Always

Album: Back into Your System (2002)
Charted: 47 51
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The lead single off Saliva's Back into Your System album, this was their most successful hit, making it to #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for one week.
  • Saliva frontman Josey Scott wrote the song with Back into Your System producer Bob Marlette. "We wanted that song to have a strong buildup," Scott told MTV News. "It takes you to different places and different levels of intensity. We worked hard to find those tones and sounds that really expressed all the different moods in the song. It starts out smooth and sweet and ends up being very violent."
  • The song describes a dysfunctional relationship worsened by domestic abuse. Scott based his lyrics on someone he knew. "My girlfriend's sister Christie went through something pretty nasty with a young man she was involved with," he explained. "I just took it from her life and applied it to mine."
  • The song's music video features a guy haunted by a woman of his past. Lead singer Josey Scott recalled in an interview with Michelle LaRose for Metal Masters : "We had the LA Police Department block off eight blocks of downtown Los Angeles because we had to do a car crash in the video. The first day of the video, it was like 5:00 in the morning, they did this car crash. It was so awesome! I think every kid in the world would have enjoyed seeing that. It was a lot of fun."

    "We sort of made it like an isolated part of downtown," Scott added. "Sort of like Devils Advocate or Vanilla Sky where they block off a part of New York City except it was Los Angeles. It was like the city had been abandoned and this guy is looking for himself and doesn't find himself until the end of the video. Then he realizes that people were there all along. So it's kind of got a story to it."

    (For more on Saliva check out our interview with guitarist Wayne Swinney.)

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Taylor Dayne

Taylor DayneSongwriter Interviews

Taylor talks about "The Machine" - the hits, the videos and Clive Davis.

Queen

QueenFact or Fiction

Scaramouch, a hoople and a superhero soundtrack - see if you can spot the real Queen stories.

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."

Best Band Logos

Best Band LogosSong Writing

Queen, Phish and The Stones are among our picks for the best band logos. Here are their histories and a design analysis from an expert.

Kerry Livgren of Kansas

Kerry Livgren of KansasSongwriter Interviews

In this talk from the '80s, the Kansas frontman talks turning to God and writing "Dust In The Wind."

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."