Lanegan began his musical career in 1984 with Screaming Trees, with whom he released seven studio albums and five EPs before their disbandment in 2000. During his time with the band, he also started a solo career and released his first solo studio album, The Winding Sheet, in 1990. He subsequently released a further 10 solo albums, which received critical recognition but only moderate commercial success. Following the end of Screaming Trees, he became a frequent collaborator of Queens of the Stone Age, and was a full-time member between 2001 and 2005 during the Songs for the Deaf and Lullabies to Paralyze eras.
Lanegan collaborated with various artists throughout his career. In the 1990s, he and Kurt Cobain recorded an album of Lead Belly covers that was ultimately never released. He also joined Layne Staley and Mike McCready in the band Mad Season, and formed the alternative rock group The Gutter Twins with Greg Dulli in 2003, as well as contributing to releases by Moby, Bomb the Bass, Soulsavers, Tinariwen, The Twilight Singers, Manic Street Preachers, and Unkle, among others.
Lanegan struggled with addiction to drugs and alcohol throughout his life, but had been sober for over a decade at the time of his death. Encouraged by his friend Anthony Bourdain, he released the memoir Sing Backwards and Weep in 2020. He followed this up in 2021 with the memoir Devil in a Coma, which focused on his near-death experience with COVID-19. He and his wife Shelley Brien left the U.S. in 2020 and settled in the Irish town of Killarney, where he died two years later at the age of 57. No cause of death was revealed.
Studio albums
The Winding Sheet (1990)
Whiskey for the Holy Ghost (1994)
Scraps at Midnight (1998)
I'll Take Care of You (1999)
Field Songs (2001)
Bubblegum (2004)
Blues Funeral (2012)
Imitations (2013)
Phantom Radio (2014)
Gargoyle (2017)
Somebody's Knocking (2019)
Straight Songs of Sorrow (2020)
At Zero Below
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I burned my love with a cigarette
My telescopic eye had seen
The grass on graves so evergreen
"How would you know", she said
"To choke, to seize in vain to call?"
"What do you know", she said
"How would you know", she said
"To moan, to cry and still to crawl?"
At zero below she's dead
Asleep inside the churchyard wall
In this dream I can't forget
I set an arson fire without a one regret
The camera in my cornea
Took black and whites from my collection of
"Wait'll you see", she said
"That moment just before you fall"
"How much you'll bleed?" she said
"You'll lay there bleeding like a dog"
On a night so gray and wet
Into somebody's face I spit
So angry and illiterate
My inner furnace quickly lit
"You're gonna know", she said
"What they really mean by Hell"
"You're gonna know", she said
"For who they ring that heavy bell"
At zero below and dead
We are together, now and on
In this dream I can't forget
I burned my love with cigarette
The camera of my eye had seen
The grass on graves so evergreen
"You're gonna know", she said
"What they really mean by Hell"
"You're gonna know", she said
"For who they ring that heavy bell"
At zero below and dead
We lay together now and on
We lay together now and on
We lay together now and on
We lay together now and on
We lay together now and on, yeah
The lyrics to Mark Lanegan's song "At Zero Below" convey a sense of regret, despair, and self-destruction. The singer reflects on a past night where they burned their love with a cigarette, metaphorically representing the destructive choices they made. They mention having a telescopic eye that observes the evergreen grass on graves, possibly symbolizing their awareness of mortality and the consequences of their actions.
Throughout the song, there is a dialogue with someone who questions the singer's understanding of pain and suffering. They challenge the singer's knowledge of choking, seizing, moaning, crying, and crawling in despair. The repeated statement "At zero below she's dead, asleep inside the churchyard wall" suggests that the person being referred to in the conversation has passed away and resides in the cemetery.
The lyrics also allude to a dream where the singer sets an arson fire without regret, indicating a lack of remorse for their destructive tendencies. They mention a camera in their cornea, capturing black and white images, which may symbolize the distortion and detachment from reality.
The dialogue intensifies as the other person suggests the singer will experience the true meaning of Hell and the toll it takes on them. The closing lines reinforce the image of death and companionship, implying that even in death, they are united.
Overall, "At Zero Below" explores themes of self-destructiveness, regret, and the consequences of one's choices. It reflects the internal struggles and the longing for understanding amidst a state of despair.
Line by Line Meaning
On a night I can't forget
During a memorable night
I burned my love with a cigarette
I destroyed my love using a cigarette
My telescopic eye had seen
I observed with great detail
The grass on graves so evergreen
The perpetually green grass on graves
"How would you know", she said
She questioned my knowledge
"To choke, to seize in vain to call?"
To experience pain and desperation without finding a solution
"What do you know", she said
She doubted my understanding
"Of toxic tears chemical sprawl?"
Of the destructive effects of tears
"How would you know", she said
She questioned my experience
"To moan, to cry and still to crawl?"
To express anguish, to wallow in sorrow
At zero below she's dead
She is deceased in freezing temperatures
Asleep inside the churchyard wall
Resting peacefully within the church's grounds
In this dream I can't forget
In a memorable dream
I set an arson fire without a one regret
I intentionally started a fire and feel no remorse
The camera in my cornea
The visual perspective from my eye
Took black and whites from my collection of
Captured monochrome images from my memories
"Wait'll you see", she said
She promised a revealing sight
"That moment just before you fall"
The moment of imminent failure or loss
"How much you'll bleed?" she said
She anticipated significant suffering
"You'll lay there bleeding like a dog"
You will be helpless and in pain
On a night so gray and wet
During a damp and gloomy night
Into somebody's face I spit
I expressed anger and disrespect towards someone
So angry and illiterate
Filled with rage and lacking understanding
My inner furnace quickly lit
My anger intensified rapidly
"You're gonna know", she said
She assured me of future understanding
"What they really mean by Hell"
The true concept of torment and suffering
"You're gonna know", she said
She promised further enlightenment
"For who they ring that heavy bell"
The significance of mourning and loss
At zero below and dead
Lifeless in freezing temperatures
We are together, now and on
We remain united in death
In this dream I can't forget
In an indelible dream
I burned my love with cigarette
I destroyed my love using a cigarette
The camera of my eye had seen
What I witnessed through my eyes
The grass on graves so evergreen
The perpetually green grass on graves
"You're gonna know", she said
She assured me of future understanding
"What they really mean by Hell"
The true concept of torment and suffering
"You're gonna know", she said
She promised further enlightenment
"For who they ring that heavy bell"
The significance of mourning and loss
At zero below and dead
Lifeless in freezing temperatures
We lay together now and on
We remain side by side in death
We lay together now and on
We remain side by side in death
We lay together now and on
We remain side by side in death
We lay together now and on
We remain side by side in death
We lay together now and on, yeah
We remain side by side in death
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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