“Failure” by Sevendust

"Failure" was the second single Sevendust took from Next, their fifth studio album, released in 2005, and the title is a bit of a feint. On paper it reads like a downer, but guitarist Sonny Mayo has explained that the message is a positive one. The song follows someone who has gone through life expecting to fail, building a whole identity out of what other people told them about themselves, until they finally see through it: inner strength is what counts, and the shame and guilt can be left behind.

That climb from dread to defiance suits its alternative-metal punch, heavy and cathartic. It reached No. 28 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.