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)
Leviathan
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As good as, or better than gold
I lay down my guns on the table
First scarlet, then blue growing cold
Black light and smoke
Making a joke
In the haze of a setting sun
Leviathan waits in the water
Skeletons hide in the trees
The hours crawl by like a spider
Hangman is following me
At sorrow’s door
A century more
In the rays of a setting sun
After the deadlock and dazzle
Glitters at night like it’s gold
You lay down your heart if you’re able
First scarlet, then blue growing cold
Everyday a prayer
For what I never knew
But this is one I said for you
Mark Lanegan's song "Leviathan" is a mysterious and haunting ballad that has a dark and foreboding tone. The lyrics are filled with metaphors and imagery that create an eerie landscape. In the opening lines, Lanegan sings about a table where he lays down his guns, first scarlet and then blue; these colors are symbolic of bloodshed and sadness. The repetition of the phrase "deadlock and dazzle" adds to the sense of confusion and chaos.
The rest of the song takes on a surreal quality as Lanegan sings about a world where skeletons hide in trees and the Leviathan, a mythical sea monster, waits in the water. The lyrics are suggestive of a post-apocalyptic landscape, where the hours crawl by like a spider and the hangman is following him. The image of sorrow's door suggests that the singer is dealing with his own inner demons, perhaps from a past relationship. The final verse suggests that Lanegan is offering up a prayer for someone he cares about.
The lyrics of "Leviathan" are open to interpretation, but they paint a vivid picture of a desolate world filled with danger and uncertainty. The song's haunting melody and Lanegan's raw, emotive vocals only add to the sense of unease.
Line by Line Meaning
After the deadlock and dazzle
Once the flash and excitement have subsided
As good as, or better than gold
Just as valuable, if not more so
I lay down my guns on the table
I surrender, I give up the fight
First scarlet, then blue growing cold
At first passionate and intense, then losing its fervor
Black light and smoke
A dark and hazy atmosphere
Making a joke
Being flippant, not taking things seriously
In the haze of a setting sun
During a time of confusion and uncertainty
Leviathan waits in the water
A great danger lurks unseen beneath the surface
Skeletons hide in the trees
A sense of foreboding and dread
The hours crawl by like a spider
Time moves slowly and ominously
Hangman is following me
Facing a looming threat or inevitable doom
At sorrow’s door
Dealing with profound and heavy emotions
A century more
An eternity of sadness
In the rays of a setting sun
As the day comes to an end, so does something important
After the deadlock and dazzle
Once the flash and excitement have subsided
Glitters at night like it’s gold
Shines brightly in the dark, like a valuable treasure
You lay down your heart if you’re able
You open yourself up, even if it's difficult
First scarlet, then blue growing cold
At first passionate and intense, then losing its fervor
Everyday a prayer
A continuous hope or plea
For what I never knew
A prayer for something that was never meant to be
But this is one I said for you
A specific prayer for someone he cares about
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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