Released August 26, 2009 Label Warner Music Canada | Length 3:48 Producer(s) Brendan O'Brien | |
Genre Post-hardcore, alternative rock, alternative metal Writer(s) Ian D'Sa
Benjamin Kowalewicz | ||
"Devil on My Shoulder" is the second official single by Canadian band Billy Talent from their fourth album, Billy Talent III. It was released as a single on August 26, 2009. Bassist Jonathan Gallant has confirmed the song being a single in an interview. It was also featured as one of the theme songs for Hell in a Cell (2016) PPV.
Contents
It was the second song to debut live from the fourth album before the album's release, after "Turn Your Back".
The B-side to the CD single is a previously unreleased song entitled "Don't Need to Pretend", which was previously available only as a limited bonus track through purchasing Billy Talent III online through the German site Musicload.de.
CD single
- "Devil on My Shoulder"- 3:50
- "Don't Need to Pretend"- 3:45
Music video
The video for the song began shooting during the July 4, 2009 weekend.
The music video for "Devil on My Shoulder" was released August 26, 2009 on MTV. It was directed by Howard Greenhalgh.
The video consists of the band playing at a cabaret bar, with alternate scenes of a man dressed in black (the devil) surrounded by a funnel cloud heading to the bar while causing destruction to a newsstand and a picnic on the way. Towards the end of the video, the man lays a contract on one of the tables. Lead singer Ben Kowalewicz leaves the stage and walks over to the table. The man holds out a pen, which Ben takes and uses to sign the contract (in essence, selling his soul to the devil). Ben then glances up at the camera, revealing that his eyes, normally light brown in colour, have become blood-red. During the final chorus, the funnel cloud is now surrounding Ben as he and the band finish the song while the man watches.
The video was deemed number one on MuchMusic's Holiday Wrap best rock songs of 2009.