Songfacts®:

• The title of this song may imply what some people argue is the current state of rock music, but Beartooth's frontman Caleb Shomo makes it clear that this tune actually celebrates the genre when he boldly screams at the end of the chorus, "If rock and roll's dead, you can kill me right now."
• In his Songfacts interview, Shomo spoke about this song's meaning. "It's just about my love for rock and roll and how I don't know what I would be doing in my life without it," he said. "When there are rock festivals where there are sometimes 120,000 people and they're all sold out and they're epic, I think rock is alive and well, and hopefully it stays that way."
• Shomo continued to reveal the lyrical interpretation of this track in an album commentary for Spotify. "'Rock Is Dead' is just a fun song," he said. "I love rock and roll and it's just about how rock and roll music is the one thing I've always had and I've always leaned on. It's my emotional outlet. It is my true passion in life. I just love rock and roll so I made a ridiculous rock song with crazy drums that are doing fills every two seconds and ridiculous guitar riffs and bending strings trying to break them. It's just to me a fun, kind of lighter way to end the full-band side of the record."