Songfacts®:

• Jeremy Camp released "Dead Man Walking" as a single in May 2019 to hype his album The Story's Not Over, released September 20, 2019. In discussing the song, Camp referenced Colossians 2:13–14, which speaks of "our lives before Christ as being 'dead.'" Camp said he has experienced the "living death" before being saved by Christ. He wrote this song to share that feeling.
• Colossians is a letter written to a church in the city of Colosse in Phrygia, now modern-day Turkey. It's generally believed to have been written by Paul the Apostle in 62 A.D. while he was imprisoned in Rome (though the date is in wide dispute and some question the authorship).
  
  Paul had received word that non-Christian teachings were spreading through the church in Colosse. He wrote a letter to the Colossians to remind them that Christ is preeminent and they need to keep their eyes fixed on him, rather than any other philosophies, as the source of spiritual life. That letter is now commonly known as Colossians.