I'm Not a Vampire

Album: The Drug in Me Is You (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Escape the Fate frontman Ronnie Radke received a sentence of five years probation on battery charges in 2006 after the fatal shooting of 18 year-old Michael Cook. The singer failed to report to his parole officer and was arrested in June 2008, where he was sentenced to two years in prison. Following Radke's incarceration, Escape the Fate kicked him out of the band. During his time in jail, Radke formed Falling In Reverse with bassist Nason Schoeffler, who helped find guitarist Jacky Vincent and rhythm guitarist Derek Jones. Later, former drummer Ryan Seaman was recruited. Schoeffler quit the band in April 2011 and was replaced by Mika Horiuchi, formerly of the band Cellador.

    The band began recording for the first time in December 2010 after Radke's release on the 12th of that month. The ensuing album, The Drug in Me Is You, was released by Epitaph on July 26, 2011. It sold 18,000 copies in its first week in the US charting at #19 on the Billboard 200.
  • The songs for The Drug in Me Is You were all written by Radke during his imprisonment. Radke told Las Vegas Weekly: "I would think all day, for days and days, [about] what people would want to hear. I would dissect my old album and read all the fan letters and the reasons why they loved my band and why they listened to it. And I wrote about that, but in different ways. I don't know why these kids love the tragedies that I write about. I guess they can relate to it."
  • This is the second single to be released from the The Drug in Me Is You album. Its accompanying video was shot in LA and directed by Zach Merck, who was also responsible for the visual for the band's debut single, "The Drug in Me Is You."

    The story was inspired by Radke's lyrics "about being an alcoholic and drug addict."

    "I wrote the lyrics and melody in prison," Radke told Kerrang! magazine. "The video's like a celebrity rehab spoof. It's comedy all round y'know, just really non-stop funny, stupid little jokey type things."

    He continued: "There's a spoof Dr. Drew, a Bret Michaels and a Beverly Hills housewife. Then there's a Perez Hilton type, a gangsta rapper and Perez Hilton too. There are shots of me in an AA meeting and there's also a very Van Halen scene going on!"
  • Falling in Reverse released a new piano-led version of the track on February 12, 2021. The reworking, titled "I'm Not a Vampire (Revamped)" transforms the original into an orchestrated ballad.

    "I wrote the original song, while sitting inside a maximum security prison, about drug addiction," said Radke. "I always believed songs such as this one had more to offer than its original form, so I wanted to give fans a new perspective and redefine who I am when it comes to expressing myself and being creative."

Comments: 1

  • Amanda from Millville, MaHas anyone else noticed the similarity between the first line of the song and the infamous Ted Bundy quote, "Sometimes I feel like a vampire"? I was reading up on serial killers today, and the line just struck me. I know that Ronnie has alluded to other things in his lyrics both in FIR and from when he was in ETF. (When I Go Out I Want to Go Out on a Chariot of Fire references the Telltale Heart, I'm Not a Vampire has Eminem references, and a lot of people think the name "Cellar Door" is an allusion to Donnie Darko.) Any thoughts, or am I being overanalytical?
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Keith Reid of Procol Harum

Keith Reid of Procol HarumSongwriter Interviews

As Procol Harum's lyricist, Keith wrote the words to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." We delve into that song and find out how you can form a band when you don't sing or play an instrument.

Shaun Morgan of Seether

Shaun Morgan of SeetherSongwriter Interviews

Shaun breaks down the Seether songs, including the one about his brother, the one about Ozzy, and the one that may or may not be about his ex-girlfriend Amy Lee.

Amanda Palmer

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"They're Playing My Song

The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.

Randy Newman

Randy NewmanSongwriting Legends

Newman makes it look easy these days, but in this 1974 interview, he reveals the paranoia and pressures that made him yearn for his old 9-5 job.