Pain

Album: Cold World (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This blistering track was released as the lead single from Of Mice And Men's Cold World album. The band performed the tune live for the first time on June 28, 2016 at the opening show of the group's tour with Slipknot and Marilyn Manson in Nashville, Tennessee.
  • Frontman Austin Carlile told the story behind the song to Alternative Press:

    "It's called 'Pain' because that is what it's about: It talks about my personal journey of the last few years and how I relate that to the current state of the world that we live in now. People face pain every day, whether it be physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, metaphysically, metaphorically—everything. It's something we wanted to touch on because it's been such a big part of my life and pain in general has been something I have been living and breathing for the past 12, 15 years."
  • Carlile suffers from Marfan syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue of the body. This song is about his struggles with the condition. He told TeamRock:

    "I wake up every day in pain. All my joints get swollen, and sometimes I can't feel my legs or different parts of my body, and sometimes I can't function in the morning unless I take a hot shower and do all my exercises. It's a constant struggle for me.

    With the band, through St. Jude [Children's Research Hospital] or The Marfan Foundation or Living The Dream Foundation, we've met a lot of people that are in a lot of severe physical pain, and I wanted to write a song for myself and for them to embody what that feels like."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

La La Brooks of The Crystals

La La Brooks of The CrystalsSong Writing

The lead singer on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," La La explains how and why Phil Spector replaced The Crystals with Darlene Love on "He's A Rebel."

Trucking Songs That Were #1 Hits

Trucking Songs That Were #1 HitsSong Writing

The stories behind the biggest hit songs about trucking.

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Band Names

Band NamesFact or Fiction

Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?

Name the Character in the Song

Name the Character in the SongMusic Quiz

With a few clues (Works at a diner, dreams of running away), can you name the character in the song?