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)
Little Sadie
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Met little Sadie and I blowed her down
Then I run right home and went to bed
With a forty-four smokeless under my head
The girls all heard little Sadie was dead
They went home to be ragged in red
Come a slippin' and a slidin' down the street
Well I began to think what a deed I'd done
Grabbed my hat and I started to run
I made a good run just a little too slow
And they overtook me in Jericho
Standing on the corner reading a bill
Up stepped the sheriff of Thomasville
Said young man is your name Lee Brown?
Remember the night you blowed Sadie down?
Yes I said my name is Lee
I murdered little Sadie in a first degree
First degree and a second degree
If ya got any papers, read 'em to me
Took me downtown, dressed me in black
Put me on a train and send me back
Didn't have no one to go on my bail
Throw me back in the county jail
Judge and the jury took their stand
Judge had the papers in his hand
Forty-one days and forty-one nights
Forty-one years just to wear them stripes
The song "Little Sadie" by Mark Lanegan is a story of a man named Lee Brown who meets a girl called Little Sadie and kills her with a gun. He then realizes what he has done and tries to run away, but is soon caught by the authorities. The girls who knew Little Sadie come to know about her death and start wearing ragged clothes in mourning. The lyrics are quite simple, yet powerful and convey the emotions of the characters involved.
The first verse of the song is about Lee Brown meeting Little Sadie, shooting her and returning home to sleep with a gun under his head. The second verse describes how the girls who knew Little Sadie came to know about her death and mourned her by wearing ragged clothes. The third verse is about Lee Brown trying to escape the authorities, but gets caught in Jericho. The final verse is about his trial and imprisonment for 41 years.
The song describes a brutal and violent act without any remorse or justification. It also talks about the consequences of one's actions and how they can lead to a lifelong punishment. The reference to the girls wearing ragged clothes in mourning is also indicative of a culture in which people expressed their grief in a public way.
Line by Line Meaning
Went out last night, take a little round
I went out last night to wander aimlessly.
Met little Sadie and I blowed her down
I encountered a girl named Sadie and shot her dead.
Then I run right home and went to bed
I fled the scene of the crime and went to sleep.
With a forty-four smokeless under my head
I kept a gun under my pillow for protection.
The girls all heard little Sadie was dead
Word spread fast among the female community that Sadie had met her end.
They went home to be ragged in red
They went home to dress in their finest attire so they could attend Sadie's funeral.
Come a slippin' and a slidin' down the street
They came shuffling down the street slowly in mourning.
In their loose mother hubbards and their stocking feet
They wore baggy clothing and no shoes as a sign of their sadness.
Well I began to think what a deed I'd done
I started reflecting on the terrible act that I had committed.
Grabbed my hat and I started to run
I quickly realized I needed to escape and ran away.
I made a good run just a little too slow
Even though I ran as fast as I could, I was not fast enough.
And they overtook me in Jericho
They caught up to me in the county of Jericho.
Standing on the corner reading a bill
I was standing on the corner, reading a notice.
Up stepped the sheriff of Thomasville
The sheriff of Thomasville approached me.
Said young man is your name Lee Brown?
The sheriff asked me whether my name was Lee Brown.
Remember the night you blowed Sadie down?
The sheriff reminded me of the night when I killed Sadie.
Yes I said my name is Lee
I admitted that my name was Lee.
I murdered little Sadie in a first degree
I confessed to shooting Sadie in cold blood.
First degree and a second degree
I was convicted of both premeditated and unintentional murder.
If ya got any papers, read 'em to me
I wanted to see any legal documents they had against me.
Took me downtown, dressed me in black
They took me to a prison downtown and put me in black prison clothes.
Put me on a train and send me back
They transported me back to a prison in my hometown via train.
Didn't have no one to go on my bail
I had no one to post bail for me and get me out of jail.
Throw me back in the county jail
I was thrown back into the same county jail.
Judge and the jury took their stand
The judge and jury were ready to begin my trial.
Judge had the papers in his hand
The judge had all the legal documents in his possession.
Forty-one days and forty-one nights
I spent forty-one days and forty-one nights in jail.
Forty-one years just to wear them stripes
I was sentenced to forty-one years in prison and forty-one years of wearing prison stripes.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: DOC WATSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind