Lyric discussion by SwornToTheBlack 

Cover art for Gone lyrics by Jerry Cantrell

i have a good feeling that this song is about the passing of Layne Staley. "i coughed up the price, i bought a cage" the cage symbolizes heroin... which led to Staley's premature death. RIP Layne Staley

@SwornToTheBlack this was written and recorded before Layne's death

@SwornToTheBlack It's about Jerry himself. He "coughed up the price" (meaning, it was a cage of his own making, from the time he was young, he built it with himself with his talent and drive), and crawled into it as part of his rock n roll lifestyle.

It all seemed exciting at first, but he found out that as time passed, that he was trapped in that lifestyle, where everything was offered to him on a platter (especially drugs and women), yet what he wanted most--a life with the love of his life--he couldn't have because the life...