Walking in the desert all alone
You're now searching,
Lost in isolation from your soul
From the bullets you bite,
To the pain you request,
You're finding them harder to digest
When the answers you seek,
Are the ones you destroy,
Your anger's well deployed
Why can't you listen? - Why can't you hear?
Why can't you listen,
As love screams everywhere?
You now hunger,
Feeding your mind with selfishness
You now wander,
Aimlessly around your consciousness
When your prophecies fail,
When your thoughts become weak,
Silence creates necessity
When you're clothing yourself,
With the shields of despair,
Your courage now impaired
Why can't you listen? - Why can't you hear?
Why can't you listen,
As love screams everywhere?
You crucify all honesty,
No signs you see do you believe,
And all your words just twist and turn
Reviving just to crash and burn,
Fighting 'til the bitter end,
If only your heart could open up and listen
Why can't you listen? - Why can't you hear?
Why can't you listen,
As love screams everywhere?
Why can't you listen? - Why can't you hear?
Why can't you listen,
As love screams everywhere?
Collective Soul is an American rock band originally from Stockbridge, Georgia. Now based in Atlanta, the group consists of the brothers Ed (lead vocalist) and Dean Roland (rhythm guitarist), Will Turpin (bassist), Johnny Rabb (drummer), and Jesse Triplett (lead guitarist). Formed in 1992, the original lineup consisted of the Roland brothers, bassist David Neal, guitarist Ross Childress, and drummer Shane Evans. Collective Soul released their Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid album on the independent label Rising Storm Records in 1993. The band went from obscurity to popularity that year after the album's lead single "Shine" received regional radio play. Around the same time, Turpin replaced Neal on bass. The album was then re-released in 1994 by the major label Atlantic Records; thus, "Shine" became a national hit as it peaked at No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock and No. 4 on the Mainstream Top 40 charts.
Collective Soul released a self-titled album in March 1995. Considered by Ed Roland to be the band's true debut album, Collective Soul spent 76 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts and went triple-platinum, becoming the band's highest-selling album. The singles "December", "The World I Know", and "Where the River Flows" each reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock charts. About two years later, Collective Soul released Disciplined Breakdown. Although not as successful in sales as their previous two albums, Disciplined Breakdown contained two No. 1 Mainstream Rock chart hits with "Precious Declaration" and "Listen". The band released a fourth studio album, Dosage, in 1999. The album's first single, "Heavy", spent a then record-breaking 15 weeks on the top spot of the Mainstream Rock charts.
The band released Blender in 2000. It was the final album with their most well-known lineup as lead guitarist Childress left the band in 2001. Collective Soul established their own label, El Music Group (which was later renamed to Fuzze-Flex Records), prior to releasing Youth in 2004. Original drummer Evans then departed from the band at the end of 2005. Collective Soul released five additional albums between 2005 and 2023: Afterwords (2007), Rabbit (2009), See What You Started by Continuing (2015), Blood (2019), and Vibrating (2022). The band then announced their first double album with a planned release date in 2024, Here to Eternity.
