Y\'all. This is ALL about Jerry talking to Layne. He\'s seeing Layne for what he really is: someone who is so talented, and who burns very brightly, but is really messed up, and so is taking down everyone around him, including Jerry. \n\nHe\'s seeing Layne\'s selfishness & self-centeredness more keenly as he spirals downward, wondering if Layne really ever thought of him as his friend, as they ran "a race of one" (meaning they were a very tight knit team creating all the songs for AIC)....or was he just a means to an end as he became "Layne the Legend." (remember, Layne was supposed to be in rehab, yet went and joined Mad Season, and didn\'t include or ask Jerry to join, which really pissed off Jerry, like a wayward girlfriend). \n\nEven though Layne saved Jerry from his "hard times as a refugee" he keeps "sidesteppin over me" always seeking his next fix, and in the process becomes more insular, turning his heart to stone, where he has no more life. And his drug-fueled antics were an embarrassment for Jerry & the rest of the band ("head hung high in shame")--he can\'t show publicly his true feelings about their situation. \n\nBut still, he loves Layne, and while he doesn\'t want him to die, he\'s sick & tired of his long drawn out slow suicide, so at the end of the song, he begs him to make a decision: choose to LIVE...or hurry up and die already. Because they\'re all going through torment waiting & watching. \n\nMANY of Jerry\'s songs reflect his thoughts and his anger toward Layne. Just the song titles alone give us all clues: Anger Rising, Psychotic Break, Hurt a long Time, Give it a Name, and Bargain Basement Howard Hughes and others, all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life. Everything about that time helped to shape who he is today. \n\nLayne Staley was an amazing human being, but he sucked everyone around him into his own black hole of self loathing, and left a long trail of pain and metaphorical blood behind him. I can\'t imagine the pain Jerry suffered, especially after losing his mother & grandmother...to lose the one other strong influence in his young life had to have been absolutely devastating.
@Txredhead This stinkin website is not conducive to using apostrophes or paragraph breaks, apparently (or allowing edits). Sorry for the giant block of text. ????
@Txredhead This stinkin website is not conducive to using apostrophes or paragraph breaks, apparently (or allowing edits). Sorry for the giant block of text. ????
@Txredhead "all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life". Platonic My Ass. I know the AIC Fandom is Homophobic ASF but watch early videos of their shows there was NOTHING platonic about their relationship. I\'m so sick of people not considering the probability that at One point regardless of how shitty things ended between them, Jerry and Layne might have had far more than just a friendship.
@Txredhead "all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life". Platonic My Ass. I know the AIC Fandom is Homophobic ASF but watch early videos of their shows there was NOTHING platonic about their relationship. I\'m so sick of people not considering the probability that at One point regardless of how shitty things ended between them, Jerry and Layne might have had far more than just a friendship.
@Txredhead "all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life". Platonic My Ass. I know the AIC Fandom is Homophobic ASF but watch early videos of their shows there was NOTHING platonic about their relationship. I\'m so sick of people not considering the probability that at One point regardless of how shitty things ended between them, Jerry and Layne might have had far more than just a friendship.
@Txredhead "all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life". Platonic My Ass. I know the AIC Fandom is Homophobic ASF but watch early videos of their shows there was NOTHING platonic about their relationship. I\'m so sick of people not considering the probability that at One point regardless of how shitty things ended between them, Jerry and Layne might have had far more than just a friendship.
@Txredhead OK, sure elle116044. You just keep thinking that. You obviously haven\'t had a friendship like those two did, no matter how homo-centric you try to make them out to be. They were four EXTREMELY hetero young men. There is nothing in their writings, lyrics, interviews, photos, videos, remembrances by others, family history or memories, or anything else, that even hints they were "together." Not everyone is gay, much as a small segment of society try to push that theory. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
@Txredhead OK, sure elle116044. You just keep thinking that. You obviously haven\'t had a friendship like those two did, no matter how homo-centric you try to make them out to be. They were four EXTREMELY hetero young men. There is nothing in their writings, lyrics, interviews, photos, videos, remembrances by others, family history or memories, or anything else, that even hints they were "together." Not everyone is gay, much as a small segment of society try to push that theory. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
@Txredhead I don’t know if there isn’t any evidence. People who knew them in the 90s have said that they behaved more like a married couple than brothers, and Jerry often uses some choice language when describing how he felt about Layne — that he “fell in love with him,” that Layne’s involvement with Mad Season made him “jealous as shit” and it was like “someone fucking your girlfriend.” Others (like Jerry’s manager) have testified to the bond and deep love that existed between them. Whether it was simply an “intense platonic friendship” or not, there’s no doubt about the...
@Txredhead I don’t know if there isn’t any evidence. People who knew them in the 90s have said that they behaved more like a married couple than brothers, and Jerry often uses some choice language when describing how he felt about Layne — that he “fell in love with him,” that Layne’s involvement with Mad Season made him “jealous as shit” and it was like “someone fucking your girlfriend.” Others (like Jerry’s manager) have testified to the bond and deep love that existed between them. Whether it was simply an “intense platonic friendship” or not, there’s no doubt about the primacy of their relationship. It might’ve been even more important to Jerry than it was to Layne.
Also, no one is saying that they were gay. They obviously were both attracted to women. But please don’t practice bisexual/pansexual erasure — lots of people who appear straight to an unstudied eye experience same sex attraction. (Take me, for example: I’ve only ever dated men, but my first love was a woman. I’ve had sexual experiences with women, too.) ALSO, I live in Seattle and, truly, half the people I know are gay/queer/bi/pan/whatever. This is a safe haven for queer folks. I know cultural norms were different in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, but Seattle has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to broader acceptance of queer identities.
Lastly, unless Jerry releases some official statement before he dies, or decides to write a book, no one will ever know for certain what went down with Layne or anyone else. All we have to go on is what has thus far been available on the internet. An open mind is the antidote to rigidity.
Y\'all. This is ALL about Jerry talking to Layne. He\'s seeing Layne for what he really is: someone who is so talented, and who burns very brightly, but is really messed up, and so is taking down everyone around him, including Jerry. \n\nHe\'s seeing Layne\'s selfishness & self-centeredness more keenly as he spirals downward, wondering if Layne really ever thought of him as his friend, as they ran "a race of one" (meaning they were a very tight knit team creating all the songs for AIC)....or was he just a means to an end as he became "Layne the Legend." (remember, Layne was supposed to be in rehab, yet went and joined Mad Season, and didn\'t include or ask Jerry to join, which really pissed off Jerry, like a wayward girlfriend). \n\nEven though Layne saved Jerry from his "hard times as a refugee" he keeps "sidesteppin over me" always seeking his next fix, and in the process becomes more insular, turning his heart to stone, where he has no more life. And his drug-fueled antics were an embarrassment for Jerry & the rest of the band ("head hung high in shame")--he can\'t show publicly his true feelings about their situation. \n\nBut still, he loves Layne, and while he doesn\'t want him to die, he\'s sick & tired of his long drawn out slow suicide, so at the end of the song, he begs him to make a decision: choose to LIVE...or hurry up and die already. Because they\'re all going through torment waiting & watching. \n\nMANY of Jerry\'s songs reflect his thoughts and his anger toward Layne. Just the song titles alone give us all clues: Anger Rising, Psychotic Break, Hurt a long Time, Give it a Name, and Bargain Basement Howard Hughes and others, all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life. Everything about that time helped to shape who he is today. \n\nLayne Staley was an amazing human being, but he sucked everyone around him into his own black hole of self loathing, and left a long trail of pain and metaphorical blood behind him. I can\'t imagine the pain Jerry suffered, especially after losing his mother & grandmother...to lose the one other strong influence in his young life had to have been absolutely devastating.
@Txredhead This stinkin website is not conducive to using apostrophes or paragraph breaks, apparently (or allowing edits). Sorry for the giant block of text. ????
@Txredhead This stinkin website is not conducive to using apostrophes or paragraph breaks, apparently (or allowing edits). Sorry for the giant block of text. ????
@Txredhead "all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life". Platonic My Ass. I know the AIC Fandom is Homophobic ASF but watch early videos of their shows there was NOTHING platonic about their relationship. I\'m so sick of people not considering the probability that at One point regardless of how shitty things ended between them, Jerry and Layne might have had far more than just a friendship.
@Txredhead "all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life". Platonic My Ass. I know the AIC Fandom is Homophobic ASF but watch early videos of their shows there was NOTHING platonic about their relationship. I\'m so sick of people not considering the probability that at One point regardless of how shitty things ended between them, Jerry and Layne might have had far more than just a friendship.
@Txredhead "all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life". Platonic My Ass. I know the AIC Fandom is Homophobic ASF but watch early videos of their shows there was NOTHING platonic about their relationship. I\'m so sick of people not considering the probability that at One point regardless of how shitty things ended between them, Jerry and Layne might have had far more than just a friendship.
@Txredhead "all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life". Platonic My Ass. I know the AIC Fandom is Homophobic ASF but watch early videos of their shows there was NOTHING platonic about their relationship. I\'m so sick of people not considering the probability that at One point regardless of how shitty things ended between them, Jerry and Layne might have had far more than just a friendship.
@Txredhead OK, sure elle116044. You just keep thinking that. You obviously haven\'t had a friendship like those two did, no matter how homo-centric you try to make them out to be. They were four EXTREMELY hetero young men. There is nothing in their writings, lyrics, interviews, photos, videos, remembrances by others, family history or memories, or anything else, that even hints they were "together." Not everyone is gay, much as a small segment of society try to push that theory. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
@Txredhead OK, sure elle116044. You just keep thinking that. You obviously haven\'t had a friendship like those two did, no matter how homo-centric you try to make them out to be. They were four EXTREMELY hetero young men. There is nothing in their writings, lyrics, interviews, photos, videos, remembrances by others, family history or memories, or anything else, that even hints they were "together." Not everyone is gay, much as a small segment of society try to push that theory. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
@Txredhead I don’t know if there isn’t any evidence. People who knew them in the 90s have said that they behaved more like a married couple than brothers, and Jerry often uses some choice language when describing how he felt about Layne — that he “fell in love with him,” that Layne’s involvement with Mad Season made him “jealous as shit” and it was like “someone fucking your girlfriend.” Others (like Jerry’s manager) have testified to the bond and deep love that existed between them. Whether it was simply an “intense platonic friendship” or not, there’s no doubt about the...
@Txredhead I don’t know if there isn’t any evidence. People who knew them in the 90s have said that they behaved more like a married couple than brothers, and Jerry often uses some choice language when describing how he felt about Layne — that he “fell in love with him,” that Layne’s involvement with Mad Season made him “jealous as shit” and it was like “someone fucking your girlfriend.” Others (like Jerry’s manager) have testified to the bond and deep love that existed between them. Whether it was simply an “intense platonic friendship” or not, there’s no doubt about the primacy of their relationship. It might’ve been even more important to Jerry than it was to Layne.
Also, no one is saying that they were gay. They obviously were both attracted to women. But please don’t practice bisexual/pansexual erasure — lots of people who appear straight to an unstudied eye experience same sex attraction. (Take me, for example: I’ve only ever dated men, but my first love was a woman. I’ve had sexual experiences with women, too.) ALSO, I live in Seattle and, truly, half the people I know are gay/queer/bi/pan/whatever. This is a safe haven for queer folks. I know cultural norms were different in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, but Seattle has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to broader acceptance of queer identities.
Lastly, unless Jerry releases some official statement before he dies, or decides to write a book, no one will ever know for certain what went down with Layne or anyone else. All we have to go on is what has thus far been available on the internet. An open mind is the antidote to rigidity.