For My Sunday Song #321, we are starting our 10 song run with 10 songs from the band Shinedown. First up is the song “45” from their debut album ‘Leave a Whisper’ which was released on May 27, 2003. “45” is the second single on the album and was released on July 29th of that same year. It is a platinum selling single with over 1,000,000 in sales and it reached #3 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.
The song was written by Brent Smith and Tony Battaglia and was a little controversial for its lyrics. However, it wasn’t supposed to be a literal interpretation of the lyrics. The whole gun scenario was a metaphor. The song is really about that point in your life where you wake up, look at yourself in the mirror and decide that it is time to be you and make yourself happy. A coming of age story that sees you stepping in to adulthood. When you are looking in the mirror, you are forced to see yourself in the same way looking down a barrel of a gun makes you see who you really are.
People took it literal and as a result, MTV wanted to edit the video to remove a few of the lyrics from the video and they actually aired an edited version of the video without the bands consent. Brent Smith didn’t want it played because he felt the edit took away from the meaning of the song. The video was apparently removed, but it didn’t seem to harm the success of the song.
The song isn’t a ballad, but it is a slow tempo and the chorus does get all powerful. Brent’s vocals are sympathetic to the plight of figuring out who you are. You can feel the pain and struggle the person is going through during this critical time. There is such a serious tone to the music, yet it is empathetic sounding. The song builds to the chorus where Brent’s vocals soar and the music matches the intensity. Barry Kerch’s drums are so powerful and make you feel every ounce of struggle with every drum beat. It is a beautiful battle of the mind played through the music. Really well done.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 