Senses Fail’s “Steven” Lyrics Meaning

It has been reported that the real-life background behind this song is that titular “Steven” was a friend of the Senses Fail who one day got hit by a car and died shortly thereafter. And even if that tale isn’t factual, it is safe to presume that the subject was an actual person whom the vocalist and/or one or more of the other co-writers knew personally. Furthermore, as depicted he did end up losing his life, unexpectedly, at the tender age of 18.

So what makes this piece different from your usual song of bereavement is the fact that this Steven, not some unidentified addressee, is being mourned specifically. But that said, the lyrics do sport a general applicability in illustrating how various people in a loved one’s life are affected when an individual passing away, especially in the case of an untimely death like this. 

So the vocalist doesn’t relegate the lyrics to his own feelings, as he also understands that those who were even closer to Steven “lost a brother” or “a son”.

But one element this piece does possess inline with your quintessential bereavement song is the singer putting forth that the deceased still “lives on”, in a manner of speaking. And as a side note, what is interesting is that we witness Buddy also trying to imagine what the afterlife is like for Steven. In that sense he gets quite honest by acknowledging how all of us, in a way, fear death for that very reason, i.e. not knowing what lies beyond.

Who are Senses Fail?

Senses Fail is a rock group founded and fronted by Buddy Nielsen. Buddy has been the only consistent member of the band throughout its two decades of existence thus far. This act’s heyday was apparently during the aughts, during which all four of the studio LPs they dropped scored within the top two of Billboard’s Indie Albums chart. 

It was also during that era, on 13 August 2022, that the EP “From the Depths of Dreams” was issued through ECA Records. It is from that project that we get “Steven”.

“From the Depths of Dreams”, which is the rock band’s maiden EP, contains 6 songs in its standard edition. “Steven” is the opening track on the playlist of “From the Depths of Dreams”.

Credits for “Steven”

“Steven” was written by Nielsen and his bandmates at the time –

• Mike Glita
• Dave Miller
• Dan Trapp
• Garrett Zablocki 

The entire band produced this track alongside John Naclerio.

“From the Depths of Dreams”

Recording of “From the Depths of Dreams” was done at Nada Engineering Studio, a recording studio located in the Big Apple. The entire project was jointly produced by Senses Fail themselves and record producer John Naclerio.

The EP was originally released through ECA Records, a New York City based record label. However, only 300 copies were released into the public domain through the said record label.

In 2003, Senses Fail had bonus tracks, “Handguns and Second Chances” and “The Ground Folds (Acoustic)” added to the album. They had its artwork redesigned and had the EP officially reissued on the 29th of April, 2003 as an 8-tracked EP. The reissue was made available to the public through Drive-Thru Records, a California based record label.

“From the Depths of Dreams” was commercially successful, peaking at No. 144 on the Billboard 200 in the US.