Creed frontman Scott Stapp reflects on tormented memories with his video for Purpose for Pain, the lead single from the vocalists upcoming third solo LP, The Space Between the Shadows.
The cathartic clip documents a young boys escape from an abusive home. After his father shouts at him and hurls a beer can toward his head, the character flees to a rickety desert structure and pines for a more peaceful life. Even in my dreams, I cant escape from myself, Stapp roars on the track over a chugging post-grunge guitar riff. Later, he admits, I fought the devil, and he won.
In a statement, Stapp noted that the video concept combines the intense performance of our live shows with a narrative that portrays dealing with hopelessness, the struggle to endure, and the magnitude (and gratitude) of victory, adding, Despite the pain and trauma of his situation, the boy frees himself and begins to run, never giving up. In the end, the storyline is punctuated by the lyrics, theres purpose for this pain.
Ive learned you can make it through the most difficult struggles and tragedies in life by trying to see a higher meaning within your situation, he continued. Finding it can give you just enough hope to hang on and live to fight another day. Learning from my past, instead of succumbing, has made me more self aware no more masking the pain, no more futile efforts to dull the pain. And it has made me even more empathetic towards others. Ultimately, my purpose for the pain is to now use my experience to help someone else going through the same thing.
Stapp will promote the album, his first solo project since 2013s Proof of Life, on a newly expanded summer tour. The North American trek kicks off June 20th in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and concludes August 31st in Lake Andes, South Dakota.