Pearls Before the Swine

Guitarist Phil Demmel told Sonic Excess magazine why the band decided to write lyrics about addiction for this song. He explained: "It was a song without lyrics really for a while, without a concept. We kind of came up with an idea to write about addicts and addiction, when talking to each other and watching Breaking Bad episodes to kind of catch up and start again to see it. (laughs) It's not a song about hope. It's just a song about being in the throes of addiction, in its claws, and a lot of my lyrics are in there. So, there's a lot of descriptive thoughts of addiction. It's not a song of hope for sure. It's not 'Stairway To Heaven.'"

The phrase "Pearls Before Swine" originates from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (as reported in Matthew 7v6). He is saying that people of faith should be discerning in what they say and do as valuable things (such as pearls) should not be put in front of people (or swine) who do not appreciate their worth.