While She Sleeps Team With Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil for Mental Health Anthem ‘Nervous’

While She Sleeps are opening up and sharing the emotionally heavy new song “Nervous,” which features a guest turn from Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil. The track delves into the snapshot of fragility, exploring struggles with anxiety and mental health.

The song is accentuated with a haunting piano backing that comes and goes between a push-pull of heavy, crashing angsty guitar and vocal moments and quieter periods of melodic intimacy, mirroring a bit of the chaotic extremes experienced while dealing with anxiety.

The band states, “‘Nervous’ is a song born from the band’s own struggles with mental health. This is a song for anyone struggling with mental illness of any kind. It’s a song to bring us all together to a universal understanding that we all struggle in life, one way or another. Throughout this week, we will be opening up about our own experiences & urging you to do the same so we can all take this opportunity and look at these problems within us all. The inner world comes first. Mental health IS health.”

While the song is being issued collectively, it was guitarist Sean Long’s own experiences with anxiety that started the conversation. “The song ‘Nervous’ is one the band has been talking about ever since its first demo. It’s completely infected us since the start and we all knew instantly that something really special had happened. I would go so far as to say it’s the single most important song I’ve ever written in my life,” says Long. “It’s born from experiencing the pain and suffering generated by acute anxiety but also finding a way out from that, which whilst in such a dark and terrifying place, felt like the biggest pipe dream imaginable.”

He continued, “I felt like if I didn’t write this song then someone else would have. It feels like it needed to be manifested into this world ASAP. I truly believe it’s going to resonate with people on an extremely personal, deep and meaningful level because I feel like it came from a place beyond what we may call ourselves and I feel the song is much bigger than our band.” Check out the lyrics for the track below.

While She Sleeps With Simon Neil, “Nervous” Lyrics

I’m nervous
I think it’s time to believe
But I’m nervous
That the answer’s right in front of me

All this pain we undertake
Learned how to love our own mistakes
‘Cause we all share the fear to bare this atmosphere
So you are never alone

I know the stars will collide and make no sound
I told the water to rise and I can’t swim
I’d go to sleep in the fire to hold you now
So you are never alone

But I choose to not obey
Shortcuts to love our own escapes
Can I find a place where all these thoughts dissolve?
But I’m nervous

But I’m nervous

We all look up to the stars to find something
An irreplaceable light to hold trust in
I know that we’ll be alright, I need you now
So we are never alone

I’m nervous
I think it’s time to believe
But I’m nervous
That the answer’s right in front of me

We are so blind

We are so blind
We are so blind

(We never explain)
I get this feeling that we’re never enough
(When the fear’s rushing in)
That the truth is like the water as it swallows us
(Then we face all our pain)
We’re building castles in the dirt and the dust
(And start over again)
If the worst is yet to come then I don’t know if we’ll make it out

We are so blind
(We are so blind, we are so blind, we are so blind)
We are so blind
(We are so blind, we are so blind, we are so blind)

I’m nervous
(It’s not enough to live in the dirt)
I think it’s time to be
(And not enough to feign your concern)
Nervous
(So say something, do something)
That the path is there for us to lead
(So say something, do something)

Long says of his hope for the track, “I’d like ‘Nervous’ to be viewed as more of a spiritual request rather than just a song to enjoy. I’m talking about a particular emotion in this song but the idea is transferable to any negative or troublesome feeling. It’s about accepting your emotions, fears, pains, anxiety, depression — not only accepting them but owning them and becoming one with them completely. It’s about being proud of all our emotions. The song is literally telling you to BE nervous, be scared and be in pain. By this I mean a lot of our pain comes from the idea that there’s me on the one hand and the pain on the other. So when the pain arrives, this ‘me’ is somehow trying to get away from said pain. When we really think this through with clarity, we inevitably see its a futile endeavor.”

He concludes, “The moment we realize this, we can stop fighting and running away and we can begin the healing process by feeling the emotions as if we wanted them to be there in the first place. Once you stop fighting and pushing the feelings away, you realize that most of, if not all of, the pain was caused by this attempt to split ourselves in two. Most of the pain was caused by the fear of the pain itself and the attempt to get away from it. It can actually be a good thing to feel these emotions fully and experience that journey of acceptance. If we just sit a little longer with the pain, fully go into the dark, feeling it with every cell of our being, there is a chance of something miraculous to occur for the individual. What do you have to lose? This is what ‘Nervous’ is about.”

Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil, who comes in midway into the track with extra vocals, adds, “I’ve been a big fan of what WSS do, and how they do it, for a long time. When Mat and the boys approached me to be a part of their new record it was a no-brainer and ‘Nervous’ is a towering statement of intent for their new era. The way WSS have chosen to promote and release this album, and the new model they are creating, excites me for the future and I am delighted to be a part of it.”

“Nervous” is featured on the band’s fifth studio album, Sleep Society, which is due on April 16 via Spinefarm Records. Pre-orders are available here.

You can watch the video for the song in full below. It features the band members and Neil nearly engulfed in size in front of a large screen projecting the chaos of the universe around us.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website. Resource information is provided for free as well as a chat message service. To speak directly to a professional, call 1-800-273-8255. You are not alone and help is available. Every life is important.

While She Sleeps With Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil, “Nervous”