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)
Burning Jacob's Ladder
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I would go over but my only coat’s soft white
And seeing things unreal
God knows what that stain
And what comes crawling back again
Tears a harbor
Down to the thorny altar
Here’s to the blood we sing and burn
Thousand blackbirds on a string return
There’s a solitary sun too high
Gone without the chosen one, goodbye
The ashes scatter
Burning Jacob’s ladder
I’m afraid I might fade away
Here’s to the blood we sing and burn
Thousand blackbirds on a string return
There’s a solitary sun too high
Gone without the chosen one, goodbye
Here’s to the blood we sing and burn
A thousand blackbirds on a string return
There’s a solitary sun too high
Gone without the chosen one, goodbye
Rage untethered
The soul a stony desert
I’m afraid I might fade away
Dreams stripped down beyond firelight
I would go over but my only coat’s soft white
And seeing things unreal
God knows what that stain
And what comes crawling back again
Ashes scatter
Burning Jacob’s ladder
I’m afraid I might fade away
Mark Lanegan's Burning Jacob's Ladder seems to be about the fear and anxiety that can come with personal transformation. The lyrics “Dreams stripped down beyond firelight” suggest that the singer's journey involves facing some difficult truths about themselves, perhaps things that have been hidden or suppressed in the past. The line “I would go over but my only coat’s soft white” could be interpreted as a fear of getting dirty or tarnished in the process of self-discovery. The singer may be worried that their delicate sense of self will be destroyed in pursuit of the truth.
The chorus of the song speaks to the idea that one has to sacrifice something in order to get what they want. “Here’s to the blood we sing and burn / Thousand blackbirds on a string return / There’s a solitary sun too high / Gone without the chosen one, goodbye” suggests that success comes at a cost, and that one must endure hardship and loss in order to achieve it. The metaphor of “Burning Jacob’s ladder” could be referencing the biblical story of Jacob's Ladder, in which Jacob has a vision of angels ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. Burning the ladder could be interpreted as a signal to move beyond the old ideas and beliefs that have held one back in the past, and to embrace something new and unknown.
In the final verse, the singer seems to be struggling to find their place in the world after undergoing this intense personal transformation. The line “Rage untethered / The soul a stony desert” suggests a feeling of emptiness or despair. The final repetition of “Ashes scatter / Burning Jacob’s ladder / I’m afraid I might fade away” seems to be a last reflection on the fear that this process has engendered in the singer, and a hint that the journey may not yet be over.
Line by Line Meaning
Dreams stripped down beyond firelight
My dreams have been stripped down to their bare bones and no longer shine brightly like firelight
I would go over but my only coat’s soft white
I would venture forth into the unknown, but I lack the rugged clothing to protect me
And seeing things unreal
I am witnessing things that are not based in reality
God knows what that stain
I have seen something truly unsettling and disturbing
And what comes crawling back again
These memories haunt me and refuse to let me move on
Tears a harbor
My tears are a safe haven for the pain I feel inside
Down to the thorny altar
My tears fall onto a place of sacrifice and suffering
I’m afraid I might fade away
My fear is that my own existence will become nothingness and be lost to the void
Here’s to the blood we sing and burn
Let us celebrate the passion that drives us, even if it means risking danger and pain
Thousand blackbirds on a string return
The music of our souls calls out to others, but the return is chaotic and unpredictable
There’s a solitary sun too high
The world is too overwhelming and beyond my ability to understand it alone
Gone without the chosen one, goodbye
Without a guide or protector, I cannot survive in this world
The ashes scatter
All that is left of our hopes and dreams are ashes, scattered by the wind
Burning Jacob’s ladder
Our journey to find meaning and purpose is a difficult and steep climb, with the danger of being consumed by fire
Rage untethered
My anger has been let loose and is uncontrollable
The soul a stony desert
My inner self is as desolate and barren as a desert made of rock
I’m afraid I might fade away
My fear is that my own existence will become nothingness and be lost to the void
Contributed by Caroline T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.