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)
Beehive
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everywhere through a firecracker summer
Suddenly alone in a beehive
With a spider crawling along my spine
Blue water down from the mountains
Washed across the killing floor
Blood rushing up from a fountain
I drag my chair to the window
And listen to the swarm
Beehive
Beehive
Honey just gets me stoned when I'm living
Bell rung
And stung
Honey just gets me stoned
Just gets me stoned
Scenes of dying love
In my head buzzed as a bees nest
Hanging down from above
Everywhere I look, it's a bummer
Gasoline in cool, cool water
I'm lying on a cooling board
Lightning coming out of the speakers
I wanna hear that sound some more
Press my body against the window
In an electric storm
Beehive
Beehive
Honey just gets me stoned when I'm living
Bell rung
And stung
Honey just gets me stoned
Just gets me stoned
Beehive
Beehive
Honey just gets me stoned when I'm living
Beehive
Beehive
Honey just gets me stoned
Just gets me stoned
Honey just gets me stoned
The opening lines of Mark Lanegan's song "Beehive" set a desolate scene "Scenes of dying light, Everywhere through a firecracker summer." The imagery is of a summer that is ending, or perhaps of a summer that was never as vibrant as one would hope for. The imagery in the first verse can be interpreted in a very literal sense or metaphorically. The firecracker summer could be referring to a summer holiday that has come to an end, and now the singer is alone, sitting in a beehive with a spider on his back. This could be interpreted as an image of isolation or perhaps regret for not having taken advantage of the fun times during that summer.
The second verse begins with "Blue water down from the mountains, Washed across the killing floor." This can be interpreted as a depiction of a tragic event, perhaps a flood. The singer is now sitting, listening to the swarming of bees. The chorus, "Beehive, Beehive, Honey just gets me stoned when I'm living," is repeated twice in the middle of the song, emphasizing its importance. The bee imagery could refer to the fleeting qualities of life or love, or it could be interpreted as an addiction that numbs the pain of life.
Moving to the third verse, Lanegan introduces the imagery of gasoline in water, which is a powerful image of pollution in nature. The singer is now lying on a cooling board, which could be a reference to a morgue or a hospital, depending on the listener's interpretation. The lightning coming out of the singers depicted in the last line of the song could be a metaphor for the intensity of emotion that the singer is experiencing. Overall, the song is dark and mysterious, full of vivid imagery that is open to interpretation.
Line by Line Meaning
Scenes of dying light
The fading of daylight all around me.
Everywhere through a firecracker summer
Amidst the chaos and excitement of a hot summer.
Suddenly alone in a beehive
An unexpected feeling of confinement and entrapment.
With a spider crawling along my spine
A sensation of fear and unease crawling around my body.
Blue water down from the mountains
Clear water flowing from the high peaks.
Washed across the killing floor
A bloody place where violence has taken place.
Blood rushing up from a fountain
The sudden and violent flow of blood.
Can't undo a thing no more
There is no way to change or undo what has happened.
I drag my chair to the window
Pulling my seat closer to the outside world.
And listen to the swarm
Trying to hear the sound of a group of angry insects.
Beehive
A place of chaos and activity, full of bees.
Honey just gets me stoned when I'm living
The sweet nectar can intoxicate me.
Bell rung
A warning sound of danger.
And stung
The painful sensation of a bee sting.
Scenes of dying love
Images of a fading and vanishing romance.
In my head buzzed as a bees nest
My mind is filled with the noise and confusion of a beehive.
Hanging down from above
Looming over me from a high place.
Everywhere I look, it's a bummer
Everywhere I turn, there is disappointment and frustration.
Gasoline in cool, cool water
A volatile substance mixed with cold liquid.
I'm lying on a cooling board
Reclining on a hard and cold surface.
Lightning coming out of the speakers
Explosive and powerful music pouring out of the sound system.
I wanna hear that sound some more
I want to keep listening to this thrilling and exhilarating music.
Press my body against the window
Pushing my flesh firmly against the glass.
In an electric storm
Amidst a violent and intense electrical discharge.
Just gets me stoned
Intoxication is all I get from it.
Lyrics © Red Brick Music Publishing, WARP MUSIC LIMITED
Written by: Mark Lanegan, Robert Marshall
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@anitagrey7356
Scenes of dying light
Everywhere through a firecracker's summer
Suddenly alone in a beehive
With a spot of chrome along my spine
Blue water, down from the mountains
Wash across the killing floor
Blood rushing up from a fountain
Can't endure a thing no more
I drag my chair to the window
Listen to the swarm
Beehive, beehive
Honey just gets me stoned when I'm living
Bell rung and stung
Honey just gets me stoned
Just gets me stoned
Scenes of dying love
In my head buzzes a bee’s nest
Hanging down from above
Everywhere I look, it's a bummer
Gasoline and cool, cool water
Lying on a cooling board
Lightning coming out of the speakers
I want to hear that sound some more
Press my body against the window
In an electric storm
Beehive, beehive
Honey just gets me stoned when I'm living
Bell rung and stung
Honey just gets me stoned
Just gets me stoned
Beehive, beehive
Honey just gets me stoned when I'm living
Beehive, beehive
Honey just gets me stoned
Just gets me stoned
Honey just gets me stoned
@keithmcclanahan8117
It absolutely sickens me how underrated and underappreciated Lanegan is and pretty much always has been. One of the most consistently amazing and beautiful catalogs out there
@lewisbarrah8804
I completely agree
@weenkwank
Well said
@paullagasse5504
It's kinda nice that way though
@warborn_inc.
Yknow.....I agree....because it astounds me how someone this talented isnt a household name...but....the people who GET Marks music...really GET it and I almost prefer that. I would hate to see insane popularity and the disgusting music industry try to turn him and his music into a cheap commodity.
@lidiageo
Agree
@mattnewman9819
Lanegan deserves to get a place in the hall of fame. His offerings draw from a wealth of genres but are somehow sculpted to be his own due to his brilliant ability. He may have pillaged the sounds he used, this could be debated as I guess that nearly all artists have to but that voice is unique when combined with his song writing and every track tells it's story with heartfelt emotion. RIP 😢
@emmtramagic
Que la tierra te sea leve, querido Mark. Descansa en paz, hermano.
@hps69
Rest in peace, Mark Lanegan. Enjoyed you in Screaming Trees, loved you in Queens, and worshipped your solo work. You're now up there in heaven with Kurt getting stoned off beehive honey...
@micmac09
His voice breezes my mind and explodes my heart.