Words As Weapons

Album: Isolate And Medicate (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the lead single from Isolate and Medicate. Frontman Shaun Morgan told The Pulse of Radio that the album title describes almost exactly the conditions under which he wrote the group's new songs. "It sums up the process of writing the album," he said. "I felt pretty sequestered at the time and I was in an interesting place personally."

    "So I took refuge in this little studio that I built basically by hand and I won't lie, there was plenty of red wine drank up there, there was, you know, the odd cigarette was smoked up there," he continued, it was definitely just that, it was me isolating myself and medicating myself in various different ways and making music."
  • The song's music video was shot at the historic Vasquez Rocks, a 932-acre park located in the Sierra Pelona Mountains, in California which has been used repeatedly in movies, television series and advertisements. Other clips filmed there include Michael Jackson's "Black Or White," OPM's "Heaven Is A Halfpipe" and Dead By Sunrise's "Crawl Back In."

    The visual was inspired by the work of French expressionist Jean Cocteau and his 1950 film, Orpheus.
  • Shaun Morgan wrote the song with producer Brendan O'Brien when he was living in New Hampshire. "We put a bit of arrangement on it because the intro wasn't the way it is now," he told American Songwriter in 2022. "I believe the bridge was originally the chorus, and the chorus was the bridge. It was all sort of flipped on its head. It was one of the songs, over the course of my entire writing career, that was most rearranged by a producer."
  • The lyrics are direct yet still vague enough to allow listeners to interpret their own way. "When I listened back to that song, I'm like, 'holy cow, I was really pissed off,'" he reflected to American Songwriter. "I was saying mean things without directing them to anyone in particular."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse Pop

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse PopSong Writing

Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.

Todd Rundgren

Todd RundgrenSongwriter Interviews

Todd Rundgren explains why he avoids "Hello It's Me," and what it was like producing Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

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

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.

Yacht Rock!

Yacht Rock!Song Writing

A scholarly analysis of yacht rock favorites ("Steal Away," "Baker Street"...) with a member of the leading YR cover band.

How The Beatles Crafted Killer Choruses

How The Beatles Crafted Killer ChorusesSong Writing

The author of Help! 100 Songwriting, Recording And Career Tips Used By The Beatles, explains how the group crafted their choruses so effectively.