Heartshine

Maybe the most powerful song of the album, certainly the most urgent. There's so much pain and anger crammed into it - his voice, the atonal guitar duet break, the relentless drumming - and I don't feel it to be about lost love or drug problems, rather it could be about the massacre on Tiananmen square, Peking, a few months before the recording, or about young men sheeped out into war. Got nothing to put against the shit except my love, he seems to call out. Unforgettable song.

Wood talked about this song in an interview once. It is mainly about his brother's drug struggle and the people in his life he care about, as well as his flaws and problems.

There seems to be some connection throughout the album of stars and shining and in this song there's heartshine. So it seems that stars represent love and when Xana's a stargazer, she's gazing at Wood's love, or his star. Then in this song he's giving these people his heartshine, which is his love. It's pretty obvious once you actually look at a few of the lyric but it's a cool metaphor coz it's like when you're loved you're in the light so I thought I'd point it out. I can't believe more people don't comment on Mother Love Bone.

It is about UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.... If you give someone your HEARTSHINE you are entrusting them the most vulnerable part of your existence. To be able to see past our faults as humans, to be able to see into the souls of each other and still be able to see the beauty that remains behind all of our ugliness is the message of LOVE ROCK... I believe anyway.....

It's about how Love heals.