Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

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antiwal
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Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by antiwal »

I stumbled across a couple of live recordings I have on my iPod where they played early cuts of CTL and BA. Really interesting how different they originally were, especially Buried Alive;

Come To Life
Not hugely different but the breakdown and solo is reversed. After the 2nd chorus it goes straight into the part where Myles sings "Now wicked tongues can speak..." then it goes into the solo.

Buried Alive
- Doesn't start with a solo. Instead starts with bass and drum before Mark comes in with what we recognise as the pre-chorus riff.
- Totally different pre-chorus in terms of music and lyrics, "I'm slipping, I'm fading. Under the spell you're reigning. It's sitting, a feeling. On me today"
- Breakdown goes back into the pre-chorus riff first, then what we know as the ending riff before the final chorus. There's no "Let me breathe again section" here.
- Mark puts in a similar but slightly different solo to end.

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by Blackbird »

The solo of the early working version of CTL is so fucking amazing. The current one is really good, but the one back then (I don't even know if it was a real composed solo or if Mark just improvised live) has more groove than any other solo they've ever written. Plus, the "I am not your new messiah" line is great if you don't like Creed. I really wished they would've recorded it that way and released it as a B-Side or just as a track that's free to download for all their fans...

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by The Plotblocker »

There are already threads about this, but guess they haven't popped up for a while lol. I actually prefer the original version of Buried Alive tbh. The intro is better, and the pre-chorus too, and the whole song just feel's darker and more powerful IMO. I prefer Come To Life as it is now, but as a lot do, prefer the "I am not you new messiah" lyrics from the original. I have been hunting recently for copies, or even just word they exist, of studio demos like this. There is also an earlier version of Ties That Bind, when it was known as Bitch Slap lol.
"Something something deny..... Something something blame..." - Myles Kennedy - Every lyric writing session.
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antiwal
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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by antiwal »

Oh God, yeah I totally forgot it was called Bitch Slap haha! Classic. :lol

Apologies, didn't realise there were older threads about this - I should've known!!

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by The Plotblocker »

antiwal wrote:Oh God, yeah I totally forgot it was called Bitch Slap haha! Classic. :lol

Apologies, didn't realise there were older threads about this - I should've known!!
Yeah man, love that working title :lol
And no worries, I only know there are older threads as it was looking for info on those versions that lead me here in the first place.
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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by AB23 »



Shout out Scott Stapp.

It almost sounds as if it's an entirely new singer lol.
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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by Mr. Slash »

So much screaming in Myles' voice.

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by The Plotblocker »

Ok so what exactly is the story with the "messiah" line? I have never really looked into it as I never really take an interest in bands private lifes and person shit, as it's none of my business. But I have seen this come up a lot and curiosity has gotten the better of me.
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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by anguyen92 »

"I say heyyyyy I am not your new messiah and I will not take you higher, I'm not ashamed" line is speculated to be a shot at Wind-Up Records and given the overall message of Come to Life which sums it up in one line, "Don't forget, we're here to stay," it could be that this song is AB presenting their, at the time, ongoing frustrations with Wind-Up Records. Some people also think it's a shot at Stapp as well.

As for whether or not they should have kept this version for the official release of Blackbird, I think the official studio version is solid and strong as it is and the band think so too, since it's one of the few songs that always gets played (in headlining shows, festivals, and support shows).

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by cajmoyper »

Myles sounds horrible in those recordings! You don't know how much that hurts me to say. But boy do I love that "messiah" lyric.

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by Blackbird »

anguyen92 wrote:"I say heyyyyy I am not your new messiah and I will not take you higher, I'm not ashamed" line is speculated to be a shot at Wind-Up Records and given the overall message of Come to Life which sums it up in one line, "Don't forget, we're here to stay," it could be that this song is AB presenting their, at the time, ongoing frustrations with Wind-Up Records. Some people also think it's a shot at Stapp as well.

As for whether or not they should have kept this version for the official release of Blackbird, I think the official studio version is solid and strong as it is and the band think so too, since it's one of the few songs that always gets played (in headlining shows, festivals, and support shows).
I think the association with Scott Stapp mainly comes from the "I will not take you higher" line which could be a reference to the Creed song "Higher"?

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by chtimixeur »

Of course it was a shot at Stapp.
Higher lyric : " Can you take me Higher?"
Come to Life response : "I will not take you higher"

Stapp was also famous for his Jesus poses, hence the "I am not your new messiah" shot.
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It was a funny line, but they were smart enough to change it, or else there would have been so Creed-related drama during Blackbird's promotion phase, and more than anything, they didn't want to be associated with Creed anymore.

By the way, I still prefer those live versions, especially Buried Alive. That song has never worked for me after all the changes they made to it.
I can live with Come to Life 2.0, but I think the "I said hey" worked better, and every time I hear the song, I still expect to hear it.

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by Mr. Slash »

Do you guys really think Myles would bash a dude he probably didn't even know at that time? I don't think this song has anything to do with Stapp.

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by Timotheus »

The song itself is about their frustrations with Wind Up, which were expecting them to be Creed 2, so while the song indeed has nothing to do with Stapp, that line definitely is about Creed and Stapp imo.
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anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by mikeyd23 »

Mr. Slash wrote:Do you guys really think Myles would bash a dude he probably didn't even know at that time? I don't think this song has anything to do with Stapp.
Agreed. I think anyone who knows anything about the character of Myles Kennedy would say no, this had nothing to do with Stapp.

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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by AB23 »

Mr. Slash wrote:Do you guys really think Myles would bash a dude he probably didn't even know at that time?
Ya
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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by The Plotblocker »

Ah right yeah. the Wind Up thing makes sense. I do like the album line too, but prefer the original line.
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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by TenaciousBe »

I don't know if this was ever official or just something somebody came up with on one of the forums, but I always saw that title stylized as "Bitch Slapp." :lol
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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by The Plotblocker »

TenaciousBe wrote:I don't know if this was ever official or just something somebody came up with on one of the forums, but I always saw that title stylized as "Bitch Slapp." :lol
I am gonna hazard a guess that is just a fan thing. Ties That Bind has fuck all to do with Wind Up or Stapp. I have only ever seen it written as "Bitch Slap" myself.
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Re: Original versions of Come To Life and Buried Alive

Post by Buffon »

Ties That Bind has nothing to do with Wind-Up? I always thought the entire song was about them!

I've always been glad Come to Life and Buried Alive ended up the way they are on the album. The "I am not your new messiah" line is fantastic though, wouldn't have minded that making it in.

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