"Broken Throne" by If Not For Me Song Meaning: Overcoming religious judgment

If Not For Me has carved out a name for themselves as one to watch in metalcore, bringing searing vocals and blistering riffs to accompany themes ranging from mental anguish to glimmers of hope. They’re the kind of band fans call lifesaving in the sense of solidarity. If Not For Me’s 2026 album Where the Light Begins to Fade is clear proof of why.

Lead singer and songwriter Patrick Glover took the time to share with HeartSupport about the band’s ties to mental health, the power of community, and the meaning of the song “Broken Throne.”

What events inspired “Broken Throne?”

If Not For Me is a band that has come into the scene with a true love for it: before they were impacting the scene, the scene was impacting them.

“I remember being that kid at 14 years old, watching a band give it their all on stage, playing to nobody sometimes, but still giving everything they had,” lead singer Patrick Glover recalls. “If I can do that for somebody, that is the coolest thing in the world to me. I always want to be that because that's what I grew up idolizing.”

Those formative shows were particularly important given that Patrick grew up with deep mental health struggles as an adolescent.

He says, “I had a very loving, supportive family. We didn't go hungry; everything was okay. Then, when I was a teenager, I couldn't figure out why I didn't want to be around anyone. I hid that from them for a long time and dove into music as my therapy. Getting into music when I did really did a lot for me as far as keeping me here.”

The band’s first full-length album, Eulogy, came from a place of suicidal ideation and wrestling through those thoughts.

“It's important to acknowledge that none of this is our fault, and this could happen to anybody. It's a matter of how you get yourself through it, what you can find to get yourself through it, who you reach out to,” Patrick says earnestly.

The way music helped him through his own journey is part of why he wants to speak to those who have also experienced mental health challenges or trauma.

“I was raised heavily in the church, and it did a lot for me growing up. I still carry a lot of that with me. But when I was a teenager, I started to see things in the church that I didn't agree with and didn't necessarily want to follow,” he explains. 

Although he describes his own family as being supportive and loving while being very religious, he encountered homophobia and hate in others that he began to question. That set the stage for “Broken Throne.”

What is the meaning of the song “Broken Throne?”

“‘Broken Throne’ deals with religious trauma and doubting everything that you grew up believing in,” Patrick Glover says. “The Jesus that I grew up learning about had no room in his heart for hate. When I see stuff like that from the church, it rubs me the wrong way and makes me not want to associate with the church. I still believe in everything Jesus taught about compassion, love, acceptance of others, and lifting each other up, because that's ultimately what this life is all about to me. But there's a lot of stuff I saw growing up that I didn't want to associate with. That's what ‘Broken Throne’ is about.”

For Patrick, he had to separate himself from the hatefulness he saw rearing its head in religious systems. When he’d carefully sifted those parts of the beliefs he grew up with away, he was able to find the values he wanted to keep. 

As is true for anyone who experiences any degree of religious trauma, it was a process.

“The things I keep with me the most are the things that Jesus actually taught and preached: we're not put on this earth to condemn others. We're put on this earth to lift each other up. Jesus fed the poor, clothed the needy, and fed the hungry. That's stuff you see a lot of people actively rallying against nowadays, especially in the church,” Patrick says.

It’s also the kind of thing that the heavy music scene actually does very well, even when other parts of the world have drifted away from that focus.

Patrick breaks down a few specific lyrics that align with the absence of care he’s seen in the church:

"There's no sign of life in the starlit sky." 

“That was a reference to the stars of Judea the night Jesus was born. What I was trying to say in that line is that there's no sign of life — as in, maybe we can recite the scriptures, but we've lost the meaning behind them. They're empty words to a lot of people now, and we're not helping people the way that we should.”

"Painted glass memories cutting me down to the bone.”

“That line is literally about the massive stained glass windows in the church that I grew up in; it just really stuck with me.”

Seeing that exclusion has shaped how If Not For Me builds the atmosphere at their own shows: on care, support, and inclusivity.

“I always try to tell myself that I never want somebody to feel like I'm giving the impression that I'm too good for them or don't want to interact with them,” Patrick says. “I just want to lift people up with our music. It's so cool to see that at a lot of our shows. We see these huge groups of people who didn't know each other before our shows who are now good friends because they met in our mosh pit. That community is so important, because that's ultimately one of the things that drew me here in the first place and saved me. I felt so alone and didn't understand why. When I found this outlet and found other people who felt the same way I did, it made me realize that maybe I'm semi-normal after all.”

What is If Not For Me’s message on mental health right now?

When Patrick thinks about what mental health-forward message he’d share right now, the words come to him immediately:

“Whatever you're feeling — whether you went through something crazy, are dealing with something crazy, or nothing happened at all but you have these feelings anyway — it's not your fault. A lot of people put the blame on themselves or are embarrassed to talk about these kinds of things, but you need to put that out there. Sometimes just putting it out there alone helps. When you put that stuff out there, sometimes you find people who are going through the same things as you.”

The revelation of truly experiencing that you’re not alone, no matter what you’re going through, can be unbelievably uplifting.

“A lot of people have a lot more people in their life that care about them than they think they do, so don't be afraid to reach out,” Patrick says earnestly. “That's my ultimate advice: this is not your fault. Talk about it, because sitting there and dwelling on it like I did for years is not helpful.”

“Broken Throne” is from the band’s latest full-length album, Where The Light Begins to Fade, streaming everywhere now at https://thrillerrecords.ffm.to/wherethelightbeginstofade. Listen now for more songs supporting the truth that you’re not alone, no matter what judgment or exclusion or shame you’ve been subjected to in the past.

Full interview with If Not For Me

Patrick told the story of his very first show in our full interview, where he explained how one evening in a hot rec center changed his sense of belonging forever. You can watch the full conversation below.

“Broken Throne” by If Not For Me lyrics

They say you'll reap what you sow
From a king on a broken throne

Feels like my heart is made of stone
With heavy hands they carved me to the marrow
But I'm so sick of shaking doubt
From the words that leave my mouth

'Cause I'm caught up in the afterglow
Searching for a way back home
Nothing left to believe
But painted glass memories
Cutting me down the bone

Spiraling like vertigo
They say you'll reap what you sow
From a king on a broken throne
From a king on a broken throne

It's like the dark has claimed me whole
Follow the matriarch into the indigo
But now there's no sign of life
In this starlit sky
And I can't find a reason to keep
Reaching towards the light

'Cause I'm caught up in the afterglow
Searching for a way back home
Nothing left to believe
But painted glass memories
Cutting me down to the bone
Spiraling like vertigo

They say you'll reap what you sow
From a king on a broken throne
They say you'll reap what you sow
They say you'll reap what you sow
They say you'll reap what you sow
From a king on a broken throne

I see better with the lights off now
It wasn't "faith" where I learned to hate myself
By their fruit, you will recognize them

Feels like my heart is made of stone
We're all destined for dirt, in sin we can't atone

'Cause I'm caught up in the afterglow
Searching for a way back home
Nothing left to believe
But painted glass memories
Cutting me down the bone
Spiraling like vertigo
They say you'll reap what you sow
From a king on a broken throne

From a king on a broken throne
From a king on a broken throne