falling further away
You are becoming more and more detached from yourself and your surroundings
These desperate feelings
Intense emotions of desperation and hopelessness
You wish would go away
You hope these feelings will eventually dissipate
There are times
Occasionally
Nothing makes sense but the dark
Everything seems meaningless and hopeless
You know too well
You are all too familiar with feeling lost and hopeless
And nothing matters
Nothing seems important or significant
When you can't feel anymore
When you have become numb to your own emotions
And nothings worth the fight
Nothing seems worth the effort or struggle
When the fights all you do any more
When all you seem to face are struggles and obstacles
You keep falling and you're not sure where you'll will land
You consistently feel like you are losing your grip and don't know where you are headed
These distant memories are all that you have
Your memories are the only thing you are clinging to that keep you going
You'll live to love again
Despite everything, you will still find love and new experiences to cherish
You'll live to love again
Reiterating the point that you will move forward and find love again
You'll live to love again
Repeatedly emphasizing the message that love is still possible in the future
You'll live to love again
The chorus drives home the message that there is still hope and a future to look forward to
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANTHONY JOHN JR. PIZZUTI, DANIEL HARRISON SHAPIRO, LUKE HOLLAND, LUKE DANIEL HOLLAND, TONY PIZZUTI, TYLER SMITH, ZACK HANSEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lindalite Catastrophe
This is definitely my favorite song off the album
I liked a lot of songs in this album
But then it can't be like deceiver, where I like qllthe songs
Then Life cycles is next
I like half of the songs, til the end song
Then this album camelot
It's good and I like the direction
But who amni to judge and unlike some of their songs
Cause in the end
They have my respect and thankfulness and that's what matters the most
Bop- it
@ISacredSniiperI
Do some research before you shit this out !
(name one un clean vocalist that's in there 30's & doesn't take really long breaks, or just sound like crap)
I major in this at school so, thanks for this...
edit
I'll give you that its not fact you can't scream
but, they do start too go down hill...
(& I never said you have to be certain age
that's when you are in that prime stage, is all I'm saying)
Danny blew his vocals out at 23,
Levi just blew his out at 23,
& Olie blew his out twice now...
all mid 20's & started to fade away(never said you can't scream still)
stop getting all sad, at least I have a photo of my self, douche !
(keep acting like you are so tough, you closed minded faggot, hope one day you get friends)
Scott Lucas
What a way to end this album, was not disappointed. I can see myself jamming to this for months and months to come
Mattia Castiglia
damn, this whole album is a masterpiece.
Bop- it
@Tyzahh
I still do enjoy them.
(I set up for them at Las Vegas warped tour
a few months ago)
Tyzahh
@iHeart Cody not to sure why you can't just enjoy the music and stop talking about how people lost their "touch" ... does it really matter? If you liked them before you should always like them it doesn't make a difference in age because obviously there are many people who still have great voices even as they grow up.. just listen to the song and stop criticizing how they sound.. if you don't like it then get off this video and don't listen to it. I don't like to sound like a dick but you should really rethink what you say because if you don't enjoy his voice then idk what the fuck you like then because a lot of the others are just mainstream metalcore so if you want to be apart of what everyone likes then go ahead but i for one would rather not be like everyone else so yeah your opinion is okay but just don't argue with anyone over it.. its the damn internet.. none of you actually know anything about them im the first place so just deal with what comes and don't say shit
Bop- it
@Celloria
hahahahahhahahahh(!!!)
all of them have lost their touch.
please do, go on......?
Celloria
@iHeart Cody Just to name a few as you asked, Chris Fronzak (Attila), Danny Worsnop (Asking Alexandria), Frankie Palmeri (Emmure) ... Need i go on? While those all may be a different style of screaming, they are all still very... very powerful vocalists
Kyle Funderburk
@xxghostxx7 I will add that for the whole album and this song in particular, his screams match the overall tone of the song. He's always been a passionate guy especially live,but my point is that not many guys can get as emotionally invested in a song as Telle does.
the.milann
I am going through some rough time in my life at the moment. This song explains it for me pretty much. Thanks, TWA, for writing great songs!
Kyle Funderburk
This is why they are my favorite band. They improve every album. Lets not get into which album was better because that's all opinion. But I can't think of any other band in the whole genre that improves vocally, instrumentally and lyrically from album to album as much as The Word Alive.
Brandon Streit
@Memento Mori architects