Prove You Wrong

Album: We All Bleed (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • After completing his touring schedule with Crossfade at the end of 2007, Ed Sloan, the vocalist of the South Carolina melodic-rockers, arrived home in a funk. He told us: "I kind of lost my way a little bit. Music turned its back on me a little bit, or I turned my back on music. I got tired, I didn't want to do it, because the industry was down and we left our label. I didn't know what we were going to do. So for like a year I didn't use music as my outlet. I just kind of stayed by myself and loathed my own misery." The following year, Crossfade were dropped by their record label, leaving their frontman devastated and the band inactive throughout 2008. Sloan eventually realized that he had to pull himself out of his depression and let everybody know that he was still the same person he used to be. "Prove You Wrong" came out of this realization. Said Sloan: "I finally got out of my funk and realized that I was bringing a lot of people down, so I decided I'd write a song about it and let everybody know that I was going to prove them wrong and that everything's going to be all right in the end."
  • Sloan penned the song as both an ode to himself after losing his way and a message to the critics who doubted Crossfade would ever return after being dropped by Columbia Records. He introduced the track with a sincere letter to the band's fans explaining his struggles.
  • Sloan credits his guitarist for changing the musical direction of the song. He said in our interview: "I didn't know what direction to go writing-wise and I wrote this song that at first was a little upbeat and pop-y, and I presented it to Les (Hall), our new guitarist. He's new any more, but at the time he was fairly new. And he was like, 'Man, it's a great song. But we're a rock band. Let me turn this into something.' So he put a lot of instrumentation in the background, turned it into musically what it is today."
  • Hall told Audio Ink Radio how he changed the musical direction of the song: "Musically, it was a completely different song for us," he explained. "Eddie had the verse and chorus down, and it wasn't my favorite piece, so when he went out of town, I stole the vocals and put them in a different program and programmed all the electronics around them. I think it's definitely one of the standout tracks on the record."

Comments: 1

  • Jessica Marie from Abingdon VaI have loved crossfade ever since I heard "Cold" Ed Sloan is a very talented artist to say the least! He's deep and has a beautiful mind and soul. #Crossfade4Life
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Songs About Movies

Songs About MoviesSong Writing

Iron Maiden, Adele, Toto, Eminem and Earth, Wind & Fire are just some of the artists with songs directly inspired by movies - and not always good ones.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.

Country Song Titles

Country Song TitlesFact or Fiction

Country songs with titles so bizarre they can't possibly be real... or can they?

Terry Jacks ("Seasons in the Sun")

Terry Jacks ("Seasons in the Sun")Songwriter Interviews

Inspired by his dear friend, "Seasons in the Sun" paid for Terry's boat, which led him away from music and into a battle with Canadian paper mills.

Tony Banks of Genesis

Tony Banks of GenesisSongwriter Interviews

Genesis' key-man re-examines his solo career and the early days of music video.