Songfacts®:

• Prayers lead singer Rafael Reyes grew up around street gangs in San Diego. This song tells the story of an incident when after he was cut in the face, his cousin took retribution.
  
  They caught me slippin'
  So they cut me in the face
  Wicked found out
  And he put them in their graves
  
  "There's people that, obviously, need to be in prison, and there are some that are in there wrongfully," Reyes said in his Songfacts interview. "My cousin, he's been in prison since the age of 16. He's been in Pelican Bay. And that song, 'Gothic Summer,' is about him.
  
  It's about this summer where him and I were together. Summer represents heat, and for us in the streets when it's hot, it's not temperature-wise. We mean, there's activity. There's violence. There's police on every corner.
  
  So that's where it comes from. It was during the summer where my cousin killed four men at the age of 16, and he's been in prison since then. So 'Gothic Summer' is dedicated to him."
• "Gothic" describes the look and sound of Prayers. Self-described Luciferians, they wear dark colors and religious symbols. Their sound is keyboard driven, with elements of rock and hip-hip.
• The video was directed by Gavin Filpiak. The black-and-white clip takes place at a cemetery, where children play joyfully, in contrast to Reyes, who reflects over a grave.