The Lie

Album: Cold World (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song comes from an idea that guitarist Alan Ashby came up with, which vocalist Austin Carlile then developed. Carlile explained its lyrical content to Metal Hammer: "The song is putting a spotlight on the one percent – the one percent of the one percent. The powers that be, the people that have control over money and imports and products and food. They have a responsibility to people, and they abuse that responsibility. Everything that we're doing to the Earth has repercussions."
  • The song finds Carlile venting his frustrations about today's medical system. He explained: "The line, 'Force-feeding chemicals into the mouths of all our youth' is talking about pharmaceutical companies. So many people are dependent on drugs, and it's not fair, because a lot of people don't know better. But the people that are doing it do know better."
  • This features handclaps by the late 14-year-old Cassy Colunga, a terminal brain cancer sufferer whom the band befriended. Upon hearing that her condition had worsened, Of Mice And Men arranged for a visit while recording the album. "Now Cassy's name and the sound of her clapping hands are on the record," said Carlile. "It's something that captures that moment and that relationship forever. When we think about everything we went through to make this record, that's something that we'll never forget."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.