Cringe

Album: Bank on the Funeral (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Matt Maeson was raised in Norfolk, Virginia by parents who played in Christian metal bands. Matt grew up performing songs for inmates at maximum-security prisons with his mother and father as part of their ministry, Life On The Verge. However, he went off the rails in his late teens, got addicted to drugs, and later served time in jail.

    Maeson wrote "Cringe" about being pushed away by people close to him because of the lifestyle he was living. Rather than pulling him in and loving him, he was getting reprimanded; he felt he was making these people "cringe." Maeson explained to American Songwriter: "I lived pretty rough for a while, and some of the people I really cared about would rather tell me how wrong I was rather than ask how I was doing."
  • After writing the first verse and chorus, Maeson set the song aside, but sent a clip of it to his A&R guy Derek. Over the next couple of months, Derek kept hitting the singer up every week asking hum if he'd completed the song.

    "Finally, just to kinda shut him up, and because I really did love the sentiment of the song, I sat down and I finished it," Maeson recalled to ABC Radio. "We tracked it and put it out, and it just became my biggest song."
  • "Cringe" was first released on November 25, 2016. The single slowly gathered momentum before eventually climbing to #1 on the Alternative Songs chart in August 2019. It spent four weeks on top of the tally.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star RidersSongwriter Interviews

Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"They're Playing My Song

The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.

Andrew Farriss of INXS

Andrew Farriss of INXSSongwriter Interviews

Andrew Farriss on writing with Michael Hutchence, the stories behind "Mystify" and other INXS hits, and his country-flavored debut solo album.

Chris Fehn of Slipknot

Chris Fehn of SlipknotSongwriter Interviews

A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.

Thomas Dolby

Thomas DolbySongwriter Interviews

He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.