If Rain Is What You Want

Album: .5: The Gray Chapter (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Slipknot lost their bassist Paul Gray in 2010 after he accidentally overdosed. The title of .5: The Gray Chapter and many of its lyrics reference the fallen soldier, including this closing track. Frontman Corey Taylor told Kerrang! "This is the melancholy look at how people wanted us to deal with Paul's death, and listening to that song I see us on a stage, just in silence, and millions of people looking at us with ideas of how we should grieve already set in their minds, and maybe that's completely opposite with how we were trying to deal with it, and lyrically it's us saying, 'Look, we're the only ones that really understand what we're going through. You can expect us to break down and cry, but at some point we have to stand back up.'"

Comments: 1

  • Hd from St. LouisIt's my cities, not for my solace. Which makes complete sense thinking of what Corey said about the bands interpretation of how fans viewed them or expected them to grieve.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Art Alexakis of Everclear

Art Alexakis of EverclearSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.

Keith Reid of Procol Harum

Keith Reid of Procol HarumSongwriter Interviews

As Procol Harum's lyricist, Keith wrote the words to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." We delve into that song and find out how you can form a band when you don't sing or play an instrument.

The End Of The Rock Era

The End Of The Rock EraSong Writing

There are no more rock stars - the last one died in 1994.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"They're Playing My Song

Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.