Creed’s “My Own Prison” Lyrics Meaning

Scott Stapp, i.e. Creed’s vocalist/lyricist who composed the wording of “My Own Prison”, comes from a religious background, with the stepdad of his youth being a Pentecostal minister. So whereas most of the segments of this track aren’t overflowing with related terminology, it would still be quite ascertainable to those familiar with Christian symbolism that the vocalist is of such leanings. 

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Creed's My Own Prison at Lyrics.org.

So for instance “My Own Prison” went on to appear on three different Billboard charts, but none were of the Christian variety. This is a testament to how effectively Creed was able to mainstream such ideas via this track.

Song’s Title (“My Own Prison”)

Concerning the title, what Scott is alluding to is the concept of “sin”, as he puts it in the first verse, being such that it has imprisoned him. In other words, people of these kinds of mindsets are basically taught to believe that personal misfortunes in life tend to be the result of their own moral shortcomings. 

At the time Stapp wrote this piece, he was facing major hardships, such as being an unemployed, homeless teenager who underperformed in school. So put otherwise, he wasn’t the type to blame the situation on the system or any external person or factor. Instead the way he saw it, those circumstances were the direct results of his own mistakes, as if he had cursed himself, so to speak.

So basically, what we are met with is a song of repentance. It commences with the vocalist metaphorically lamenting how, most simply put, he has f*-ked up his own life. And his pessimism is such that he is not expecting any type of personal redemption.

There’s Hope

In the third verse, he does come around to perceiving hope in the form of “a vision of a cross”, “a lion (roaring) in the darkness”, and ‘ a light to free him from his burden’, etc. which is also able to “grant” Scott “life eternally”. 

The latter attribute as well as the mention of “a cross” pretty soundly establishes that who he’s referring to is Jesus Christ. But he doesn’t take it there directly per se.

Instead in the pre-chorus that follows, the narrator alludes to the notion that he “should’ve been” more dedicated to going to church than doing his own, self-destructive thing. But as the song progresses, so does his frame of thought. Earlier on, Scott appears to be firmly dedicated to beating up on himself. But by this point, now he’s able to understand that it’s more constructive to look forward to positive change as opposed to dwelling in a troubled past.

In Conclusion

It is the bridge especially which drives the conclusive sentiment of this piece home. Here, we find the vocalist “cry(ing) out to God”. And as relayed, Scott has come to believe it is “only” the Lord who can redeem him from this “prison” he has created for himself.

It is that latter sentiment which is in fact the overarching theme of this piece. For example, the chorus likewise centers on the singer beefing about how he has somehow cast himself into this very less-than-ideal state that he cannot readily escape from. 

But conclusively, Stapp is the religious/spiritual type and furthermore, it can be gathered, a Christian.  Therefore he also believes that if he can establish the right kind of relationship with the Most High, then release from ‘his own prison’ will also be achieved in the process. 

So in the end, he eventually comes to the realization  it is better that he pursue that goal expeditiously rather than moping around.

Creed, "My Own Prison" Lyrics

When was “My Own Prison” released?

This song came out as Creed’s debut single, and “My Own Prison” is also the name of their first album, whereupon the song is featured. 

The band had just formed a couple of years before this track was dropped, in 1994, in Tallahassee, the capital of Florida. 

“My Own Prison” was the first song Creed had fully put together as a demo. They went on to issue that particular rendition via a label called Blue Collar Records, which was reportedly their own.  To note, that cut has a different sound than the one made available to the masses. It was officially released later on through Wind-up Records on 26 August 1997.

Credits

The crew’s two actual originators, singer Scott Stapp alongside guitarist Mark Tremonti, are the ones who wrote this piece, respectively composing the lyrics and music. And its producer is John Kurzweg, who went on to become one of Creed’s regular collaborators.

The music video to this track was handled by a production company known as Black Rock and more specifically one of its founders, Stephen Scott, who directed the clip. 

Success of “My Own Prison”

This song fared well for a debut track, peaking at number 7 on the US Alternative Airplay list and reached number 2 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock listing, also proceeding to hold down that position on the year-end Mainstream Rock chart for 1998.

As the story goes, the logical reason why this song did not appear on the Billboard Hot 100 was because it, as well as the other three singles from “My Own Prison” which came after, were not individually sold in the United States. 

The positive effect of that decision was that, especially back then in the pre-streaming era, fans then had to purchase the entire album to spin this track or whichever was their favorite therein. This contributed to the LP having achieved RIAA sextuple-platinum status as promptly as in 2002.  And it wasn’t until 20 years later, in 2022, that “My Own Prison” got around to being issued on vinyl.

My Own Prison

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