Weekly Shinedown - Song Forty - Atmosphere!

Hey There!

It was around January 2015 when I discovered Atmosphere by Shinedown. I was studying at the time for my GCSEs, and I decided to listen to all of the full Shinedown albums on Spotify to keep me entertained. Atmosphere was quite a memorable song for me on the Us And Them album, and I remember listening to it many times after I had recognised it.

As well as really loving the extra long introduction to Atmosphere, I also really like the chorus of this song. The guitar riff during the chorus, and also at the end of the song is really powerful, and it fits in really well with the lyrics. I also think that the song really fits in with the general theme of the whole Us And Them album. Although I'm also pretty sure that I'll be posting about the Demo version of Atmosphere very soon, so watch out for that one!

Many people see the meaning of this song to do with a guy who has just died, and he is waiting to go to Heaven. This idea is actually quite a realistic meaning for me, especially where it talks about him having to wait in line. I believe that he is effectively waiting to be judged by God, and during this time, he is reflecting on his life that he had on Earth, and looking down at everyone, who is below the atmosphere to him. I also feel that Atmosphere is a good friend of the other Shinedown song called Fake, so I'll probably post on Fake another time!

Alas, I've only been able to find the tab sheets online for Atmosphere, and not the chords. So it doesn't look like I'll be learning any new Shinedown songs anytime soon. Feel free to have a read of some of my older posts, or even write about anything Shinedown below!

I'll see you al next Thursday!

Lois xx

P.S. I'll leave the lyrics to Atmosphere below incase you're interested!

Once I had a halo
But then it caught on fire
Once I knew a good man
But he turned into a liar
Once I saw a blind man
Still looking for his eyes

Once I met a bad guy

Who watched his father die

And now, I'll tell you how
I know them all

I'm looking down on the atmosphere
I'm took my number, and I waited in line
I'm not frail from the exposure
I'm taking pictures with my mind
I'm looking down on the atmosphere
I'm took my number, and I waited in line
I'm not frail from the exposure
I'm taking pictures with my mind

Once I met a leader
Born from genocide
Once I knew a preacher
To his faith, he said goodbye
Once I met a good girl
Who shows her face no more
It's hard to learn your lesson
When you become the whole world's whore

And now, I'll tell you how
I know them all

I'm looking down on the atmosphere
I'm took my number, and I waited in line
I'm not frail from the exposure
I'm taking pictures with my mind
I'm looking down on the atmosphere
I'm took my number, and I waited in line
I'm not frail from the exposure
I'm taking pictures with my mind

I'm looking down on the atmosphere
I'm looking down on the atmosphere
I know them all...

And now, I'll tell you how
I know them all
Looking down on the atmosphere
Looking down on the atmosphere
I took my number, and I wait in line
I'm looking down on the atmosphere