This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Hear footsteps creak the floor
The shadows give away
Someone outside the door
Wont let them in
Life damaged, gears to grind
A run-down broke machine
That steals your peace of mind
Before you know it's gone
Lay down
Lay
Silence burning, hold your tongue
Keep us separate, sullen, dumb
Hiding in a darkness under
Boiling to the surface, stumble, fall
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
These things I hate in you
Also reflect it seems
Distortion laced with spite
Takes you out of me
Lay down
Lay
Hiding in a darkness under
Boiling to the surface something
Crawling on your skin, discomfort
Makes you break and run, stumble, fall
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
It's why you never tell me (heaven's on your mind)
It's why you never tell me (heaven's on your mind)
It's why you never tell me (heaven's on your mind)
It's why you never tell me (heaven's on your mind)
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
It's why you never tell me (heaven's on your mind)
The shadows give away
Someone outside the door
Wont let them in
Life damaged, gears to grind
A run-down broke machine
That steals your peace of mind
Before you know it's gone
Lay down
Lay
Silence burning, hold your tongue
Keep us separate, sullen, dumb
Hiding in a darkness under
Boiling to the surface, stumble, fall
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
These things I hate in you
Also reflect it seems
Distortion laced with spite
Takes you out of me
Lay down
Lay
Hiding in a darkness under
Boiling to the surface something
Crawling on your skin, discomfort
Makes you break and run, stumble, fall
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
It's why you never tell me (heaven's on your mind)
It's why you never tell me (heaven's on your mind)
It's why you never tell me (heaven's on your mind)
It's why you never tell me (heaven's on your mind)
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
A looking in view too long on the outside
Desperate plans make sense to the low life lie
It's why you never tell me (heaven's on your mind)
Lyrics submitted by stonechainorioles, edited by travislandrews
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Always thought this song was based on the band members knocking on the door to Layne's apartment, trying to help him. I've heard/read quotes from Cantrell or Kinney on many occasions about how they'd beat down Layne's door trying to get through to him and he would never answer. He just shut himself in his apartment, did drugs, and ignored help from his friends.
1st couple paragraphs are from Layne's point of view ("your peace of mind") - Layne hiding in his apartment hearing footsteps and seeing shadows
2nd couple paragraphs are from Cantrell/Kinney and others trying to help him ("Keep us separate, sullen, dumb") - biting their tongues and holding their breaths to hear if Layne is home.....they feel separate/stupid/sad
DuVall's "LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY" which sounds like Layne, intentional or unintentional, makes it even eerier.
This is a great interpretation.
@cosmicatomic this is the dumbest god damn opinion i've read in awhile. I can't unread this.
The song seems to be about holding in way too much until you explode. Holding in your emotions and not letting someone see the true feelings about something or someone, and then finally erupting (or maybe holding it in to avoid erupting, maybe).
holding in?<br /> <br /> I'm tired of playing fetch
Holding in anger and emotions, sorry.
just like i said before. this song is ALL about Layne
read the first verse:
"Hear footsteps creak the floor The shadows give away Someone outside the door Won't let them in"
now read what Sean Kinney (AIC's drummer) said of Layne Staley's last days:
"I kept trying to make contact... Every time I was in the area, I was up in front of his place yelling for him... Even if you could get in his building, he wasn't going to open the door. You'd phone and he wouldn't answer."
EXACTLY!
i love this song ever since i downloaded it the other day, its so much better than i thought theyd sound without layne. its heavy and complicated like their last album but it still has that perfect creepy aic atmosphere from dirt. duvall actually sounds really good with them, it sounds kinda like hes trying to copy layne but at least hes doing a good job of it. i have no idea about the meaning but i cant wait for the cd to come out
Almost forgot, I know he isn't but I swear Williams is yelling Layne everytime he sings the "lay down" lyrics. Maybe that was supposed to happen.
it does...I dunno good song tho, to my surprise. good 2 have em back.
Oh, god, did I really write that hideously spelled comment up there? shudders Please, nobody pay the poor spelling mind!
Great song but could have got the same affect keeping it a little shorter.
I think the video helps make a little more sense out of the lyrics although I don't think the situations were at all views of AIC members, maybe just the director's. Too me, the song is about someone judging themselves, worrying too much about what others think about them and thus becoming somewhat of a recluse believing if they keep things hidden people won't be able to judge them and their problems will be solved or either they think they can fix the problem themselves without any help from the outside world....makes sense to me, looking at themselves from the outside, as we would look or judge someone in front of us instead of looking at their innerself.
I'm probably looking a little too far into these lyrics, AIC was notorious about writing stuff that "whatever you think its about, that is what its about" to quote Layne.
By the way, the Dirt reference at the end of the video was awesome, probably the only part I liked about it.
I think this song is about damaged person who can't express their frustrations so they act out in negative ways, and after living like that so long it's like they are a lost cause.
"Life damaged gives to crime A run down broke machine That steals your piece of mind Before you know it's gone" That pretty much explains it. You make bad choices and it steals your "piece of mind" or sense, and then finally it's gone forever.
"Hiding in the darkest slumber Boiling to the surface Crawling on your skin discomfort Makes you brake and run and stumble fall" All the repressed feelings hide, then "boil to the surface" and makes the person act out or "break run stumble fall" etc.
"A looking in view too long on the outside Desperate plans make sense to the low life" Basically being on the wrong/negative side of a persons mind or compassion, for too long makes them acting out of desperation seems normal for someone living the "low life", perhaps a drug addicts life or just a depressing life in general.
"It's why you never tell me..." And all those reasons are why the person never expressed their demons to the narrator (Jerry?).
I almost feel like this song could be about Jerry's frustrations with how Layne's life went into a downward spiral. Who knows, I obviously don't know the situation but perhaps the "lay" sounding like "Layne" as other posted commented would be a subtle hint. I doubt that's what it's about, because the lyric would probably be "never TOLD me" instead. Just a random thought.
Either way, those are my thoughts and I think this song is fucking awesome. It sounds like AIC without trying to be... it just is. The vocal harmonies sound really nice and I think they did an awesome job re-creating the vibe of what AIC has been about without trying to force it or being lame. I can't wait for the album.
i dont know man, the new alice in chains isnt a "Layne Staley tribute band". why else do u think they took a 7 year hiatus? i think they want to move forward and just make good music like they used to. if layne knew he was going to die, i can guarentee you he wouldve said "dont make a bunch of songs about me"
thats why I said "I doubt thats what this is about"... it was just a thought and I was expanding on what someone else had said. And I didn't even say that all of the songs on the album were going to be about Layne.<br /> <br /> And I meant it sounds like AIC, as in it's just them doing their thing...just with a new singer, not trying to recreate something, but be what they are currently. I think you completely misinterpreted everything I said.
Awesome song but i was kinda wishing it was somehow about Layne.
I believe he's saying "desperate plans make sense in a low light"
Which changes the meaning of the line significantly I think. "Low light" meaning by yourself, away from other people. I think what others have said is correct, and the song may be about Layne near the end of his life.
No, I've also seen it "desperate plans make sense and alone I hiiiiiide". The ones posted on their website are correct.<br /> <br /> What's not on there though is the "lay down" part, which I believe is "lay down weight", which connect the lyrics to what Jerry had to say about the song.