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)
Eden Lost and Found
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Daylight's callin' me
Ain't got much of nothin'
Except grace by degrees
Yeah, I'm so glad to be free (I'm so glad to be free)
Daylight's a-comin'
Daylight's callin me (It's callin' me)
And never gave none back to me
Yeah, everybody, everybody, everybody wanna be free
(Everybody wants to be free)
All of God's creatures ought to be free
Daylight's a comin'
Daylight's callin' me (Daylight's callin' me)
Sunrise comin' up, baby
To burn the dirt right off of me
Come on now, people, take my blindness, make me see
Sunrise is comin' (Sunrise is comin')
Daylight's callin' me (Daylight is callin' me)
I work eleven to eleven
Midnight shift and half of the mornin'
All of God's children got to have their freedom
Everybody, everybody, everybody gotta be free
Sunrise is comin', daylight's callin' me (Daylight is callin' me)
Will you tell me if this is Heaven? (Oh, will you tell me if this is Heaven?)
'Cause it's the only one I see
Daylight is comin', daylight is callin' me
Found the doorway to Eden and lost myself in a concrete city
Yeah, everybody's got to be free (Everybody's got to be free)
Daylight is comin' (Daylight is comin')
Daylight is callin' me (Daylight is callin' me)
And everybody got to be free (Everybody got to be free)
Yeah, everybody got to be free
The melancholic yet uplifting song "Eden Lost And Found" by Mark Lanegan is a deep contemplation on freedom, both physical and emotional. Freedom from the mundane struggles of life, the hopeless slavery of unrequited love, and the imprisonment of one's mind are all tackled in this song. The singer's voice is full of raw emotion as he croons about the promise of the sunrise and the coming of daylight. Daylight, a metaphor for hope and new beginnings, calls to him, beckoning him to take the first step towards freedom.
The lyrics talk about the singer's 11-to-11 graveyard work shift, implying a life of hardship and struggle. He longs to be free, a sentiment echoed by all of God's creatures, he says. The girl he loved took his love but never gave any back, adding a layer of heartbreak to the song. He finds himself in a concrete jungle, lost in the search for Eden, a metaphor for paradise, both spiritual and emotional. The chorus repeats the line, "everybody's got to be free," as if it's a mantra, a reminder that freedom is, indeed, a fundamental need of the human spirit.
Line by Line Meaning
Daylight is comin'
The singer is anticipating the arrival of daylight.
Daylight's callin' me
The singer hears or senses the beckoning of daylight.
Ain't got much of nothin'
The singer is lacking in possessions or material wealth.
Except grace by degrees
The artist finds solace in small blessings or gains.
Yeah, I'm so glad to be free
The artist expresses happiness at being unencumbered or unrestricted.
That girl took my lovin'
The singer's love interest did not reciprocate feelings or actions.
And never gave none back to me
The singer's love interest did not reciprocate feelings or actions.
Everybody, everybody, everybody wanna be free
The artist believes that freedom is a universal desire.
All of God's creatures ought to be free
The artist believes that freedom should extend to all living things.
Sunrise comin' up, baby
The artist notes the impending arrival of the sunrise.
To burn the dirt right off of me
The singer posits that the sunrise will cleanse or purify them.
Come on now, people, take my blindness, make me see
The artist seeks enlightenment or understanding from others.
I work eleven to eleven
The singer has a long, grueling work schedule.
Midnight shift and half of the mornin'
The singer works through the night and into the morning.
Will you tell me if this is Heaven?
The singer is asking for validation or affirmation.
'Cause it's the only one I see
The artist feels trapped or limited in their current situation.
Found the doorway to Eden and lost myself in a concrete city
The artist may have found something sacred or special but is having a difficult time reconciling it with their urban surroundings.
And everybody got to be free
The singer reiterates their belief in the value of freedom.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind