Hmmm.... I think this song is about innocence lost. (Which tends to be a recurring theme in Layne Staley's lyrics.)
The apple is a biblical metaphor--when Adam & Eve bit into it they had to leave the Garden of Eden, thus losing their innocence. It could also be the "poison" apple of the Snow White fairy tale.
Once the innocence is lost, bad things happen (Innocence is over/Ignorance is spoken/Confidence is broken/Sustenance is stolen/Arrogance is potent). The narrator is upset because he feels that he has lost his innocence "too young," that he has chosen a fate that he didn't want ("I've written my own part"). Resignation to fate is also a common Staley theme. He bit the rotten apple, thus losing his innocence and dooming himself.
Metaphorically it's something that most people can relate to on some level, I think ... we all lose our innocence as we grow up. More literally, it's also a warning against heroin use--most listeners know that for Staley, the loss of innocence that doomed him was caused by that drug.
On one level it's very personal and specific, on another it's a universal theme that many people in other circumstances can also relate to.
i think you nailed it!!!! with everyone that has made decisions that changed the "natural" course of their life, there is a moment at some point of reflection. we look back and see where it all started and where it all got out of hand...and for most of us it is usually too late to go back and start completely over.
i sat in my bedroom last night and watched several of the live concerts of AIC; live at the moore, live in rio and 2 different ones with layne and mad season and then layne with second coming....
i think you nailed it!!!! with everyone that has made decisions that changed the "natural" course of their life, there is a moment at some point of reflection. we look back and see where it all started and where it all got out of hand...and for most of us it is usually too late to go back and start completely over.
i sat in my bedroom last night and watched several of the live concerts of AIC; live at the moore, live in rio and 2 different ones with layne and mad season and then layne with second coming. and i turn on EVERYNIGHT the MTV unplugged AIC...the more i watch him, the more i listen to his voice, the more i read, the more i learn about layne thomas staley, the more i absolutely love him, his music and the better i start understanding his music and why he wrote what he did.
although i never tried his drug of choice i had my own and it consumed my life to the point that my family including my kids didnt even recognize me. i was a hardcore,streetwalking, $1000 day crack smoking fiend...i guess i was too caught up in my own "hell" to have ever listened to or heard about AIC or layne. dont ask me how i was alive and in the world and never heard of them but i hadnt...
i am clean and sober now, 5 yrs as of dec 4, and i was on my way to pick up my grand daughter up from school and i heard this song on the radio. it REALLY caught my attention. the singer was saying "im a man in a box" and mentally i thought ok remember these lyrics and you can go on youtube and see who the heck this is BECAUSE it had me completely into it...the sound of this mans voice, the beat the rhythm, the guitar the bass was kicking...the more i listened the more i was loving what i was hearing...so i get to the school and get on my new iphone4 and find my youtube app and type in "man in a box" and up pops AIC...so i go to the video and i laid my eyes on the lead singer and his tosseled messed up hair and those blue eyes...OH MY GOD I WAS IN LOVE...i decided right then that i was going to be their #1 fan of all times...lol in other words my addiction became HIM...ok so fast forward about 30 mins. got the grandchild, back home i immediately get on the computer to see this man singing this song...oh GOD its even better than i thought....so ok i want to know more more more more more about him. so i google AIC find out the names of the band memebers, LAYNE THOMAS STALEY, there it is now i have a name to go with this face...so i googled him and as i was looking and reading, i came across a photo of him with his birthdate and death date. it was like the floor fell out from under my feet and all i could do was sit and shake my head NO...i broke out in a sweat, got sick to my stomach and thought i was going to start throwing up...all of that within about an hour...i felt like i was on the biggest baddest roller coaster ever built by mankind...that was 6 months ago.
i go on this site and there are a couple of others that talk about who wrote the song and the meaning behind the song and then there is a place for the listener to give their input. there are a few that i feel "get it" and understand it...and appreciate it.
thank you "drinkthepoison" for putting the thoughts i had about this into words.
Hmmm.... I think this song is about innocence lost. (Which tends to be a recurring theme in Layne Staley's lyrics.)
The apple is a biblical metaphor--when Adam & Eve bit into it they had to leave the Garden of Eden, thus losing their innocence. It could also be the "poison" apple of the Snow White fairy tale.
Once the innocence is lost, bad things happen (Innocence is over/Ignorance is spoken/Confidence is broken/Sustenance is stolen/Arrogance is potent). The narrator is upset because he feels that he has lost his innocence "too young," that he has chosen a fate that he didn't want ("I've written my own part"). Resignation to fate is also a common Staley theme. He bit the rotten apple, thus losing his innocence and dooming himself.
Metaphorically it's something that most people can relate to on some level, I think ... we all lose our innocence as we grow up. More literally, it's also a warning against heroin use--most listeners know that for Staley, the loss of innocence that doomed him was caused by that drug.
On one level it's very personal and specific, on another it's a universal theme that many people in other circumstances can also relate to.
i think you nailed it!!!! with everyone that has made decisions that changed the "natural" course of their life, there is a moment at some point of reflection. we look back and see where it all started and where it all got out of hand...and for most of us it is usually too late to go back and start completely over. i sat in my bedroom last night and watched several of the live concerts of AIC; live at the moore, live in rio and 2 different ones with layne and mad season and then layne with second coming....
i think you nailed it!!!! with everyone that has made decisions that changed the "natural" course of their life, there is a moment at some point of reflection. we look back and see where it all started and where it all got out of hand...and for most of us it is usually too late to go back and start completely over. i sat in my bedroom last night and watched several of the live concerts of AIC; live at the moore, live in rio and 2 different ones with layne and mad season and then layne with second coming. and i turn on EVERYNIGHT the MTV unplugged AIC...the more i watch him, the more i listen to his voice, the more i read, the more i learn about layne thomas staley, the more i absolutely love him, his music and the better i start understanding his music and why he wrote what he did. although i never tried his drug of choice i had my own and it consumed my life to the point that my family including my kids didnt even recognize me. i was a hardcore,streetwalking, $1000 day crack smoking fiend...i guess i was too caught up in my own "hell" to have ever listened to or heard about AIC or layne. dont ask me how i was alive and in the world and never heard of them but i hadnt... i am clean and sober now, 5 yrs as of dec 4, and i was on my way to pick up my grand daughter up from school and i heard this song on the radio. it REALLY caught my attention. the singer was saying "im a man in a box" and mentally i thought ok remember these lyrics and you can go on youtube and see who the heck this is BECAUSE it had me completely into it...the sound of this mans voice, the beat the rhythm, the guitar the bass was kicking...the more i listened the more i was loving what i was hearing...so i get to the school and get on my new iphone4 and find my youtube app and type in "man in a box" and up pops AIC...so i go to the video and i laid my eyes on the lead singer and his tosseled messed up hair and those blue eyes...OH MY GOD I WAS IN LOVE...i decided right then that i was going to be their #1 fan of all times...lol in other words my addiction became HIM...ok so fast forward about 30 mins. got the grandchild, back home i immediately get on the computer to see this man singing this song...oh GOD its even better than i thought....so ok i want to know more more more more more about him. so i google AIC find out the names of the band memebers, LAYNE THOMAS STALEY, there it is now i have a name to go with this face...so i googled him and as i was looking and reading, i came across a photo of him with his birthdate and death date. it was like the floor fell out from under my feet and all i could do was sit and shake my head NO...i broke out in a sweat, got sick to my stomach and thought i was going to start throwing up...all of that within about an hour...i felt like i was on the biggest baddest roller coaster ever built by mankind...that was 6 months ago. i go on this site and there are a couple of others that talk about who wrote the song and the meaning behind the song and then there is a place for the listener to give their input. there are a few that i feel "get it" and understand it...and appreciate it. thank you "drinkthepoison" for putting the thoughts i had about this into words.