Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an America… Read Full Bio ↴Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age and The Gutter Twins. He released 12 solo studio albums, as well as three collaboration albums with Isobel Campbell and two with Duke Garwood. He was known for his baritone voice, which was described as being "as scratchy as a three-day beard yet as supple and pliable as moccasin leather" and has been compared to Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and Nick Cave.

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)

TRACKS

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

Cripple Creek
Mark Lanegan Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A cripple on his deathbed
In a daydream did ride
All past the streams of fire
On a petal path did glide

He left his wheelchair spinning
Deeper in the mud
In it set his memories
In its body and its blood

An angel came to greet him
By his side she flew
Whispered, as a part of him
What he already knew

His head was spinning freely
And it was plain to see
His burden was himself, he bore
The sight his eyes could be

His death, it died quite easily
Right there, was gone for good
But couldn't see his loved one
Like he thought he should

He thought if they were gone, said he
And this cannot be true
The search to find what wasn't there
Has brought him back to you

Overall Meaning

The song "Cripple Creek" by Mark Lanegan tells a powerful story about a man who was trapped in his wheelchair and was unable to see the beauty that life had to offer. As he was lying on his deathbed, the man went on a daydream ride where he passed through streams of fire and glided on a petal path. He left his wheelchair behind, symbolizing the liberation from the burden he carried for a long time. His memories were embodied in the wheelchair that he left behind as he moved forward.

During his ride, an angel appeared and flew alongside him. The angel whispered something to the man that he already knew deep down inside. The man's head was spinning with newfound freedom, and he could finally see that he was his own burden. The weight he carried was something he was able to let go of as he moved on to the other side.

The man's death was easy, but he felt he had one regret. He couldn't see his loved ones as he thought he should. The man realized that the search to find what wasn't there had brought him back to his loved ones. In death, he was able to embrace the love and beauty he had overlooked in life.

Overall, the lyrics of "Cripple Creek" speak to the idea that life can be burdensome and difficult, but it's important to let go of those burdens and embrace the beauty and love that surrounds us.

Line by Line Meaning

A cripple on his deathbed
A person with a disability lying on his deathbed

In a daydream did ride
Imagining a journey in his mind

All past the streams of fire
Moving beyond the difficult times in his life

On a petal path did glide
Moving towards a peaceful and pleasant end

He left his wheelchair spinning
He left his disability behind

Deeper in the mud
Farther away from his past struggles

In it set his memories
Remembering the memories of his life

In its body and its blood
His disability was a part of him

An angel came to greet him
An angelic figure appeared to him

By his side she flew
Comforting him through his journey

Whispered, as a part of him
Speaking to his innermost self