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)
Dead on You
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Turquoise and twilight coat
I got my head hung down for you
Some day you're gonna need it
But it's worn or the, cloth gets torn
And there's only one way to go
It's gone dead, dead
It's gone dead on you
Take off your ragged
Turquoise and twilight coat
I got my head hung down for you
Someday you're gonna need it
But it's worn or the, cloth gets torn
And then there's only on way to go
It's goin' dead, dead
It's going dead, dead
It's goin' dead on you
The lyrics of Mark Lanegan's song "Dead On You" describe a relationship that has lost its spark and passion. The comparison of the person's ragged clothes to the deteriorating relationship suggests that this person's love for their partner is no longer enough to keep the relationship going. The repeated reference to the ragged clothes being worn and torn reflects the idea that the relationship has been strained and eroded.
The line "I got my head hung down for you" indicates that the singer is saddened and disappointed by the decline of the relationship. The repetition of the phrase "It's gone dead, dead" emphasizes the finality of the situation and the inevitability of the relationship ending.
In the end, the singer encourages their partner to let go of their "ragged Turquoise and twilight coat" and move on. The final repetition of "It's goin' dead on you" highlights the fact that the person's efforts to salvage the relationship have failed and that it is time to accept the end.
Line by Line Meaning
You were a ragged Turquoise and twilight coat
You seemed like a damaged and faded presence with a mix of blue and purple undertones
I got my head hung down for you
I feel hopeless and defeated because of you
Some day you're gonna need it
One day you'll require that coat again
But it's worn or the, cloth gets torn
However, it's either used and old or ripped apart
And there's only one way to go
And there's only one option left
It's gone dead, dead
It has lost its life and usefulness
It's gone dead on you
And now it's completely useless to you
Take off your ragged Turquoise and twilight coat
Remove that tattered blue and purple clothing
Someday you're gonna need it
Even though you'll need it eventually
But it's worn or the, cloth gets torn
It's either already used and old or ripped apart
And then there's only on way to go
And then there's only one path to take
It's goin' dead, dead
It's slowly losing life and usefulness
It's going dead, dead
It's continuously losing life and usefulness
It's goin' dead on you
It's becoming useless to you inch by inch
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MARK LANEGAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind