The Old Me

Last updated
"The Old Me"
Single by Memphis May Fire
from the album Broken
ReleasedSeptember 18, 2018 (2018-09-18)
Recorded2018
Length3:09
Label Rise
Songwriter(s) Matty Mullins
Memphis May Fire singles chronology
"Wanting More"
(2017)
"The Old Me"
(2018)
"Live Another Day"
(2019)

"The Old Me" is a song by American metalcore band Memphis May Fire. It serves as the first single off of their sixth studio album Broken . It peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in March 2019.

Contents

Background

The song is the first single from the band's sixth studio album, Broken . [1] It was first released on September 21, 2018, almost two months before the album's release. [1] A music video was later released for the song on November 6, 2018. [2] The video, directed by Caleb Mallery, is meant to match the song's meaning and represent an internal struggle with oneself, according to frontman Matty Mullins. [3]

Composition and themes

The song features heavy guitar riffs and palm muting and deep drum beat that builds into a chorus with soaring clean vocals, along with a brief bridge with screamed vocals. [4] Loudwire described it as an "energetic" track with a "catchy chorus" with a pleading chorus of “Tell me that I’m gonna be fine and there’s nothing left to fear/Cause I’ve been losing sleep/Trying to get back to who I used to be/Where is the old me?”. [5] Mullins described the song of being about his personal struggles with anxiety and depression. [2]

"'The Old Me'" is about my struggle with anxiety and depression. What feels like a war between good and evil, loathing the person I become mentally when it consumes me, and trying to remember what life was like before I lived with the symptoms. Ultimately hoping to one day become that person —’The Old Me’— again." [1]

The song's music video was meant to mirror the message, with Mullins describing it as representing "the two versions of myself that are constantly at war with each other." [2]

Reception

HM magazine had mixed feelings on the song, citing it as representative of the album of a whole - lyrically genuine, but "rarely dig[ging] deeper than the surface". [6]

Personnel

Band

Charts

Chart (2019)Peak
position
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard )19 [7]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Memphis May Fire announce new album, drop new song "the Old Me"". 21 September 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Watch Memphis May Fire Battle Personal Demons in Violent "The Old Me" Video". Revolver. 6 November 2018.
  3. "Memphis May Fire Debut Dramatic New Video For "The Old Me" / the NOISE". the NOISE.
  4. "ALBUM REVIEW: Memphis May Fire – Broken - DEAD PRESS! - It's more than "just music" to us". www.deadpress.co.uk.
  5. Cornell, Jeff. "Memphis May Fire Announce 'Broken' Album + Unleash New Single". Loudwire.
  6. "Memphis May Fire - Broken".
  7. "Memphis May Fire Chart History". Billboard.