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)
Pendulum
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What a painful price to pay
He's left his life in a thunderstorm
Tears cold dark eyes upon
Swing pendulum, swing low
Got no place to call my own
Oh my Lord don't you bother me
I'm as tired as a man can be
Jesus Christ been here and gone
What a painful place to leave
With frost on the limbs of a cherry tree
This cold, cold wind is buryin' me
Swing pendulum, swing slow
Got no time to call my own
Oh my Lord don't you bother me
I'm as tired as a man can be
I'm as tired as a man can be
The lyrics of Mark Lanegan's song Pendulum create a sense of emptiness, despair, and helplessness that reflects the condition of the singer who has been living a difficult life without a place to call his own. The reference to Jesus Christ being here and gone, along with the description of his life left in a thunderstorm and the painful price he paid, may indicate the singer's feeling of abandonment and disappointment with life's challenges. He acknowledges the frost on the limbs of a cherry tree and the cold wind burying him, indicating his loneliness, isolation, and suffocating conditions. The recurring line, "Swing pendulum, swing low," might refer to the sense of hopelessness the singer feels and his desire for the pendulum to keep swinging, even if it means swinging towards the end of his life.
The singer's plea to the Lord not to bother him might indicate his loss of hope and faith, as if he has given up on seeking divine intervention to relieve his pain or provide him with salvation. The repetition of the line, "I'm as tired as a man can be," adds to the feeling of exhaustion and lethargy, as if the singer lacks the strength to battle life's adversities. Overall, the song conveys a sense of futility, melancholy, and resignation, emphasizing the harsh realities of life's struggles and the emotional toll that it can have on an individual.
Line by Line Meaning
Jesus Christ been here and gone
Reflecting on the life and death of Jesus Christ who has already left this world
What a painful price to pay
Acknowledging the agony and suffering that Jesus experienced
He's left his life in a thunderstorm
Visualizing the image of Jesus dying on the cross amidst a tumultuous and chaotic atmosphere
Tears cold dark eyes upon
Describing the sadness and despair of those who witnessed Jesus' death
Swing pendulum, swing low
Metaphorically referencing the pendulum of life and the inevitability of death
Got no place to call my own
Feeling lost and without a sense of belonging
Oh my Lord don't you bother me
Addressing God and expressing a need for space and solitude
I'm as tired as a man can be
Enduring physical, emotional and spiritual exhaustion
With frost on the limbs of a cherry tree
Painting a picture of a desolate and cold landscape
This cold, cold wind is buryin' me
Feeling overwhelmed by the harshness of life's realities
Got no time to call my own
Feeling constantly occupied and without a moment of respite
I'm as tired as a man can be
Reiterating a sense of exhaustion and fatigue
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MARK LANEGAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@gilmayer1
RIP Mark 🎸🎼💔😢 🙏. Thank you for the music and the memories 🙏
@bigdaddypiggy
Early 94 was rough…weather wise & shit just life wise I was not in a good place & I remember listening to this on repeat & I KNOW it in some way helped me make it thru that mess ….music has the power to do that 🖤🥶
@Sleepis4pussies
I wish this song was longer. Other than that… it’s fuckin perfect.
@Philthyphiljones
I love this song, on repeat for me. RIP Mark you are missed dearly.
@martinortega5569
Another lovely song form this outstanding artist and musician.
@spacealienjesus709
Mark can do no wrong..
Hope all is well your way..
@ProfessorDoutorFERNANDORUBIN
a perfect song...by him soul 🥰
@dukenukem69
Beat two minute song iver ever heard. Says all it needs to.
@avicohen1986
A perfect album😊
@siralphons6762
Ciao Mark 🌹😞