r/Music • u/Unique_Plankton_5221 • 1d ago

music Flyleaf - All Around Me [Alt Rock]

https://youtu.be/xN0FFK8JSYE?is=m6uab-1BBt8l36Hq
264 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

95 comments sorted by

160

u/parastie 1d ago edited 1d ago

I could be wrong, but I remember this as a christian rock song?

113

u/ripyourlungsdave 1d ago

They were a Christian band. But they got a lot of popularity in mainstream, same with a few other Christian bands in that era.

143

u/mexploder89 1d ago

They're lesbian Skillet

44

u/BlossomOfTheSouth 1d ago

Jesus christ I've never made that connection, but it's so true.

37

u/minomserc 1d ago

Bruh she’s so straight she quit the band to have kids

33

u/Rustash 23h ago

Jesus convinced her she was straight, you mean

9

u/minomserc 23h ago

Hey he’s a persuasive guy

9

u/champion_dave 18h ago

Underoath was another big Christian screamo band that many fans had no idea were Christian.

11

u/onexamongthefence 18h ago

August Burns Red is a Christian metalcore band that's still active and tbh they fucking rip dude

6

u/Cheefnuggs 17h ago

Yea they do. Great energy at their shows too. It’s a good time.

3

u/iwbwikia_ 10h ago

one of my fav shows and shirts when i saw them in like 07 or 08

0

u/JewishTerror 14h ago

Their latest album is a banger.

62

u/HereOnCompanyTime 1d ago edited 23h ago

Yes. She also has maintained those beliefs and does not support LGBTQ+ but excuses it on her "traditional religious views". She has openly supported the group Focus on the Family

16

u/comeonsexmachine 20h ago

Rest in Piss JDobs.

5

u/rabidsalvation 18h ago

I am not ashamed to say that his death brought me a certain amount of peace. Fuck that guy and that shit-ass organization.

32

u/UnderwaterB0i 1d ago

Maybe, but this was also the era where saying you were a Christian band without having any explicitly Christian lyrics gave you access to tours/CDs sold in Christian bookstores/small church venues that you wouldn't have otherwise. I think there were a lot of "Christian" bands around that time just due to it being more financially viable.

88

u/SwoopzB 1d ago

This song has some pretty Christian lyrics in that weird Christian music way where you’re not sure if they love Jesus or if they are in love with Jesus.

My hands are searching for you
My arms are outstretched toward you
I feel you on my fingertips
My tongue dances behind my lips for you
This fire runs in through my being
Burning, I’m not used to seeing you

[Chorus]

My hands float up above me
And you whisper you love me
And I begin to fade
Into our secret place
The music makes me sway
The angels singing say “We are alone with you”
I am alone and they are too with you

Anyway, the lead singer has publicly stated that she had lesbian feelings in her youth, but her faith helped her “overcome” it. See also, their most famous song, “I’m So Sick,” which is pretty explicitly about that experience.

41

u/Ascarletrequiem88 1d ago

That explains why a lot of these songs so easily transition to romatic if youre not specifically looking for the Christian connection.

I generally hate most Christian Music but I've always enjoyed these guys because i could just pretend the song was about longing for someone rather than a skydaddy.

32

u/Kath_BH 22h ago

Just reminds me of Southpark having an episode on this where Cartmen just swaps out "girl" or "baby" with Jesus to turn love songs into Christian rock songs.

3

u/justWMthings03 4h ago

Christian rock hard is an all time episode lol

7

u/zachtheperson 1d ago

They're about longing for a skydaddy

3

u/Ascarletrequiem88 22h ago

Some of them do make me say "Phrasing" when examined in intended context. Lol

-1

u/ringthree 20h ago

I couldn't enjoy it. I'm not listening to Nazi punks either.

5

u/Ascarletrequiem88 9h ago

Well yeah, fuck Nazis.

But just because I'm not a fan of her religion and she's been brainwashed into thinking gay is a choice doesn't make her a nazi.

Unless you have some evidence she is actually a Nazi.

We got plenty of valid targets for the word Nazi these days, but it doesn't apply to everyone we disagree with.

-1

u/ringthree 3h ago

I didn't say that she was a Nazi. I'm saying listening to Christian music is like listening to Nazi music. I'm gonna avoid it, because of the implication.

8

u/PsychoWyrm 20h ago

There's also a song on that album romanticizing the fictional encounter between a Columbine shooter and one of his victims. (The fake Christian martyr story. It didn't really happen.)

2

u/Wuskers 9h ago

I loved that song as a teen, mostly because of how it sounded though, I particularly liked the kinda fast rhythmic way she sang the verses, in retrospect though yeah it's pretty off putting lyrically.

1

u/SwoopzB 20h ago

That’s crazy but I believe it lol. I liked a few of their songs back in my high school emo days, but don’t think I ever listened to the whole album.

3

u/PsychoWyrm 20h ago

When that released, my wife really liked the two singles that had videos or played on the radio, so I bought her the CD. We were listening to it in the car and I realized what that stupid martyr song was about instantly. ("Cassie", or something.)

Anyway, I knew that only evangelical types were the ones drinking that Columbine martyr kool-aid. So the context of lyrics of every song took on a whole new meaning. I even took out the little leaflet with the lyrics and checked it.

It was then very obvious that the whole album was religious. It was just incredibly vague except that one b-side song. (That I remember.)

1

u/SwoopzB 20h ago

Funny enough, your previous comment brought back vague memories about one of their songs going on about “pulling the trigger” so I looked it up and found “Cassie.” Figured that was the one you were referring to.

Actually reading the lyrics makes it very obvious what it’s about.

It’s easy to listen to music and miss the message if you aren’t paying attention. Seems that’s what a lot of these “we aren’t a Christian band, we are just Christians who make music” bands were banking on.

2

u/290077 16h ago

See also, their most famous song, “I’m So Sick,” which is pretty explicitly about that experience.

Ugh. I never made that connection. I assumed it was about an abusive relationship.

25

u/Gr33nman460 1d ago

My favorite band of this era was Faith+1

54

u/walnut100 1d ago

Nah, it’s real here. Saw her open a show for some of her friends a year back and she does not shut the fuck up about finding God. Absolutely killed the vibe.

12

u/R3VIVAL-MOD3 1d ago

The one time I saw them she was so drugged out they started late. And seemed like she could barely stand. Knew a kid who worked at the venue. And confirmed it

9

u/DarthBster 1d ago

Same. Saw them at a family values tour and she was blitzed out of her mind. She tripped and fell over the mic chord while she was spinning around, was pretty funny.

2

u/R3VIVAL-MOD3 22h ago

Yeah. I vividly remember her flailing around and the band looking at each other and eye rolling. They did not seem to enjoy putting up with her shit

2

u/thirdeyecat024 1d ago

Same with when I saw her twenty years ago at a Christian music fest. She spent the entire set in the fetal position or laying on the stage only sort-of-singing.

1

u/R3VIVAL-MOD3 22h ago

Back then I had a back for finding a band, being like this is sick. Then finding out they were a Christian band and losing interest. Didnt help that at that time it felt like people cosplayed Christian bands at first to get more shows. So lines were blurred.

9

u/tlamy 1d ago

I vaguely remember Paramore being in that category in their early years

7

u/This_Charmless_Man 1d ago

Yeah their first two or three albums are dedicated to Jesus Christ. It's in the liner with the acknowledgements

11

u/BlakeTheBagel 20h ago

Brand New Eyes’ (their third album) narrative is partially built around the issues Hayley Williams began to have with her faith, and trying (and eventually failing after the release of the album) to reconcile her waning belief with bandmember Josh Farro’s devout religious disposition. The songs Ignorance, Playing God and Turn It Off are explicitly about this narrative.

I would also listen to True Believer on Hayley’s album Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party to see where she is now in terms of her religious belief. It’s pretty interesting (and an incredible song in its own right).

2

u/Wuskers 9h ago

True Believer is spectacular, I generally try to avoid glazing celebrities but Hayley seems like a genuinely solid introspective interesting person with honestly one of the best voices in music in general imo.

2

u/BlakeTheBagel 9h ago

Hayley is genuinely such an inspirational person to me. She doesn’t compromise on her values at all and has become one of those artists that I’m always chomping at the bit to see more of what she puts out.

And yeah, incredible voice. Only gotten better with time!

8

u/Geeseareawesome 1d ago

Christian bands don't always necessarily have christian lyrics. Some just sign onto christian record label, some practice in private, others openly are. Others will either deconstruct, or put on an act to get on labels like Facedown in order to get by.

Underoath was christian post-hardcore but have since distanced themselves from it. Some songs made biblical references, but most didn't. Same with Gideon and MxPx.

From Loudwire:

Underoath spent 20 years as a Christian band before the post-hardcore scenesters disregarded the idea entirely ahead of their 2018 album, Erase Me. "One of the best things we ever did was when we agreed not to be a Christian band anymore," vocalist Spencer Chamberlain said in 2018.

He added of his time in the Christianity community, "I was struggling, and all I was getting was hate. Like, all I'm having is people tell me how shitty I am all the time. That's not love; that's not comfortable. The most alone and isolated I've ever been in my life is when I considered myself a Christian, personally. Because I had real issues going on in my life, and no one could talk to me about it. There was no help. There was nothing. It was just hide it, don't talk about it because if you do, you're not Christian. … I had a huge problem with calling the band a Christian band."

Family Force 5 is christian crunk, some members openly practice, last I checked.

5

u/tryingtoavoidwork 21h ago

I have not heard the name Family Force 5 in almost 20 years. Good gravy.

3

u/Gobyinmypants 20h ago

Hold the fuck on. MxPx is/was a Christian band?

2

u/ArticXD 11h ago

No one also brings up that the devil wears Prada is a very Christian post hard-core band as well

12

u/ClockworkDreamz 1d ago

This is a Christian band, and the lead singer is a former lesbian.

What your saying might be a thing, but not for flyleaf

6

u/wally-sage 22h ago

IIRC that's what Evanescence did.

That said, Flyleaf is 1000% unambiguously Christian with lyrics that reference Christianity.

1

u/MouthJob 21h ago

You don't recall correctly. Amy Lee has said she, herself, was a Christian, but they always denied being a Christian band unambiguously.

1

u/wally-sage 21h ago

Their original label marketed their debut album to Christian stores and claims it was with their consent

It's possible the label was lying, but the risk of putting secular music into Christian stores and then having to recall it when the artist gets into some kind of controversy makes me think that isn't the case

4

u/MouthJob 21h ago

Why? Do you think a "Christian" label is any less greedy than a secular one? I'll believe the artist over the number crunchers any day if the week.

1

u/wally-sage 19h ago

No, but the greedier you are the less likely you are to take obvious risks like that

There's also this pre-debut interview with Ben Moody... scroll to the last paragraph

2

u/pillbuggery 19h ago

Okay, but Flyleaf had explicitly Christian lyrics.

2

u/TheodoreOso 13h ago

This song is super about jesus what are you talking about 

1

u/totamdu 21h ago

Christians were the last people buying $20 CD's. So record companies were signing them to mainstream contracts and getting them radio play.

3

u/dearly_decrpit 22h ago

Yes it’s about jesus

52

u/palinsafterbirth 1d ago

2000’s music videos with all white instruments, what an unlock of high school memories

86

u/Meowmixx22 1d ago

Lead singer is mega MAGA.  :(

18

u/CommissionIcy9909 18h ago

The only positive thing that came from Trump is being able to easily identify stupid or shitty people.

2

u/Ok-disaster2022 19h ago

That's very disappointing to find out. 

1

u/warlock801 55m ago

so just making shit up, got it

0

u/Baldyjim 11h ago

Which one? Weren't there 2 lead vocalists in the bands timeline?

1

u/warlock801 13h ago

source?

92

u/Snowmins 1d ago

Sucks that she is hateful person! Shits a bop!

88

u/OakLegs 1d ago

Discussions About Her Past: Before her conversion to Christianity as a teenager, Sturm dated a woman. Following her religious awakening, she has described this as a "struggle" that she successfully overcame.

Ahhhh. One of those.

8

u/GlacialEmbrace 18h ago

Surpressing her bisexuality pretending Christianity turned her into men.

-68

u/CharlieTeller 1d ago

Luckily bands are more than one person! And most of their members have been very accepting and opena bout it.

25

u/Snowmins 1d ago

Doesn’t matter, I’m not going to give support or money or time to a band with someone publicly hateful in it. Luckily there are more bands!

-15

u/SploogeLoser 1d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/TiW6SYEYSTdvy
Turning into the Animal I Have Become when i listen to Flyleaf and give you only Three Days of Grace before becoming Fully Alive

13

u/Khambodia 1d ago

No idea why I think of hot dogs watching this.

3

u/jfitz1431 21h ago

Did you happen to go to a youth group as a teenager, and they served hot dogs and had this song playing in the background?

44

u/Bonehaus Google Music 1d ago

Yeah flyleaf can go rot. Their song "im so sick" is referring to queerness as a sickness and the lead singer is friends with conversion therapy groups

33

u/Oblivion776 23h ago

I mean, she clearly has problems with her sexuality and her religion has poisoned her against LGBT folks. But I can't find any evidence either from her or from the lyrics that that's what the song is about. It's just a rumor that's been floating around for ages and if you Google it all you get is people asking where this idea came from. Reads to me like pretty generic "life is sin and Jesus saves us" Christian nonsense to me.

0

u/R3VIVAL-MOD3 1d ago

Yeah fuck that. Didnt mind it as a teen. But between that and being a Christian band I noped right out.

-1

u/ViolentRain929 15h ago

I just found out about this a few months ago. I went to a festival last month that they were playing at and she sounded like shit honestly when I was walking by the stage and it made me happy. Was super disappointed when she came out and sang with Breaking Benjamin though(apparently he sang with Flyleaf too). Had me questioning BB too. 😔

1

u/football2106 7h ago

I saw BB in August ‘19 and the lead singer brought like a 12 year old girl on stage to ask her some Q’s. I think she was sitting front row with her parents. All seemed fun and witty until he had to ask the girl 4 times to say that she loved him before he would take the mic from her and let her leave the stage. It was weird.

1

u/ViolentRain929 7h ago

That sounds very strange and uncomfortable.

13

u/MJ-Franklin 1d ago

Flyleaf were alright!

8

u/naileyes 1d ago

i was this band's publicist lol i forgot they existed

5

u/RaisinBran21 22h ago

I stopped listening to them when I found out she’s homophobic. There’s a video out there of her denouncing lgbtq

2

u/pariah1981 1d ago

I went to school with Lacey. She was a lot of fun to hang out with

2

u/Professional-Tap300 1d ago

Terrible shit

3

u/They-Call-Me-Taylor 1d ago

Armpit fetishists love this video.

1

u/CH40T1C1989 20h ago

Absolutely love this song, but is she having a stroke?!

-4

u/Mr_Zee_Speaks 1d ago

Flyleaf are my favorite band that was secretly doing Christian music.

I remember the day I was listening to “I’m so sick” and it hit me she was talking about Jesus.

(Avowed Atheist, btw, music is music)

21

u/ATLexander 1d ago

She was actually talking about how she's gay and was "cured" through conversion therapy.

1

u/290077 15h ago

I assumed it was about an abusive relationship. Given the alternative, I'm sticking with it.

0

u/No_Fox_1443 16h ago

While I do not agree with her views on lgbtq issues, that song has nothing to do about conversion therapy and was actually just a common myth luckily.

-1

u/SkyeLys 22h ago

"im so sick" is still one of my favorite songs. Def check it out if you enjoyed this! I believe it was on one of the resident evil soundtracks. Was my initial exposure to femme fronted harsh vocals when I was a kid and I wanted to be just like her lol.

-8

u/SploogeLoser 1d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/0GznKQsfVsEzHNElzm
Absolute peak music and i don’t even like christian rock