This song is about heroin, yes. But it is about heroin WITHDRAWAL!! In other words the exact opposite of begin high. This is not up for interpretation. Layne said it himself and I have personal experience with this subject so let this be definitive. My own theory is that this is about his first opiate withdrawal after some time sober. My reason for this is because there are several references to Narcotics Anonymous in the lyrics.
I'm omitting any lyrics I find to be obvious
I'll explain:
"Sitting on an angry chair
Angry walls that steal the air
Stomach hurts and I don't care"
A. You are not angry when you are high.
B. You are angry (first line) claustrophobic (second line) in excruciating pain (third line) and yet strangely apathetic (third line) when you are in withdrawal.
"What do I see across the way, hey
See myself molded in clay, oh
Stares at me, yeah I'm afraid, hey
Changing the shape of his face, aw yeah"
Only one point here, In moderate to sever withdrawal, and I'm sure Layne qualified, you WILL hallucinate, and it is NEVER fun. You are completely out of it.
"Candles red I have a pair
Shadows dancing everywhere
Burning on the angry chair"
A. Again, more references to the intense hallucinations.
B. Burning. As in hell. Ask anyone who has been through opiate withdrawal what it was like and they will all tell you the same thing; It is like being in hell.
"Little boy made a mistake, hey
Pink cloud has now turned to gray, oh
All that I want is to play, hey
Get on your knees, time to pray, boy"
Here's where it gets interesting for me. Particularly, the second line.
A. Obviously, he made a bad decision when he was young, getting involved with drugs.
B. A "Pink Cloud" is an expression in both Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. It is an optimistic term to describe peoples new found sobriety. Layne did have some sober time before this was written. Obviously, in the fit of withdrawal, that Pink Cloud has now turned Grey. Excellent insider lyrics here. The rest is pretty self explanatory.
"Loneliness is not a phase
Field of pain is where I graze
Serenity is far away"
First line is pretty obvious, Second line describing the pain he is in. The Third line, however, is a blatant reference to Narcotics Anonymous's Montra: Serenity. It is Faaaaar away. He was there once, but he has crossed a line.
"Saw my reflection and cried, hey
So little hope that I died, oh
Feed me your lies, open wide, hey
Weight of my heart, not the size, oh"
Simply the despondency and depression of opiate withdrawal. The last line is interesting though. With drug abuse your heart swells. It can swell to several times it's normal weight. This ends up killing a lot of people. The size of a person's heart means they are good. The weight means they have been "bad" by using drugs.
"Pink cloud has now turned to gray
All that I want is to play
Get on your knees time to pray, boy"
Pretty obvious now, I think. Yet, he re-emphasizes the "Pink Cloud" of sobriety and the "Grey Cloud" of addiction. Excellent lyrics.
Some of you are half right.
This song is about heroin, yes. But it is about heroin WITHDRAWAL!! In other words the exact opposite of begin high. This is not up for interpretation. Layne said it himself and I have personal experience with this subject so let this be definitive. My own theory is that this is about his first opiate withdrawal after some time sober. My reason for this is because there are several references to Narcotics Anonymous in the lyrics.
I'm omitting any lyrics I find to be obvious
I'll explain:
"Sitting on an angry chair Angry walls that steal the air Stomach hurts and I don't care"
A. You are not angry when you are high.
B. You are angry (first line) claustrophobic (second line) in excruciating pain (third line) and yet strangely apathetic (third line) when you are in withdrawal.
"What do I see across the way, hey See myself molded in clay, oh Stares at me, yeah I'm afraid, hey Changing the shape of his face, aw yeah"
Only one point here, In moderate to sever withdrawal, and I'm sure Layne qualified, you WILL hallucinate, and it is NEVER fun. You are completely out of it.
"Candles red I have a pair Shadows dancing everywhere Burning on the angry chair"
A. Again, more references to the intense hallucinations.
B. Burning. As in hell. Ask anyone who has been through opiate withdrawal what it was like and they will all tell you the same thing; It is like being in hell.
"Little boy made a mistake, hey Pink cloud has now turned to gray, oh All that I want is to play, hey Get on your knees, time to pray, boy"
Here's where it gets interesting for me. Particularly, the second line. A. Obviously, he made a bad decision when he was young, getting involved with drugs. B. A "Pink Cloud" is an expression in both Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. It is an optimistic term to describe peoples new found sobriety. Layne did have some sober time before this was written. Obviously, in the fit of withdrawal, that Pink Cloud has now turned Grey. Excellent insider lyrics here. The rest is pretty self explanatory.
"Loneliness is not a phase Field of pain is where I graze Serenity is far away"
First line is pretty obvious, Second line describing the pain he is in. The Third line, however, is a blatant reference to Narcotics Anonymous's Montra: Serenity. It is Faaaaar away. He was there once, but he has crossed a line.
"Saw my reflection and cried, hey So little hope that I died, oh Feed me your lies, open wide, hey Weight of my heart, not the size, oh"
Simply the despondency and depression of opiate withdrawal. The last line is interesting though. With drug abuse your heart swells. It can swell to several times it's normal weight. This ends up killing a lot of people. The size of a person's heart means they are good. The weight means they have been "bad" by using drugs.
"Pink cloud has now turned to gray All that I want is to play Get on your knees time to pray, boy"
Pretty obvious now, I think. Yet, he re-emphasizes the "Pink Cloud" of sobriety and the "Grey Cloud" of addiction. Excellent lyrics.