Songfacts®:

• Guitarist Synyster Gates wrote this song after the band's drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan was found dead on December 28, 2009. It is Syn's way of saying goodbye to his friend and is the first Avenged Sevenfold song to be written both lyrically and instrumentally by him.
• The song features on acoustic guitar Syn's stand up comedian father, Brian Haner Sr., who is commonly known as Jeff Dunham's "Guitar Guy."
• Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater filled in on drums for the Nightmare album and subsequent tour. Like The Rev, Portnoy has struggled with addiction. He told Songfacts: "When I see what happened to The Rev, or Paul Gray from Slipknot, I feel horrible, because I understand the disease and how dangerous it is, and if you're an addict or an alcoholic, like I am, the writing's on the wall. You can't live that kind of lifestyle and live a long, happy life. You know, that lifestyle and that disease, which I have, is going to take you out. You have two choices when you're that deep: you either have to get sober, or inevitably end up in hospitals, institutions, death, or jail. There's only two roads when you're that bad of an alcoholic or an addict. And I saw the writing on the wall for myself ten years ago. I have a son and a daughter who were just born back then, in the late '90s, and I saw that my alcoholism was killing me, physically, emotionally, and mentally. And I saw what it did to some of my heroes, people like Keith Moon and John Bonham, and it scared the hell out of me. I had to make a decision. I wanted to live. I wanted to be a father and a husband and be alive for my family, friends, and my band. And that's when I decided to get help and get sober."
• Vocalist M. Shadows said in a video interview the song is "very stripped down, raw and very personal" as it's supposed to feel like "one guy with one guitar, sitting there and speaking to his best friend."