Beautiful Skeletons have premiered a new song titled “Running Cold.” Members of the band commented:
Vocalist Tina Firefly:
“This is a song of fragile hope in the daunting battle of suicidal ideation and self-harm,” Tina shares. “I wrote the lyrics shortly after one of my children’s first and second serious attempts to end their life. As a parent, to lose a child to suicide would be full-stop soul shattering.
I remember every ambulance ride, every empty pill bottle, every sound, every cry, every night sleeping outside their door trying to preserve my child’s safety. We blame ourselves because we feel like we missed signs or play the woulda-coulda-shoulda game. I hope this song embodies future hope while still acknowledging the trauma.
I wrote these lyrics from a place of trauma and desperation while sitting in a children’s hospital fighting to get an inpatient rehab bed for my kid. Mental illness is only mildly influenced by environment and can ultimately take a back seat to genetic proclivity.
It’s called ‘Running Cold’ because that’s the feeling you get when the bottom drops out — that millisecond of understanding before crashing and burning, realizing you missed a step on the way down the stairs.”
Drummer Huwy Williams:
“[It’s] a short catchy almost poppy song, but with a very strong message. The song is about the weight of mental health struggles and suicide from the family’s perspective. We wanted the music to pull people in while the lyrics hit them hard.”
Guitarist Einar Einarsson:
“The lyrical content is real, raw, powerless, intangible,” Einar explains. “It affects everyone within a large circle. It hit Tina’s core with a vengeance, and that affected me. Powerlessness tenfold. It makes me question if I have done enough, if I can help the next human that suffers — a friend, family member, or stranger. What is my purpose in this? How do we make a difference? Is there ever enough?”
Bassist Jason Johnson:
“This song is about self-harm and suicide. It’s very personal for me. Even though I didn’t write it, it’s as if Tina was looking inside my heart. We’ve all had a family member or friend who has attempted or been successful in suicide. We need to call it what it is — suicide or killing yourself. Today, algorithms will block or cancel you for using these words, but it’s growing like a plague. Twenty-two veterans a day commit suicide, so clearly hiding from the conversation isn’t working. I think instead of hiding from it, we should talk about it with our kids, our friends, and our family.”