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)
Message to Mine
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Baby, to make me forget
Oh, so good
Baby, so good to make me forget
Forget myself again
I walk down, the steps to the river
With my outfit, full set to deliver
And the minute it's done
On a pay telephone, I send a message to mine
Yeah, it's good
So good baby
Because it makes me forget
Oh, so good
So good baby
Because it makes me forget
Forget myself again
Upstairs, slower on my feet
Got to get to the corner and I know it's getting late
At the cold polar ice
End of the line
If I don't wake up
Send a message to mine
Oh it's good
So good baby
Because it makes me forget, forget myself again
Seventeen steps down to the river
With my outfit, full set to deliver
And the floodlights shine
Blindin' my eye
On the pay telephone, I send a message to mine
Back down, early in the morning
Same building, different story
Well the room here's free and it's easy to find
The tricks of her frame send a message to mine
Yeah it's good
In Mark Lanegan's song Message to Mine, the lyrics describe the singer's desire to escape reality and forget about themselves. The chorus repeats the phrase "It's good, baby, so good to make me forget, forget myself again" which can be interpreted as the singer's desperation to escape from their problems. The first verse talks about the singer walking down some steps to the river with their outfit to deliver. This could be seen as the singer trying to do something meaningful in their life, but they're met with the reality that there's nothing for them after they complete this task. They're stuck with nothing to do and only time to kill.
The second verse tells a different story, but the same message. The singer is slower on their feet and is trying to get somewhere, but they know it's getting late. They are at the end of the line, and if they don't wake up, they know they'll be forgotten. In the last verse, the singer finds refuge in a room where the "tricks of her frame send a message to mine." This could be interpreted in different ways, but it can be seen as the singer finding comfort in a woman's body and forgetting their problems for a brief moment.
Overall, the song is about the singer's desire to escape from reality and forget themselves. They are desperate to find something that can make them forget their problems, and they try to do this in various ways. The lyrics are open to interpretation, and different people may have different ways of interpreting the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, It's good
The experience is pleasant
Baby, to make me forget
To distract from the present or worry
Oh, so good
The experience is very pleasant
Baby, so good to make me forget
Distracting from the present or a worry is a great feeling
Forget myself again
Getting lost in the experience
I walk down, the steps to the river
Going to a location
With my outfit, full set to deliver
Dressed to impress or complete a task
And the minute it's done
After the task or experience is complete
There's nothin' but time
Time becomes available
On a pay telephone, I send a message to mine
Sending a message to someone important
Yeah, it's good
The experience is quite pleasant
So good baby
The experience is very pleasant
Because it makes me forget
The experience helps to distract
Forget myself again
Getting lost in the experience
Upstairs, slower on my feet
Going to a location with difficulty or weariness
Got to get to the corner and I know it's getting late
Feeling rushed or pressured
At the cold polar ice
A location with a specific atmosphere or feeling of isolation
End of the line
Reaching the final destination
If I don't wake up
If I do not survive
Send a message to mine
Communicating important information to someone
Oh it's good
The experience is enjoyable
So good baby
The experience is very enjoyable
Because it makes me forget, forget myself again
The experience helps to distract and get lost in the moment
Seventeen steps down to the river
A specific number of steps to reach a location
With my outfit, full set to deliver
Dressed to complete a task or impress
And the floodlights shine
A bright and noticeable light is present
Blindin' my eye
The light is too bright to see properly
On the pay telephone, I send a message to mine
Communicating important information to someone
Back down, early in the morning
Returning to a starting point early in the day
Same building, different story
A specific location with a new experience or situation present
Well the room here's free and it's easy to find
A location is available and easily accessible
The tricks of her frame send a message to mine
The appeal of a person triggers thoughts and communication
Yeah it's good
The experience is enjoyable
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Oh, It's good
Baby, to make me forget
Oh, so good
Baby, so good to make me forget
Forget myself again
I walk down, the steps to the river
With my outfit, full set to deliver
And the minute it's done
There's nothin' but time
On a pay telephone, I send a message to mine
Yeah, it's good
So good baby
Because it makes me forget
Oh, so good
So good baby
Because it makes me forget
Forget myself again
Upstairs, slower on my feet
Got to get to the corner and I know it's getting late
At the cold polar ice
End of the line
If I don't wake up
Send a message to mine
Oh it's good
So good baby
Because it makes me forget, forget myself again
Seventeen steps down to the river
With my outfit, full set to deliver
And the floodlights shine
Blindin' my eye
On the pay telephone, I send a message to mine
Back down, early in the morning
Same building, different story
Well the room here's free and it's easy to find
The tricks of her frame send a message to mine
Yeah it's good.....
mickey melchiondo
i don't mind sayin it---that's me on the fuckin' guitar. dean ween. ask somebody. playing chris goss's (?) '68 telecaster---my favorite sessions i ever did. i wish all of the unreleased tracks would come out someday. some of the best playing i was ever a part of---josh, me, nick, mark, chris goss-----a super prolific time, we had a lot of great records going at once--this one was just flowing--every single song we hit a groove. there is some stupid good shit on tape somewhere no one has ever heard.
Lisa Perl
holly shit man!!!!!! i'm a huge lanegan fan and if pushed to a corner and having to choose one favorite song, this is theone. Your playing is so inflaming!
EASTON1970
Fuck yeah!
Anita grey
woooow !!
C P
my ears thank you. the absolute best. more please :)
Lisa Johnson
I will never, ever tire of listening to Ween. You guys have been blowing my mind since I was 16 years old and one of my favourite things to do is turn new people onto Ween and Mark Lanegan. Its an easy hobby. Thanks for your massive contribution to the soundtrack of my life!
The Honorable Reverend Addison Bortion
"This is one my favorite things I ever played on. Listen to how loud Mark cranked my guitar in the mix. Me and Nick Oliveri and Josh Homme and Chris Goss were there, Mark of course too. I used Chris Goss’s old Telecaster on all the tracks I did. Mark never sent me a copy of the record and to this day I have no idea what songs I ended up on!" - Dean Ween, a long ass time ago
Adam Winchell
Love this song. Great frontman and a great talent who gave us 4 decades of fantastic music. Rest in peace.
Kevin Maund
One of my favorite songs, RIP mark
Nic Bee
Mark is my favourite singer, has been for 20 years, and this song just showcases everything that he is...and Josh's guitar...wow.