I believe that he's talking about heroin, possibly with God as being a 'witness'. He was a hopeless heroin addict when this was written. He's definitely Catholic or Christian, but Mark Lanegan is no choir boy. With that in mind, read the lyrics again. 'It's taken everything I got and it's hung me on the line"....at one point he sold everything he owned and was basically living on the street because his addiction was about as bad as Layne Staley's. I believe that he may or may not have sold his only guitar. I'm actually surprised he made it back. Almost no one ever does. I believe he was arrested in the late 90's for a profoundly insane variety of drugs in his possession - crack and heroin, if I'm not mistaken. That event alone probably saved his life. If he had continued unchecked, he would most likely be dead already. Yes, Mark Lanegan has certainly prayed for salvation. A crack and heroin addiction will bring you to your knees. With all that said, yes, the song has a killer urgency to it. Like you're in a runaway train or something and can only hang on. The Screaming Trees were so diverse, creative, spiritual, mournful and psychedelic...one of the greatest bands of all time.
@juggernatrix You are the only one who understood this lyric. Religion? Lanegan? He was a junkie at 18! And when you are a junkie, there is absolutely nothing else you think about. In the words of his close friend Layne Staley, who knew a thing or two in the subject, "God's name is smack for some".
@juggernatrix You are the only one who understood this lyric. Religion? Lanegan? He was a junkie at 18! And when you are a junkie, there is absolutely nothing else you think about. In the words of his close friend Layne Staley, who knew a thing or two in the subject, "God's name is smack for some".
I believe that he's talking about heroin, possibly with God as being a 'witness'. He was a hopeless heroin addict when this was written. He's definitely Catholic or Christian, but Mark Lanegan is no choir boy. With that in mind, read the lyrics again. 'It's taken everything I got and it's hung me on the line"....at one point he sold everything he owned and was basically living on the street because his addiction was about as bad as Layne Staley's. I believe that he may or may not have sold his only guitar. I'm actually surprised he made it back. Almost no one ever does. I believe he was arrested in the late 90's for a profoundly insane variety of drugs in his possession - crack and heroin, if I'm not mistaken. That event alone probably saved his life. If he had continued unchecked, he would most likely be dead already. Yes, Mark Lanegan has certainly prayed for salvation. A crack and heroin addiction will bring you to your knees. With all that said, yes, the song has a killer urgency to it. Like you're in a runaway train or something and can only hang on. The Screaming Trees were so diverse, creative, spiritual, mournful and psychedelic...one of the greatest bands of all time.
@juggernatrix You are the only one who understood this lyric. Religion? Lanegan? He was a junkie at 18! And when you are a junkie, there is absolutely nothing else you think about. In the words of his close friend Layne Staley, who knew a thing or two in the subject, "God's name is smack for some".
@juggernatrix You are the only one who understood this lyric. Religion? Lanegan? He was a junkie at 18! And when you are a junkie, there is absolutely nothing else you think about. In the words of his close friend Layne Staley, who knew a thing or two in the subject, "God's name is smack for some".