Back from the Dead (song)

After revisiting several pre-pandemic demos, frontwoman Lzzy Hale and guitarist Joe Hottinger decided those songs no longer fit the atmosphere of 2020 and instead started over, writing "Back from the Dead". Hale said the song "perfectly captures this moment" and that the band wrote it "because we had to stay sane".^[1] According to Hale, the song was written from a mental health perspective and was intended to be "a hard rock song we could shout out loud as the gates opened again".^[2] She described it as being about survival "not in a physical sense" and hoped it would remind listeners of their individual strength and that they were not alone.^[3][4] Hale later characterized the track as a "reintroduction", saying the band wanted a song that simply said, "Hey, we're back".^[5] In an interview with Consequence, Hale described the title as representing survival and said she wanted to "keep moving forward". She added that listeners' response to the song validated the feelings she expressed while writing it because many others shared them.^[6] Discussing the song's lyrics, Hale initially called the idea for "Back from the Dead" "dumb", but later said it "totally works".^[7] Speaking to Metal Hammer for the album's track-by-track guide, Hottinger said he re-recorded the song's guitar solo after hearing the completed mix on his phone and deciding to redo it.^[8] In a separate Metal Hammer interview, Hottinger said the band had written several songs for the album but felt they had not yet found "that thing" until Hale showed them "Back from the Dead", which Hale said was "exactly what we wanted to say".^[9]

On August 16, 2021, Halestorm announced that "Back from the Dead" would be released as a single on August 18. The band teased the song by sharing a 25-second audio snippet on social media. The single marked their first new music since the release of their 2018 album, Vicious.^[10] An unplugged version was released on November 3, 2021.^[5]

The song has been described as hard rock^[11][12][13] and arena rock.^[14] Jazmin L'Amy of Distorted Sound noted its down-tuned guitars.^[15]

Joseph Hudak of Rolling Stone called "Back from the Dead" "a biting but cathartic howler about overcoming all obstacles – even death".^[2] Classic Rock called it "a typically fierce anthem"^[16] and "a booming, diabolical, flame-grilled beast of a tune".^[17] Steve Beebee of Kerrang! called it "purging, anthemic".^[18] Melodic noted Hale's "thundering" vocals on the track,^[19] while Kelsey McClure of Upset praised Hale's "powerful" voice.^[20]

According to Hale, director Dustin Haney challenged the band to work outside of their comfort zones during filming. She described the finished video as "dark, dirty, cinematic and beautiful". Promotional stills released ahead of the video's premiere showed Hale in a body bag, shadowy figures in a graveyard, and what appeared to be tools in a morgue.^[10]

The music video, produced by Revolution Pictures,^[3] depicts a bloodied Hale being transported through a hospital on a gurney while the other band members appear dead in an open field.^[21][11] It also shows Hale singing underwater, through an oxygen mask,^[2] and fighting her way out of a body bag,^[21] while the band members emerge from body bags and gravesites,^[22] are laid out on coroner's tables in a morgue,^[21] and later walk through a graveyard.^[2]

Notes

• Apple Music only lists track 1 for unplugged single.^[26]

Halestorm performed "Back from the Dead" live for the first time on August 31, 2021, at the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, New York, as part of the Chevrolet Music Festival.^[27]

"Back from the Dead" reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart dated November 6, 2021. It became Halestorm's fifth number-one song on the chart and their first since "Uncomfortable" in 2018.^[28]

Credits adapted from Apple Music.^[29]