Songfacts®:

• Burn Halo is a hard rock band originating from Orange County, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma. They comprise lead vocalist James Hart, lead guitarist Joey Cuhna, rhythm guitarist Brandon Lynn, bassist Aaron Boehler and drummer Dillon Ray. Their second album, Up From The Ashes, was the group's first effort written and recorded as a band, as their self-titled debut set was all written by frontman James Hart himself with outside writers, and recorded by the singer with session musicians. It was released on June 28, 2011, through Rawkhead Records.
• This is the lead single, which was released on iTunes on April 19, 2011. Hart told the story of the song in an interview with AntiMusic: "'Tear It Down' was one of the last songs that was brought to the table when we were finishing writing the album. Aaron had been working on it in Tulsa, OK with Brandon and Dillon. On the first day of our pre-production sessions they played the song for Roxx and me and we were immediately blown away. I knew this had the impact, energy and aggression we were looking for in a first track on the album. The intro to the song had been around for quite a while. It was a piece that Brandon had for a song he'd written that just wasn't as far along as the other songs. We scrapped the song along with quite a few more, but I was in love with the intro bit. We had talked about trying to work it into a song and onto the album and it just so happened to work with 'Tear It Down.' I feel it gives the drama and anticipation you look for when kicking off an album."
• Hart explained the song's meaning to AntiMusic: "Lyrically, the song is about breaking free from the expectations and standards that can hold a person back from becoming their true selves and reaching their full potential. We waste too much precious time trying to work our way up the social or industrial ladder that we lose sight of who we really are."