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)
Phantasmagoria Blues
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A torn and tattered love
But do you hear the tolling bells
That ring down from above?
Thought I'd rule like Charlemagne
But I've become corrupt
Now I crawl the promenade
To fill my empty cup
And you’re free
You’re free again
One more time
Now if you found a razor blade
And took it to your wrist
Then I'd be here in my electric chair
Because of this
All last night and night before
I stood on the pier and cried
But I don’t want to turn away
For fear of going blind
And you’re free
You’re free again
One more time
I have given to you Jane
A bruised and beaten love
But do you see the cold white light
That shines down from above?
Thought I'd rule like Charlemagne
But I've become corrupt
Now I'll crawl the promenade
To fill my empty cup
And you’re free
You’re free again
One more time
In Mark Lanegan's song "Phantasmagoria Blues," the singer reflects on a past relationship with a woman named Jane. He admits to her that he has given her a love that is "torn and tattered" as he acknowledges his own corruptness. The tolling bells he hears above suggest a sense of doom and an awareness of impending consequences for his actions. He once thought he could rule like Charlemagne, a medieval emperor known for his conquests, but now he crawls the promenade in a desperate attempt to fill his empty cup. The lyrics describe a man who has fallen from a position of power and is now trying to come to terms with the consequences of his actions.
The second verse touches on the theme of suicide. The singer warns Jane that if she were to harm herself with a razor blade, he would be held responsible. He then confesses to spending the previous night crying on a pier, but he doesn't want to turn away from the situation out of fear of going blind. This line suggests that he understands the importance of facing his problems head-on, even if it causes him pain.
Overall, the song is a reflection on the singer's relationship with Jane and his own fall from grace. The lyrics suggest a sense of regret and an understanding of the consequences of one's actions. The tolling bells and the cold white light from above suggest that there is a higher power at play, and the singer is aware of his own mortality and eventual judgment.
Line by Line Meaning
I have given to you Jane
I have shared my damaged and torn love with you, Jane.
A torn and tattered love
I have given a love that has been damaged and destroyed.
But do you hear the tolling bells
Do you hear the warning signs of a tragic event?
That ring down from above?
That ring from a source beyond our control?
Thought I'd rule like Charlemagne
I believed I would lead like a great conqueror, Charlemagne.
But I've become corrupt
But I have turned into something immoral and dishonest.
Now I crawl the promenade
Now I slowly move along the walkway by the sea.
To fill my empty cup
To try to fill the void and emptiness inside me.
And you’re free
And you have been released from my grasp.
You’re free again
You are once again liberated from my influence.
One more time
Once again, you are free to go on with your life.
Now if you found a razor blade
If you discovered a sharp object like a razor blade.
And took it to your wrist
And used it to harm yourself by cutting your wrist.
Then I'd be here in my electric chair
Then I would face the electric chair as a punishment for not being able to protect you.
Because of this
Because of my failure to protect you.
All last night and night before
All of the previous night and the night before that.
I stood on the pier and cried
I remained on the pier and wept.
But I don’t want to turn away
But I refuse to ignore the truth and turn my back on it.
For fear of going blind
Because of my apprehension of losing sight of what really matters.
A bruised and beaten love
I gave a love that had suffered physical and emotional damage.
But do you see the cold white light
Do you notice the ominous white light?
That shines down from above?
That emanates from somewhere beyond our reach?
Now I'll crawl the promenade
Now, I will slowly make my way along the walkway by the sea.
To fill my empty cup
In an effort to fill the emptiness inside me.
And you’re free
And you are finally free from me and what I represented.
You’re free again
You are free to move forward with your life once more.
One more time
One last time, you are free to walk away from my influence.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mahadi Shishir
I have given to you, Jane
A torn and tattered love
But do you hear the tolling bells
That ring down from above?
I thought I'd rule like Charlemagne
But I've become corrupt
Now I crawl the promenade
To fill my empty cup
And you're free
You're free again
One more time
Now if you found a razorblade
And took it to your wrist
Then I'd be here in my electric chair
Because of this
All last night and night before
I stood on the pier and cried
But I don't want to turn away
For fear of going blind
And you're free
You're free again
One more time....
Robsongs
Obrigado por tudo... descance em paz, Mark!
Kenneth Milam
Heaven is getting all the great ones...thank you for your amazing talent Mark 🙏 May everyone have a strange religion at least once in their lifetime 😇🥲🥲
Gislayne Felix
Obrigada por tudo Mark! Quem um dia te ouviu cantar jamais viveu e sentiu como antes. Sua voz tocou e sempre tocará a muitos de nós. Descanse em paz.
kratomosphere
Man, at first I loved st. louis elegy but this song seems to be creeping up to my favorite on the album. Fucking amazing tune.
Rusty_Cage
Every song on this album is my favorite Lanegan song.
Mark Hale
same thing happened to me. St. Louis at first and then this one later became favorite
Jim Palmer
I'm with you. This one creeps up on you stealthily.
girleno correia da paz
e o Rock perdendo uma de suas melhores crias
Ronilson Soares
Um cantor com uma voz única. Lanegan sempre foi sensacional.
Gislayne Felix
@Mariana Correia também tive esse prazer, Mariana! Só de lembrar arrepia. Mark grande voz, grande perca