Motionless In White are back with a blistering new song entitled ‘Afraid of the Dark’.
Two decades into their journey, the track aims to connect MIW’s past, present, and future; it feels less like a reinvention and more like a full-circle moment, with the result being an anthem built for the arenas they’re soon going to be hitting up.
Perservering No Matter What
When we spoke to frontman Chris Motionless in February 2024, they were in between releases, but far from inactive, as they were in the midst of a sold-out UK tour, with an eye on new music and the future.
When speaking about a new album, Chris stated:
I would say the bulk of it is good to go, and I’m very excited about it. The last three or four records, I feel, have all done a good job of dividing the time between the heavy, the emotional, and the kind of artsy experimental tracks. We really just try to keep it from being boring and have the record tell a story through these different soundscapes and different atmospheres of heavy to not-so-heavy and everywhere in between.
And I would say that’s kind of where we’re, that’s just where we’re locked in at, there’s no desire within us to do an album that’s just all singing and abandon the screaming and some of the heavy stuff because we need the heavy stuff. We, we want that. That’s in us. That has to be written to feel like Motionless In White.
That context is important because “Afraid Of The Dark” is explicitly autobiographical as Chris frames fear not as an enemy to destroy, “That fear is only fatal ’til it’s alchemized, To heal is to repurpose” but as raw material to be transformed.
The song isn’t motivational gloss, but instead looks at the cost of commitment, and repeatedly asks how much someone is willing to lose in order to become themselves, and whether they are prepared to walk forward without guarantees.
Chris expanded on this to us when speaking of the challenges of being in a band for over 20 years:
I would say probably the most obvious challenge is the financial aspect of being in a touring band.
When you’re putting 10 of your friends in a 12-passenger van and touring in the winter with zero money, making nothing and stealing everything from Walmart to eat. Those challenges of basically going out there using money from your real job, and now you’re out for two weeks or three weeks, sleeping on top of each other in a freezing cold van.
Those challenges, I think, were the hardest to get through because how long can you really sustain a career by doing that? And we got lucky in that we grinded and grinded and finally ended up in the right place at the right time.
We then seized that opportunity and turned the grind up to 10, even more on top of what we were already doing, and so those are like the greatest life lessons I’ve ever learned.
After years of grind and isolation, the payoff is finally happening, and they’re doing it with their fans as a community; a shared darkness that no longer has to be faced alone.
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Motionless In White Afraid Of The Dark Lyrics In Full
No Longer Afraid Of The Dark
Speaking directly about the track, Chris says:
20 years ago, I stepped into a tour van with my best friends, having no idea what was next every mile we drove down the road,” says singer Chris Motionless, pulling back the curtain on the song’s origin story, which is rooted in the band’s own history. “Funny enough, we broke down two hours later in the AM hours in a snowstorm. We had to sleep on the floor of a rest stop on the side of the Interstate and wait what felt like forever for a tow truck. We were forced to cancel the first few shows of our first tour ever, and to figure out how to scrape up every cent we could to try and get the van fixed and get back on the road. Nothing was ever going to stop us. There was never a doubt that we would find a way to live out our biggest dream and set a precedent for anything standing in our way.
On our 20-year anniversary, that spirit is burning just as hot as it was on that day. We refuse to settle, refuse to let any opposing force stop us from clawing our way up from hell, and we refuse to fear the dark of the unknown. I want the story of MIW to inspire anyone listening to not fear the unknown, but to run headfirst into it with everything they’ve got. This song is about taking control of your destiny and writing the script of your own future without any doubt or apprehension. For those of you who have been with us for any part of the last 20 years, this one is for you. If you mean it, you will make it.
The Meaning Behind Motionless In White’s Afraid Of The Dark ultimately comes down to ownership. Ownership of fear, history, and direction.
The song is about refusing to let uncertainty dictate outcomes, to never give up, despite how difficult that is in the toughest of circumstances; “You’ll never know yourself ’til you walk alone, With blind faith and broken bones”. The darkness may not disappear, but it can be faced with real purpose, and what you build from it is the difference.
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