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.
You're All I See
The Word Alive Lyrics
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(Will it finally set me free) Will it set me free?
Love me if you know what it means,
And I'll be as strong as you need me to be (as strong as you need). Yeah you'll see.
And everywhere I look you're all I see.
Did you mean anything?
And I was on the outside lookin in.
You know I want you I want you (you're all I see).
And I can not let go.
Stay awake don't let it pull you in. It'll drag you under water, with no chance to swim.
It's gonna try, gonna try to pull us in.
The fog rolls in to block out the light.
Answers and questions removed from all sight.
But I won't give up if you won't. I won't give up if you won't.
And everywhere I look you're all I see.
Did you mean anything? Can't you see you're my everything.
And I was on the outside lookin in.
You know I want you I want you (you're all I see).
And I can not let go.
I was on the outside lookin from the wrong side of it all.
You know I need you I need you,
I can not let, I can not let go.
Hold on, hold on! Can't you see? Please believe
And I was on the outside lookin' in
You know I want you I want you. (you're all I see)
And I can not let go.
Now I'm on the inside lookin' from the right side of it all.
You know you want me, I want you! So let's not let
Let's not let this go.
"Hold back" I won't hold back.
This fight will be the death of me, or will it set me free?
Will it set me free?
It's not about what you've done.
It's all about what you'll become.
What you'll become.
The Word Alive’s “You're All I See” is a heart-wrenching song filled with a desperate plea for love and the fear of losing it. The opening lines of the song, “Hold back, I won't hold back; This fight will be the death of me, or will it set me free? Will it finally set me free?” signifies the struggle within the singer, someone who is unwilling to restrain their emotions despite the possibility of it leading to their downfall. The singer is fighting for their love, which they believe would be the solution to their predicament. The line, “Love me if you know what it means, And I'll be as strong as you need me to be” refers to the singer's desire for their lover to reciprocate the same love and intensity they feel.
The chorus of the song, “And everywhere I look you're all I see. Did you mean anything? Can't you see you're my everything," reveals the extent of the singer's obsession with their romantic interest. The singer is so consumed by their love that they see their lover everywhere, indicating that their affection has permeated every aspect of their life. The lyric, “And I can not let go,” highlights the singer's unwillingness to let go regardless of the cost.
As the song progresses, it becomes apparent that the singer's obsession with their love is not entirely reciprocated. The line, “I was on the outside lookin' from the wrong side of it all. You know I need you, I need you, I can not let, I can not let go," suggests the singer's feeling of being an outsider looking in, incapable of reaching their lover's heart. However, the song ends on a hopeful note with the line, "Now I'm on the inside lookin' from the right side of it all. You know you want me, I want you! So let's not let this go." The singer and their love interest are now on the same side, and there is hope for their love to grow.
Line by Line Meaning
Hold back
I won't hold back. This fight will be the death of me, or will it set me free? Will it set me free?
Love me if you know what it means
If you truly know what love is, then love me. And I'll be as strong as you need me to be (as strong as you need). Yeah you'll see.
And everywhere I look you're all I see
No matter where I look, my thoughts keep coming back to you. Can't you see you're my everything?
And I was on the outside lookin in
I felt left out and disconnected from you. You know I want you I want you (you're all I see). And I can not let go.
Stay awake don't let it pull you in. It'll drag you under water, with no chance to swim
Don't let yourself get consumed by negative feelings. It will take you down, and you won't be able to recover from it.
The fog rolls in to block out the light. Answers and questions removed from all sight
Life can feel like a mystery where even the simplest answers become unclear or inaccessible. But I won't give up if you won't.
I was on the outside lookin from the wrong side of it all
I was out of sync with the world and reality that surrounded me.
Hold on, hold on! Can't you see? Please believe
Don't give up yet. I know it's hard, but please have faith in us.
Now I'm on the inside lookin' from the right side of it all
I'm finally able to let go of my past feelings and see things from a different perspective.
It's not about what you've done. It's all about what you'll become. What you'll become.
Your past does not define who you are. It's all about what you'll become in the future.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANTHONY PIZZUTI, ANTHONY JOHN JR. PIZZUTI, DUSTY RIACH, JUSTIN SALINAS, JUSTIN DAVID SALINAS, MARK ANTHONY PIZZUTI, NICK URLACHER, TYLER SMITH, ZACK HANSEN
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