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)
Deep Black Vanishing Train
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And don’t you ever come down
Tattered newspaper pages
Are scattered across the ground
Lost on a violent sea
Gone for endless days
I have tried to free myself
So long light, you’re bound to fall
Now isn’t that a shame
Casting shadows on the wall
Too late to learn another game
Transfixed by what isn’t seen
And what will never change
The times I've tried to free myself
It’s been hard to look away
It’s a deep black vanishing train
Upon a very long track
Standing on a sidewalk in the rain
Hands behind my back
Lost on a violent sea
Day on endless day
I have finally freed myself
But it’s been hard to break away
"Deep Black Vanishing Train" by Mark Lanegan is a melancholic song that deals with themes of loss, regret, and being trapped in one's circumstances. The opening lines, "Yellow moon keep hanging there, And don’t you ever come down", set a reflective and introspective tone to the song. The image of the moon that never comes down is an oxymoron, as it is impossible for the moon to stay in a fixed place. This could signify the singer's desire for stability and certainty in an uncertain world. The next line, "Tattered newspaper pages are scattered across the ground", adds to the bleakness of the singer's environment, which is portrayed as being messy, cluttered, and uninviting.
The second stanza, "Lost on a violent sea, Gone for endless days, I have tried to free myself, But it’s been hard to break away", presents a sense of hopelessness and despair. The singer feels lost and unable to escape the cycle of pain and suffering. The sea could symbolize the world and its constant turmoil, while the singer's attempts to free himself reflect his struggle against this chaos. The next stanza, "So long light, you’re bound to fall, Now isn’t that a shame, Casting shadows on the wall, Too late to learn another game", continues the theme of loss and regret. The light, which could represent hope or a better future, is fading away, and it is too late for the singer to change his or her circumstances. The "shadows on the wall" could symbolize the singer's past mistakes and failures that are haunting him or her.
The final stanza, "It’s a deep black vanishing train, Upon a very long track, Standing on a sidewalk in the rain, Hands behind my back" and "Lost on a violent sea, Day on endless day, I have finally freed myself, But it’s been hard to break away" creates a sense of ambiguity and openness to interpretation. The "vanishing train" could represent the fleeting nature of time, the singer's missed opportunities, or the inevitability of death. The "sidewalk in the rain" could symbolize the singer's loneliness or a sense of being disconnected from the world. The final line, "But it’s been hard to break away", suggests that the singer may have found a way to free himself or herself, but it was not an easy process.
Line by Line Meaning
Yellow moon keep hanging there
The moon is high up in the sky
And don’t you ever come down
It is expected to remain there forever
Tattered newspaper pages
Old and ragged newspaper clippings
Are scattered across the ground
Lying on the floor haphazardly
Lost on a violent sea
Adrift on a turbulent ocean
Gone for endless days
Missing for a long duration
I have tried to free myself
I attempted to break free
But it’s been hard to break away
It was a difficult task to achieve
So long light, you’re bound to fall
Light will eventually end
Now isn’t that a shame
It is unfortunate
Casting shadows on the wall
Creating dark silhouettes
Too late to learn another game
It's past the point of starting over
Transfixed by what isn’t seen
Mesmerized by the unseen
And what will never change
And what's impossible to alter
The times I've tried to free myself
On various occasions, I attempted to escape
It’s been hard to look away
It's difficult to divert my attention
It’s a deep black vanishing train
The train is dark and mysterious
Upon a very long track
Travelling a vast distance
Standing on a sidewalk in the rain
Outside in a downpour
Hands behind my back
Arms positioned at the rear of my torso
Lost on a violent sea
Tossed on an unpredictable ocean
Day on endless day
Each day feeling never-ending
I have finally freed myself
I've finally broken free
But it’s been hard to break away
But it was arduous to do so
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
006Morrigan
Yellow moon keep hanging there
And don't you ever come down
Tattered newspaper pages
Are scattered across the ground
Lost on a violent sea
Gone for endless days
I have tried to free myself
But it's been hard to break away
So long light, you're bound to fall
Now isn't that a shame
Casting shadows on the wall
Too late to learn another game
Transfixed by what isn't seen
And what will never change
The times I've tried to free myself
It's been hard to look away
It's a deep black vanishing train
Upon a very long track
Standing on a sidewalk in the rain
Hands behind my back
Lost on a violent sea
Day on endless day
I have finally freed myself
But it's been hard to break away
astrololee
I love this haunting & poignant song on self reflection and not being able to let go of old habits which are a way of life, knowing that even when you do, its all only just under the surface and it would be so easy just to fall back into the routine again. This is the image the song conjures up for me.
TheSilentPawn
I adore this. One of my favorites from the album.
006Morrigan
Yellow moon keep hanging there
And don't you ever come down
Tattered newspaper pages
Are scattered across the ground
Lost on a violent sea
Gone for endless days
I have tried to free myself
But it's been hard to break away
So long light, you're bound to fall
Now isn't that a shame
Casting shadows on the wall
Too late to learn another game
Transfixed by what isn't seen
And what will never change
The times I've tried to free myself
It's been hard to look away
It's a deep black vanishing train
Upon a very long track
Standing on a sidewalk in the rain
Hands behind my back
Lost on a violent sea
Day on endless day
I have finally freed myself
But it's been hard to break away
Jerome Blackwell-Lewis
wow what an amazing song. definitely going into my favorites
Diego Palavro
this is a great voice in a great song...
Jón Rúnar
i usually dont like this type of song. Acoustic guitar and voice, but this is special. very special
_ kidA
Perfect.
Anita grey
Genius
JASMINE KULLA
i love it when i met mark lanergan when he was the queen of the stone ages
Donnie Brasco
i finally freed myself