Songfacts®:

• This is the first single from American alternative rockers The Used's fifth album, Vulnerable. It was the first release on the band's own label, Anger Music Group, an imprint of Hopeless Records. The band left Warner Bros. after working with them for 10 years. "I Come Alive" is the first single from the album and it is a metaphor for the rebirth of the band.
• Vocalist Bert McCracken explained the song's meaning to Kerrang! magazine: "It's an intense song. It's heavy and dark. It reminds me of 'A Box Full of Sharp Objects' and maybe 'The Bird and the Worm.' It's really theatrical and it's about falling down, getting back up and moving on with your life."
• The Used bassist Jeph Howard likes the chorus of "I Come Alive," which goes: "I come alive when I'm falling down." He tells us the song is an anthem for the whole Vulnerable album, which is about the band members starting over mentally, musically, and emotionally after a decade of being together. (Here's our full interview with Jeph Howard.)
• John Feldmann, who is the lead singer of the ska-punk group Goldfinger, produced this song. He also helmed the rest of the album, having previous manned the boards for The Used's first three albums. According to his official website, Feldmann holds a Guinness world record for his feat of performing 385 shows in 1996.
• The Aaron Hymes directed music video was shot over the course of two days in California. It shows a bullied teen taking revenge on his tormentors. Said McCracken: "The music video for 'I Come Alive' is simply a piece of art to be enjoyed. Our band in no way condones violence or teen bullying. The song, for me, is about falling down or hitting the ground; when things happen to you in life. That's pretty much what 'Box Full of Sharp Objects' was about as well, on the first record. Taking a hit can be the most inspirational thing that can happen to you."