Listen Now: https://ingrv.es/blood-fire-pain-iak-2
Special thanks to Devin Attard on drums and Taylor Adsit for additional vocals!
“Blood • Fire • Pain” is inspired by someone I met while incarcerated. After hearing his story I couldn’t help but be moved by his positivity despite the fact that all he had known his entire life was hardship and suffering.
He had grown up in one of California’s toughest neighborhoods and fought to survive the gang life he was born into. When he was 15 he was ordered to commit an armed robbery. In that moment he had to decide if he was more scared of the police or older gang leaders who he’d have to answer to if he didn’t do it. Though he forever regrets his decision that day he was given an adult sentence back in an era when the prosecuting attorney (rather than judge or jury) decided that.
I met him around age 32 when he’d spent almost 2 decades in prison. He had endured level four prison yards, gang wars, isolation, riots, and countless lockdowns. Despite the struggles of his childhood followed by fighting to survive as an adult he believed there was hope.
This song is dedicated to people who feel their pain goes unseen or that they are forgotten and swept aside.
Lyrics:
I have witnessed all the hurt that you have endured
with no one in your life to validate you
but please don’t let their indifference
to the torment you have faced
become a source to teach hate
don’t let it break, don’t let it break, don’t let it break you
I see your strength even when all hope in this life is taken away
they’ll never take, they’ll never take, they’ll never take from you
the way your struggle has refined you everlastingly
it may seem that there’s only one way
‘cause all you’ve ever known…
is blood, fire, and pain
blood, fire, and pain
blood, fire, and pain
but there is so much more
I know you’re locked, I know you’re locked, I know you’re locked away
transformed in silence with no outlet to relieve your pain
I know the weight, I know the weight, I know what you carry
and the strength it takes just to stand on your two feet
there is more than what you’ve sustained
and there is strength that comes…
from blood, fire, and pain
blood, fire, and pain
blood, fire, and pain… pain
but there is so much more
than blood, fire, and pain
there is so much more
the trials of this life can bring us to the other side
revealing how broken our systems can be
highlighting how much we are in need of grace
we were never designed to live this way
blood, fire, and pain
blood, fire, and pain
blood, fire, and pain
Video by: Kurt Murray at Voyant Creative