Black Veil Brides (BVB) is a band that most people got into when they were going through their middle school emo phase. Just because you left your emo phase does not mean this band stopped existing or making music. As someone who went through an emo phase and never really left, Black Veil Brides is one of those bands that will snap you right back to your emo phase. BVB currently consists of frontman and founder Andy Biersack (formally known as Andy Six), guitarist and violist Jinxx, lead guitarist Jake Pitts, drummer CC (Christian Coma), and bassist Lonny Eagleton.
The band name stems from the Roman Catholic term, of the same name, used to describe a woman who marries the church, giving up all the pleasures of life to devote her life to God. It is at this point in the process that the woman is considered a Black Veil Bride. A former member of the band, Ashley Purdy, further explains the process that these women go through.
“Sorta similar to a rock band where you have to give up many things in pursuit of what you’re passionate about or believe in. It also has the dichotomy of the positive and negative. The happiest time in one’s life, could be getting married. And the opposite of that in one’s life would be at a funeral of a loved one. It all tends to fit really well for a dark and heavy rock band.”
Ashley Purdy
- Knives and pens
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This is like the traditional emo song. People who identify as emo are seen as overly emotional and angsty and wear all black. Well, this music video takes that to an extreme. They do this by showing the contrast by switching back and forth between an all-white set and outfit and an all-black set and outfit ensemble. The main kid in the video, dressed in all black with the “standard” emo-sweeping hair, is bullied for being emo, being called slurs and being told to end his life, among other things. The kid also gets his notebook, which he holds dear, taken away from him, causing him to become upset. In the end, he gets the notebook back, and we see that he is writing down the lyrics of the song in it.
Speaking of the lyrics, Andy has come out, as quoted on Genius Lyrics, and said, “The name for the song gives you choice.” In terms of what that choice is, Andy added, “…knives-to destroy yourself, harm yourself, kill yourself. Pens- to create. To make, to produce. To live.” Personally, I think this meaning really comes out in the music video because it shows how much the kid relies on the notebook in order to express himself, especially during the turmoil that he goes through for not being about to write in it. Some people that are seen as emo are commonly linked with being depressed and holding the simplest things close to them to help them handle what is going on. If you are someone that was like that, then this song will help send you back to your emo phase.
Black Veil Brides – Knives and Pens (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - rebel love song
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This is a rebel anthem if there is one. The song is about running away with someone you love that everyone tells you not to leave with. However, in the end, you run away from everything because as the lyrics state, “Nothin’s gonna’ stop us/ No, not this time.” The music video demonstrates this with a girl who is in a relationship that her father does not approve of, but she loves the guy and runs away with him.
Personally, this is top-level angst that if it doesn’t send you back to your emo phase, it will send you back to your angsty teen days. The feeling of rebelling against your parents, doing everything they said not to do, and fighting against them because they just “don’t understand” are all things that the classic teen does.
Black Veil Brides – Rebel Love Song (Explicit) - Saviour ii
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This song means a lot to guitarist and violinist, Jinxx, who wrote the music for the song in April 2020 after losing his friend and stepfather suddenly. Jinxx notes in an Instagram post that the violin in the video and hear on the recording is the one that was gifted to him by his stepfather for Jinxx to “fix up and play.” He also notes that the acoustic guitar that he is playing in the video belongs to his mom. In the same post, he notes that the location of the music video means a lot to him because his stepfather was a “master stain glass [artist],” and his last project before his passing was a stained glass window for the church that he and Jinxx’s mom attended.
Though this song might not throw you back to your emo phase, the song is linked with “Saviour” from the band’s album Set the World on Fire. The original is almost like a letter from Andy to fans to remind them that someone is always there when they need them, even if it is him and his music. For me, this is echoed in part two because it’s like years have passed and while the person is now stronger, they are still on the edge of breaking but won’t anyone see it.
BLACK VEIL BRIDES – Saviour II (Official Music Video) - in the end
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This music video for this song is interesting, and to be honest, I don’t quite understand it. From what I can understand of it, the band is doing the stereotypical band thing and performing like they are on stage. This is interloped with Andy picking up someone that appears to have died and carrying them back to a home base type area where he, the band, and a group of people paint the band’s emblem on black fabric and banners. The group then marches to find the group of bishop-like dressed people before charging at them and most likely, forcing them to run away. They found the bishops in a building and look to be ready to engage in a fight with them before the video ends. However, this music video probably makes more sense when you watch the entire storyline that creates the “Legion of the Black.”
This song, in my opinion, has teenage angst written all over it. This mainly comes out in the lines in the first verse: “In the end/ As my soul’s laid to rest/ What is left of my body/ Or am I just a shell?” This is not to take away the true meaning of the song. From what has been released, the song is about what happens post-death and what his legacy will be like with the band. This was all brought on by Andy losing his grandfather.
Black Veil Brides – In The End (Closed-Captioned) - Goodbye Agony
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This one is hard-hitting for Andy. He has explained that this song is about how he had been struggling to reach paradise, but he just stayed in Hell with all the pain he was feeling. He also notes that he decided to stop chasing paradise and instead become the pain. This song is about him speaking directly to the pain, telling her that he will beat her.
In the music video, the girl is dressed in a stereotypical emo outfit: black boots, black ripped jeans, a black shirt, a single black fingerless glove, black nail polish, and black eyeliner. The girl’s friend shows up before they sneak into a part of what looks to be a city that has been abandoned after what seems to look like a protest. They somehow end up in a cave, navigating through the tunnels with a torch until they find a coffin in the ground, presumably the same one that we see in front of the band throughout the city. The two investigate it before the girl opens it, showing that it is Andy with his face painted like when he went by Andy Six. The girl seems to ignore this before putting her book with BVB’s emblem in the coffin, causing Andy Six to wake up.
Black Veil Brides – Goodbye Agony
In conclusion, Black Veil Brides will give you a blast from the past to send you hurtling down the teenage angst and emo phase that you were in, and maybe still in.