Dear Agony

Album: Dear Agony (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the title track of alternative metal band Breaking Benjamin's fourth studio album.
  • In an interview with Weekender magazine, the comment was made that on Dear Agony, a lot of the lyrics have a common theme of slipping away or being left behind but with a twist of persevering. The interviewer asked frontman Ben Burnley if this ties in with what he's been going through. The singer replied: "Absolutely, it's personal to a certain degree because I write it and it has to come from somewhere. I want it to be known I've been suffering with some debilitating things for years, and it's become such an impedance on my life now that I can't help but have it come through in the music that I write. It does affect me in some ways on a performance level and on an availability level and things like that, so I'm kind of glad that it's finally coming to be known and that I can use the album as kind of a platform to let it be known, basically just trying myself to take a bad thing and make something useful out of it."
  • The album cover is an image of a scan of Burnley's brain. He explained to Weekender magazine: "It's just going along with these issues that I have to deal with. They're mainly, besides like chronic fatigue syndrome, there's a couple of neurological disorders that I have that stem from alcoholism. So that's kind of the whole on Dear Agony theme."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Psychedelic Furs lead singer Richard Butler talks about their first album since 1991 and explains what's really going on in "Pretty In Pink."

Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy B. SchmitSongwriter Interviews

The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.

Jack Blades of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees

Jack Blades of Night Ranger and Damn YankeesSongwriter Interviews

Revisit the awesome glory of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees: cheesily-acted videos, catchy guitar licks, long hair, and lyrics that are just plain relatable.

Fire On The Stage

Fire On The StageSong Writing

When you have a song called "Fire," it's tempting to set one - these guys did.