Singled Out: Ghosts of Hope's Martyr

New York hard rockers Ghosts of Hope recently unleashed their new single "Martyr", and to celebrate we asked them to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

This song was originally a "scrapped" song that Oli wrote as a solo artist in 2020, originally titled "Head Above Water". While the title changed, the meaning stayed the same: a story about a personal struggle with substance abuse, depression and the links between the two. The chorus was heavily inspired by Evanescence and the breakdown had a heavy Linkin Park influence, a true culmination of two of our major musical inspirations.

This song is a reflection on the darker parts of a healing journey, the ones that feel taboo or like they aren't really healing at all but actually quite self-destructive. The lyrics echo the sentiment of trying desperately to get better but barely even being able to stay afloat.

The original lyrics in the final line of the hook were "I can't keep my head above water" rather than "I keep dreaming of dying a martyr" but when the EP began to take shape, the title of the song was changed to fit the one word song title theme, as well as tie into the flow of the overall story of the EP - a journey through recovery from the lowest point to the point of beginning to find true strength and joy and all of its in betweens- in representing the raw reality of how dark and isolating these struggles can feel.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

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