"Ready to Fall" was the first single from The Sufferer & The Witness, Rise Against's follow-up to its 2004 breakthrough album Siren Song of the Counter Culture For The Sufferer & the Witness, Rise Against's members sought to return to their punk roots. McIlrath commented: "It's definitely more of a punk rock record... We haven't 'grown or matured' as such, we've just really executed what we've been trying to nail with the last few records." Like most of the songs from The Sufferer & The Witness, "Ready to Fall" is characterized as hardcore punk and melodic hardcore. with a midtempo beat. "Ready to Fall" features a complex song structure, with controlled verses that lead into an intense chorus and screaming vocals, while a continuous bassline plays in the background. The vocals and instrumentation are noticeably heavier than most of the songs on the album. "Ready to Fall" was released on May 30, as the first single from The Sufferer & The Witness. It was released as a CD and 7" single; the B-side features a live performance of "State of the Union", take from the album Siren Song of the Counter Culture. Commercially, "Ready to Fall" peaked at number thirteen on the BillboardAlternative Songs chart, the bands' highest charting single at the time. "Ready to Fall" received positive reviews from critics, several of whom described the chorus as "compelling". Davey Boy of Sputnikmusic further praised the song for its controlled verses and intense bridge. Scott Heisel of Alternative Press and Corey Apar of AllMusic noted how "Ready to Fall" emulated Rise Against's older style of music. Heisel in particular said the song was "guaranteed to start circle pits wherever played".
Music video
The accompanying music video was directed by Kevin Kerslake. Made in 2006, the video is about pollution and its effects on the environment. The video is 3 minutes and 51 seconds long, and cuts between shots of the band playing and shots of animals being saved or dying, if not already dead, from various environmental hazards caused by humans. At the end of the video, lead singerTim McIlrath says, "Every action has a reaction. We've got one planet, one chance." As well as the version played on television, there was another, more graphic version created. This was never released officially but is available on certain websites. The video serves a testimony to veganism. Rise Against is an active supporter of PETA, an animal rights organization, and the band members are all active vegetarians. The video was filmed at Brandywine Falls Provincial Park in British Columbia.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Sufferer & the Witness.
