Unsainted

Album: We Are Not Your Kind (2019)
Charted: 68 120
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Unsainted" finds Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor talking about the depression he has battled for many years.

    I'm just weathering a rough patch
    Another villain with an itch to scratch
    Denial is the darkest when you live in a hole
    Why does the hell make you feel so cold?


    The singer split from Stephanie Luby in 2017 after eight years of marriage, sending him into a depression. Taylor, a recovering addict, wrote the lyrics for We Are Not Your Kind during this time when he was battling depression and trying to stay sober.

    Taylor goes on to decry organized religion as a potential remedy for his depression.

    Make a move and you pay for it
    Pick a lord and you pray to it
    You're so demanding when you want the truth
    But your stories don't read for me


    The song concludes with Taylor saying he has been "unsainted," meaning some unspecified socio-religious entity destroyed his good side and "killed the saint in me."
  • The song's intro features the Angel City Chorale, a Los Angeles choir consisting of 160 singers. Shawn "Clown" Crahan and producer Greg Fidelman wanted a lavish introduction; originally they had in mind a children's choir, like in Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall (part II)," but they ended up getting a regular choir. Taylor told Loudwire it was the last song they finished for the album.

    "We had recorded it a couple different times and hadn't really found the spirit yet," he explained. "It wasn't until Clown and [Fidelman] started talking about this grandiose intro with the choir that it was then re-recorded with a little more urgency. It was really cool how it came together."

    "I wasn't sold on the choir at first," Taylor added. "They kept referencing The Stones' 'You Can't Always Get What You Want,' which is one of my least favorite Stones songs. It just goes off the deep end of pretense. But what they did with the choir gave me chills when I first heard it. That song was the perfect punctuation mark for what the album was going to be. It was that missing element that we needed for the album."
  • "Unsainted" was chosen as the theme song for the WWE's NXT TakeOver: Toronto event, held August 10, 2019 in Canada's Scotiabank Arena. Previously, Slipknot's standalone single "All Out Life" was the theme song for the show, which showcases up-and-coming wrestlers.
  • "Unsainted" was voted the 2019 Song of the Year by the readers of Kerrang magazine. Slipknot was also voted Live Band and Band of the Year, while We Are Not Your Kind came in as runner up for Album of the Year behind Bring Me The Horizon's Amo.
  • The video, directed by M. Shawn "Clown" Crahan, contains nods to popular landmarks in the band's hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, including seating from the Iowa State Fair Grandstand and an upside-down Iowa Capitol golden dome.

Comments: 2

  • Anointedsword from PennsylvaniaScripture never said, He was God's favorite angel. Jesus said, He was a murderer from the beginning, please do not speak for Christ or the church. It is important to ask questions if you do not know the answers. As far as the song, people have pain and hurt they work through, and I see that in these lyrics.
  • Erik Johnsob from PaThat is not what the song is about maybe some of it is about depression but the chorus I'll never kill myself to save my soul is referring to religion meaning I'm not going to change who I am for some religious God that he doesn't believe in...Also I believe he is referring to lucifer in this song from the prespective of Satan by saying you killed the Saint in me meaning luciferr was one of God's angels and God cast him out killing the Saint in him its a song about being proud to not be a Saint hence unsainted its a dark anthem embracing that side and being proud to not be a Saint I also believe when he says reaching out for the hand of God did you think you'd shake your on this is a new age belief that we are all God's and last I was all that you wanted an more but you didn't want me this could be about his girlfriend but I think it's referring to Satan and how God cast him out of heaven
    even though he was God's favorite angel at one time but who knows just my take
see more comments

Editor's Picks

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired MenSong Writing

Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith

Steven Tyler of AerosmithSongwriter Interviews

Tyler talks about his true love: songwriting. How he identifies the beauty in a melody and turns sorrow into art.

Joan Armatrading

Joan ArmatradingSongwriter Interviews

The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in "Drop the Pilot."