| Alice in Chains – Queen Of The Rodeo Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Keep in mind that the band was into the "glam" scene of the 1980's - the whole big hair, speed metal thing that was popular at the time. Layne was in a band that dressed in drag. This song likely pokes fun at the fact that they were probably called fags a lot. | |
| Jerry Cantrell – S.O.S Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Pretty much follows the major theme of the album - locking yourself away and having a "degradation trip". Pun intended. I'll be here all week folks. | |
| Jerry Cantrell – Jesus Hands Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I would say it's a song about faith......being shot down in the middle of an ocean and finding the shore is a wonderful metaphor. It seems an impossible task, but if you let go and trust in the waves - it will take you to the shore. That's my take. "It can be found." | |
| Jerry Cantrell – Satisfy Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think it's just about being infatuated with someone, and the feelings aren't reciprocated. A very relatable feeling. I think the refugee in question here is the author, trying to flee from the thoughts/feelings about this girl that crush him. Other than that I think the lyrics are fairly straightforward. |
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| Jerry Cantrell – Locked On Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I don't think Layne loved doing heroin - maybe in the beginning when he enjoyed the high, but in the end I think he despised it. I think he was embarrassed by what he became. It's an addiction. When the body doesn't get its fix, the body gets sick. And then the drug is no longer about getting a high - it becomes a medicine to avoid the sickness. | |
| Jerry Cantrell – Cold Piece Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think it's fairly obvious it's about a girl who thinks she can try to change a guy (to "save" him), and the guy's not having it. Of course I could be way wrong on this, but to me, a "cold piece" makes me think of a gun. Guns are sometimes referred to as 'pieces' so a "cold piece" could be an unused gun kept in a home. I guess he might scare her off with a gun - which is a pretty hilariously absurd notion. |
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| Alice in Chains – Nothin' Song Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Nice to see a lighter side to Layne's lyrics. | |
| Alice in Chains – Nothin' Song Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Could be an allusion to how the song he's trying to write keeps changing. You work on something, then you come back to it and you keep changing it, trying to make it better. | |
| Alice in Chains – When the Sun Rose Again Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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"Were you burned away when the sun rose again?" - beautiful imagery. Everyone makese these songs on this album about Layne. If you want to make them about Layne, that's fine. Maybe the band had Layne in mind when writing it, maybe not, I don't know. For me personally, it's less about Layne than it is just about the personal demons/issues that we ALL struggle in dealing with. I think it's about the difficulty in change. Hence the sun shining is a metaphor for shining the light and showing you for who you really are - and you run away because you don't like what you see. "Trading in never-befores" = avoiding first-times, i.e. change "Selling out for the score" = doesn't have to be exclusively about drugs |
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| Alice in Chains – Your Decision Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Music videos are something of a lost art......you only have the length of a song to make an impression. Sometimes "weird" and "different" makes you think and it excites the visual sensations. The video is less about the beautiful woman than it is about the point-of-view of the viewer who is tempted by the beautiful woman. The viewer is spurred on by curiosity and temptation, gives in, and ends up being (apparently) kidnapped and eaten. I take the fat cats and beautiful woman eating the organs as a metaphor - you gave in and they own you. But why have me try to explain what I think? Watch it and make up your own minds. |
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| Alice in Chains – Your Decision Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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You're all making it about Layne yourselves......the song never mentions Staley, and I haven't read/seen any interviews where the band says it's about Staley. Maybe the band had Staley in mind when they wrote it, I don't know, what does it matter if they did? All I know is it's a song about personal struggles - somebody apparently in a descending spiral. "Your decision" is a reminder that we have a choice. More than that, it is just a beautiful song. It's everything that is right about the album. |
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| Alice in Chains – Brother Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I wish I would've seen the reaction to 'Sap' when it was released.......'Facelift' is a heavy album - it never even hints at the beautiful, soulful, acoustic music we hear in 'Sap.' After this sideswipe, it should've been a call to the world just how special these guys were. They weren't just about heavy metal riffs, screaming, and loud music. | |
| Alice in Chains – Right Turn Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Yep, I think it's about a relationship where the two people know it isn't right, but they are afraid of leaving.....very relatable. Amazing song - amazing vocals, soulful music, great melody. Nobody's mentioned the clear sexual innuendo with the first few lines, but I suppose I'm stating the obvious. I think the last few lines suggest she was cheating - she claims she was somehow tricked as a justification, and this is the author's response. She "gambles" with the relationship by messing around on him. |
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| Alice in Chains – Acid Bubble Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I believe it's "Unloved inside your mind".....not "Alone inside your mind." I think it's about child neglection.....I tend to believe the "system" is society - i.e. children without the backing of a strong home, who are on their own, underpriveleged, etc. don't have much of a chance (scale tips impossible - obsolescence). "Acid bubble" can be interpreted various ways. Trapped in an acid bubble perhaps - acid being a harsh, corrosive chemical. |
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| Alice in Chains – Sludge Factory Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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It almost seems like the author (in this case, Layne) seems himself as being used (and the weapon being used is guilt). The first verses, it seems like he's being used by someone for drugs. This relates to the line "Once again you see an in, discolored skin gives you away." In the next couple verses.....in this case, he's being used by the record company - they're not really calling to congratulate him, their calling about the next project (no pressure besides brilliance lets say by day nine). This could relate to the line "So afraid you kindly gurgle out a date for me." Meaning the date to get the work done by. The author feels like a "sludge factory" because people use him for what they need. |
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| Alice in Chains – Love Song Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I'm laughing at people who say it ruins the album. Sean Kinney is fucking hilarious. | |
| Alice in Chains – Junkhead Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think the atmosphere/tone of the music is the best part of this song. Lyrics pretty straightforward.....don't think it's an advocation of drugs per se, but more the justification in a user's mind. Especially against all the attacks and how "junkheads" are looked down upon. So this is the "f you" to them. Again - I don't believe it's an advocation of drug use though, but a distorted justification. |
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| Alice in Chains – Rain When I Die Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This song is particularly enigmatic. I get the sense that "Rain when I die" equates to a lonely, sad death. The lyrics obviously suggest a relationship gone sour, but the cause is what's unclear/unknown. The lyrics "What she slippin' inside, slow castration" and "Caught in ice so she stares, stares at nothing" almost suggest drug use. Ice is a slang for methamphetamines. I don't know how else the word ice would be interpreted here. Perhaps she's trying to get him help (take him to rehab?), or maybe they both have drug problems. I'm not quite sure. Like I said, the lyrics are very enigmatic. |
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| Alice in Chains – Dam That River Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I don't doubt Jerry when he says it was about a fight he had with Sean. The verses are obviously angry/violent. It's the meaning of "So you couldn't dam that river" in the chorus that's open-ended. Given the verses and what Jerry says it's about......I'm tempted to say it's metaphor about the inability to stop the bleeding. And Jerry doesn't give a damn. |
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| Alice in Chains – I Can't Remember Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I, personally, don't think it's about drug use as none of the lyrics seem to suggest it. In my opinion, the only song on 'Facelift' that seems to explicitly be about drug use is the last song on the album, 'Real Thing.' Whether it's about Layne's childhood? I don't know. It's clearly about the author being punished. The way in which the author is being punished and the author is replying "I can't remember" to questions like "What's your name?" and "Whose to blame?"........it almost sounds like an interrogation and the author is refusing to cooperate. That's just how I make sense of it. The inability to remember due to the use of substances is not supported by the rest of the lyrics. |
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| Alice in Chains – Love, Hate, Love Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Very powerful song about a very relatable feeling. The author loves this person so much that he - in a sense - tries to own her and he becomes overbearing. His jealousy, suspicions, and insecurities get the better of him and make him feel hatred towards her and make him act like a prick. Whether the author drove the other person to cheat on him, or whether it's all just in the author's head is unclear......but the point remains the same. I tend to believe it's just in his head because he goes on to say "Cheating myself still you know more." I think the author is indeed cheating himself of the relationship because he's letting his jealousy, insecurities, etc. sabotage the relationship (he's driving her away). Yet the words "still you know more" again convey his jealous suspicions. |
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| Alice in Chains – Put You Down Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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To me, it's about having a relationship with a woman (specifically a sexual relationship). Even though he knows she is no good for him ("I can see what the cost will be"), he can't put her down because he loves the sex and the physicality of the relationship too much ("Body over mind"). The very next song on the album, 'Confusion,' seems as though it's a companion to this song. 'Confusion' seems to be about a sexual relationship where one person is in love, and the other person is not. In this song, there's a lyric "Reduction is addictive too." In 'Confusion,' there is a lyric that says "Recognize my disease." I think this "disease" is an addiction to sex. Reduction may refer to simplifying complex situations - i.e. he just wants sex, and ignores the social complexities involved. |
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| Alice in Chains – Confusion Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Really good track.....good call on the crashing waves and Mike Starr's background vocals. My interpretation of the lyrics is that the narrator has some sort of sexual fling with someone, but this other person wants more because he/she is in love (and the narrarator is not). I think this is demonstrated sufficiently in lyrics like "You reach, I run, you fall" and "You're there crying, I feel not a thing." I love how the words "Love, sex, pain, confusion, suffering" are spoken together in the chorus. It conveys how these acts/emotions are all tied together and how they are not mutually exclusive. |
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| Alice in Chains – Real Thing Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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My interpretation of the line "sexual chocolate" is what happens in jail - getting raped by black men. I wouldn't know what else to make of the line. I agree the song seems to strongly suggest drug use - specifically how the path of drug use takes you "straight to nowhere." So ending up in jail - it makes sense to me. |
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| Alice in Chains – Sunshine Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Agreed with your interpretation, and the general consensus. Jerry Cantrell wrote this song after the passing of his mother, so it's an emotional one (with a cool riff). The lyric "Then some dude came down to touch the mother" does seem reminiscent of the Bible (the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary) - perhaps a way of portraying the Mother as a sort of saintly woman, while defacing the father as "some dude." I agree he seems to be comparing himself to his father (who apparently runs off), and questioning himself as a person. But his mother comforts him and loves him (affectionately calling him "sunshine"), tells him "don't mind" and he ceases to worry ("I don't care no more") - all is right in the world because of a mother's love. |
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