The band went on a semi-permanent hiatus in 1996 due to the band members' conflicting schedules and Staley's problems with substance abuse. Attempts were made in the late 1990s to revive the group without Staley, and material for a follow-up release to Above had been worked on; however, the band dissolved following the death of bassist John Baker Saunders in 1999 from a drug overdose. Staley also died of a drug overdose three years later. Martin and McCready have since made two short partial reunions, one in 2012 and one from 2014 to 2015. A special edition box set containing a remastered edition of Above and various unreleased material was released in March 2013.
During the production of 1994's Vitalogy, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready went into drug and alcohol rehab at the Hazelden Clinic in Minnesota, where he met bassist John Baker Saunders.[5] In 1994, when the two returned to Seattle, Washington, they formed a side band with drummer Barrett Martin. McCready played in such bands as Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog, Martin with Skin Yard and the Screaming Trees and Saunders with blues talents such as Little Pat Rushing, Hubert Sumlin, Sammy Fender, and The Lamont Cranston Band.[6] Immediately the trio set up rehearsal time together and wrote the music for two songs that would later become Mad Season's "Wake Up" and "River of Deceit", both of which would later appear on the band's album Above. McCready then brought in friend and Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley to round out the line-up. McCready had hoped that being around sober musicians would push Staley to get himself sober.
Despite not having a single song completely prepared (only beginnings of songs, according to Martin) and not even having a name for the band, McCready scheduled an unannounced show at the Crocodile Cafe on October 12, 1994, which turned out to be a big success. The song "Artificial Red", which was also to appear on the album, actually came together during the show itself. Two more gigs were scheduled (November 6 & 20, 1994) at the same venue, with the band calling itself The Gacy Bunch, after both the notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy of Chicago and the 1970s sitcom The Brady Bunch. On January 8, 1995, the band made an appearance on Pearl Jam's Self-Pollution satellite radio broadcast, a four-and-a-half-hour-long pirate broadcast out of Seattle which was available to any radio stations that wanted to carry it, performing "Lifeless Dead" and "I Don't Know Anything".
After gaining more popularity, the band recorded its only album and changed its name to Mad Season, which is an English term for the time of the year when psilocybin mushrooms are in full bloom, and a term which McCready related to "the seasons of drinking and drug abuse." The album, Above, which was recorded in Seattle, Washington at Bad Animals Studio (co-owned by Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart) and co-produced by the band and Pearl Jam sound engineer Brett Eliason, featured ten songs. It also included guest vocals and additional lyrics by Screaming Trees frontman and solo artist Mark Lanegan. McCready said, "We did all the Mad Season music in about seven days. It took Layne just a few more days to finish his vocals, which was intense since we only rehearsed twice and did four shows." The album was released on March 14, 1995 through Columbia Records to critical and commercial success. Over the course of 1995, Above scaled the Billboard 200, eventually peaking at No. 24 and spawning two singles: "River of Deceit" (#2 Mainstream Rock Tracks, No. 9 Modern Rock Tracks) and "I Don't Know Anything" (#20 Mainstream Rock Tracks). Above was certified gold on June 14, 1995.
McCready described the songs on the album as "some jazzy stuff, some blues, some arena rock." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that the album "sounds like a cross between Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam, taking the ponderous seriousness of Alice and PJ's '90s update of winding '70s guitar rock." Staley's lyrics dealt with his personal troubles, with Martin saying, "Layne Staley felt as though he was on a spiritual mission through his music." During the lyric writing process, Staley was reading the book The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, which was a strong influence on the lyrics and the overall tone of the album. "I Don't Know Anything" is a heavier, blues-influenced track, while "Long Gone Day" takes considerable jazz influence, combining the use of samba-style bass, xylophone, and saxophone.
Staley is credited for writing all the lyrics on the original release within the liner notes of the 2013 deluxe issue. As was the case with much of his work with Alice in Chains, Staley's lyrics dealt with his struggle against addiction as well as other personal troubles. Lyrically, much of "River of Deceit" was inspired by Khalil Gibran's The Prophet. Vocalist Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees contributes guest vocals on "I'm Above" and "Long Gone Day"; he is also credited for co-writing the music to those tracks along with McCready and Martin. Lanegan also wrote the lyrics for the three bonus tracks on Disc 1 of the deluxe issue - "Locomotive", "Black Book of Fear", and "Slip Away". R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck is credited for co-writing the music to "Black Book of Fear" along with McCready, Martin, Saunders, and Lanegan.
Slip Away
Mad Season Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Born of the flame
This life is a monster
Don't you know its name?
The house, it is wooden
The house, it is stone
The proud broken hearted
And close to the bone
And then it came to pass
Crazy sky in the morning
Green as the grass coverin' a grave
Just a slip away
Just a slip away
Hmm, just a slip away
Down to the water
Drawn to the flame
This life will leave you crippled
Don't you know the game?
Once you woke up choking
But then you held it down
Dry as the sand in the desert
Black as the clouds coverin' the sun
The opening lines of the Mad Season song "Slip Away" set the tone for a haunting and introspective journey through the messy and difficult aspects of life. The lyrics describe being born and shaped by elemental forces - water and flame - and that this life is a monster with a name that we may not even recognize. The symbolism of the house being both wooden and stone suggests a duality in our nature, and the line "the proud broken hearted and close to the bone" points to the paradoxical experience of feeling both strong and fragile at the same time. The lyrics then shift to a dreamlike sequence where a nightmare has come to life and the morning sky is a crazy green, perhaps representing the disorienting feeling of being jarred out of sleep and into the harsh realities of life.
The second half of the song continues down this path of exploration and suffering, with the imagery of water and flame recurring as symbols of attraction and danger. The lyrics warn that this life can leave you crippled, and that there is a game being played that we should be aware of. The line "once you woke up choking but then you held it down" suggests a struggle with fear or anxiety, but eventually finding a way to manage or suppress it. The final image of dry sand and black clouds covering the sun feels like a moment of despair or hopelessness, where the elements that sustain life are absent or obscured.
Overall, the lyrics of "Slip Away" paint a vivid picture of the challenges we face in life- being shaped and tested by elemental forces beyond our control, struggling with fear and anxiety, and ultimately facing moments of darkness and hopelessness. However, the song also hints at the resilience and strength required to survive these challenges, and the importance of holding on even when things feel bleak.
Line by Line Meaning
Born of the water
Our existence is tied to the primordial elements of the earth
Born of the flame
We are also products of the destructive forces of nature
This life is a monster
The harsh realities of our lives can be overwhelming and unrelenting
Don't you know its name?
Do you understand how intense and all-consuming our experiences can be?
The house, it is wooden
Our bodies, like a house, are fragile and impermanent
The house, it is stone
But our souls, like a house made of stone, can be strong and resilient
The proud broken hearted
We may be defeated, but we can still hold onto our dignity and self-respect
And close to the bone
The pain of our losses and failures is deeply felt and can be impossible to escape
Once you had a nightmare
We have all experienced moments of deep fear and anxiety
And then it came to pass
But eventually, even the worst nightmares come to an end
Crazy sky in the morning
Sometimes, the beauty of the world is mixed with a sense of chaos and confusion
Green as the grass coverin' a grave
Even in moments of beauty, we are still reminded of our mortality and impermanence
Just a slip away
The line between life and death, joy and despair, success and failure, is often very thin
Just a slip away
One small misstep can change everything
Hmm, just a slip away
We should never take our lives or our experiences for granted, because everything can change in an instant
Down to the water
We are drawn to the elemental forces of nature that gave birth to us
Drawn to the flame
But those same forces can also be destructive and all-consuming
This life will leave you crippled
Our experiences can leave us weakened and vulnerable
Don't you know the game?
Life can be an unpredictable and unforgiving game, and we are all players
Once you woke up choking
We have all had moments when we felt overwhelmed and suffocated
But then you held it down
But we have also found the strength to persevere and overcome our challenges
Dry as the sand in the desert
But even when we feel empty and drained, there is still the potential for growth and transformation
Black as the clouds coverin' the sun
And even when we feel lost and hopeless, there is still light and beauty waiting to be rediscovered
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Barrett Harrington Martin, John Saunders, Mark William Lanegan, Michael David McCready
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sara-cl5qx
Born of the water
Born of the flame
This life is a monster
Don't you know it's name
The house it is wooden
The house it is stone
The proud broken hearted
And close to the bone
Once you had a nightmare
And then it came to pass
Crazy sky in the morning
Green as the grass сovering a grave
Just a slip away
Just a slip away
Mmhmm mmm
Just a slip away
Down to the water
Drawn to the flame
This life will leave you crippled
Don't you know the game
Once you woke up choking
But then you held it down
Dry as the sand in the desert
Black as the clouds covering the sun
@margaridacosta270
Best 2013 song period!....of course it was writen in 1996 but we had to wait 17 years for this masterpiece,sucks that layne could not do the vocals and lyrics here,it would be insane but hands down to Lanegan,he does a great job.
Amazing work by mcCready.
a fareweel to alyne and baker,r.i.p
this world is without soul and heart for this song not being in radio,tv's....
go buy the box people,is it well worth the money.Mad Season deserve it,great band,great musicians all of them.
@chandrashekhermishra5847
This is one of the greatest guitar solos of all time.... absolutely Legendary by Mike Mccready
@margaridacosta270
A farewell song... The guitar is crying, damn....
@jackdough8164
@@margaridacosta270 has new meaning as of today sadly 😭😭
@margaridacosta270
@@jackdough8164 realy sad news,only 57,r.i.p Mark Lanegan.
@jz3894
Up there with comfortably numb
@swadhinshahporan7885
The guitar solo is alone enough to break a heart into pieces.
@tylurmackinnon6217
It broke my ear into pieces as the implications of Pearl Jam ripped my soul to shreds. The worst band of the 90s sold more than the best band of the 90s. Where is the justice in this world? WHY COULDNT IT BEEN EDDIE WHY KURT??? I HAVE NO TASTE IM MR VULGAR
@jackdough8164
I managed to go all of yesterday after hearing the horrible news without crying.... got home and was good..... listened to this and his final lyrics leading into the solo it just all hit me. RIP Mark
@femtomol
😔💔
@d4v1d_in_ch4ins
@@tylurmackinnon6217 ayo wtf