Devour by Shinedown

Album: The Sound of Madness (2008)

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Shinedown frontman Brent Smith wrote this angry putdown of America's nation-building foreign policy after the band performed for the troops in Iraq during the Gulf War in 2006. He was in full support of the soldiers, but frustrated at what was expected of them by political leaders.

"These men and women put their lives on the line every single day," Smith told Always Acoustic. "They're on the front line and they're extraordinary. The frustration I endured with this was that by talking to all of these individuals and these soldiers, you hear so many stories. I can recall one soldier that I talked to that had been there on his third tour of duty. And you have to understand a lot of these soldiers are over there because they want to be over there because they want to make sure their families are safe, our country is safe and we don't have another attack. The fact is, like one soldier had told me, he'd been there so long that he had a 3-year-old daughter that he had never even physically seen, and this was mind altering to me. The fact was, when I got home this song came to me out of pure frustration as to why there is no answer to bring these men and women home."
After road testing four new songs on a short run of dates the Florida foursome finally chose this to be the opening single off the album. The other tracks they tested were "Sound of Madness," "The Crow and the Butterfly," and "Second Chance."
This was the theme song for the WWE's June 2008 pay per view event Night of Champions.
This is included on the in-game soundtrack to the video game Madden 09Q.
"Devour" spent two weeks at #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart. It was the second time Shinedown topped that tally, following "Save Me," which spent 12 weeks at the peak position. Shinedown dominated that chart throughout their career; by the middle of 2025 they had a record 20 #1s on it.

Comments: 6

Lilly from Springfield NhWhen I heard the beginning song in the final destination I started to freak out because I am a really big shinedown fan
Nick from Plymouth, MnSP: What is the story behind the song 'Devour?'
Smith: It came from our men and women in the Armed Forces. About three years ago we went into Kuwait and flew in and played a few shows there around. The time that we spent over there with the soldiers, playing for them and talking with them and meeting them on a daily basis really frustrated me. I don't think that in our lifetime we will see anything close to a thing like world peace, but I would like to think that there such a thing as world compromise. 'Devour' is about bringing our soldiers home. You know, the word war is a very ugly word. I think our soldiers have been over there long enough and they need to come home and spend some time with their families. 'Devour' was really a battle cry for them and also a sendoff to our president at that time and some of my personal opinions about him. I have freedom of speech and I thank the soldiers out there fighting on the front line for that. We're not a political band but what we are is pro-soldiers. We adore our troops and respect them to the hilt.

That's what it means. Pretty obvious.
Since I am an Iraq Veteran and probably going back, since our "savior" Obama is useless. I hear this song being Hodge's final hour.
[p3yt0n} from Somewhere, InThis was the first Shinedown song I ever heard, and is one of my favorites.
Peter from Ebensburg, PaThis is the opening song on The Final Destination, which was freaking AWESOME!!!! I love this song and I love Shinedown!!!!
Ben from Manchester, United KingdomThis song rocks! I sing it all the time! GO SHINEDOWN!
Dave from Cleveland, OhIn an interview with Brent, he said that this his first and possibly only political "shot"...obviously directed at Bush. It has to do with Bush and his last attempts to make everything right or to justify his actions - "this is your final hour". Also referencing, and more importantly "suffocate your own empire" as it relates to this war and what it has done to our country.

I'm not taking a side...just stating facts about the song.

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