Ruin My Life

Album: Harder Than It Looks (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Here, Simple Plan frontman Pierre Bouvier sings about a verbal abuser. The singer doesn't specify the nature of their relationship – it may be a work colleague, a lover, or a relative - but for a time their cruel tongue preyed on the vocalist's mind. However, Bouvier learned not to let the nasty words get under his skin and they no longer preoccupy him.

    "Ruin My Life is a song about overcoming adversity, going through a difficult life situation, and not only surviving it," he explained, "but becoming an even stronger and more resilient version of yourself because of it."
  • The song features a vocal turn from Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley. Simple Plan and Sum 41 are both pop-punk bands from neighboring Canadian provinces that emerged around the same time, so it is surprising this is their first collaboration.
  • Pierre Bouvier and drummer Chuck Comeau wrote the song in early 2020. They had the idea of having Whibley featuring on one of their tracks and thought "Ruin My Life" would suit his voice. "We made a couple of slight changes to the song after I got involved, just so it'd fit my voice better, but it was a pretty seamless process altogether," Whibley told Kerrang! "Right away, I knew it was a good, catchy song, so it was largely a case of me turning the microphone on, hitting 'record' and singing my part!"
  • Songwriters and producers Zakk Cervini (Good Charlotte, Simple Creatures) and Chris Greatti (Grimes, Yungblud) helped with the writing of "Ruin My Life."

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