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)
The Wild People
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm gone I'm gone
I'm gone where the wild people living
Gone where the wild, the wild people living
Some of them know close to the bone
They kill the messenger, they kill the tax man waiting in line
They kill the passenger where the train and toxic alike
I shine away my light now with the wild people riding
Gone with the wild, the wild people riding
Some of them know close to the bone
Ma-ma-mama please, please don't kill the messenger man
And ma-ma-mama please please don't kill the passenger man
Saturday I'm sick, sick with the fire descending
Burn some day to the quick, to the quick of the match of a mouth stick
My sin, my sin is done and it won't be forgiven
I'm gone I'm gone I'm gone where the wild people living
Gone where the wild, the wild people living
Some of them know close to the bone
Ma-ma-mama please, please don't kill the messenger man
And ma-ma-mama please please don't kill the passenger man
The lyrics of Mark Lanegan's song "The Wild People" describe the singer's departure from society and entrance into a community of outcasts and rebels known as the "wild people." The singer suggests that his past mistakes, or his "sin," cannot be undone or forgiven. He embraces his new life with the wild people, who he describes as being close to the bone or deeply connected to their primal nature.
The song also touches on themes of violence and danger. The wild people are depicted as being prone to killing messengers and passengers alike, and the singer pleads with his mother to spare them. The lyrics also suggest that the singer is sick and consumed by fire, possibly a metaphor for his inner turmoil or the danger he has left behind. Ultimately, the singer fully commits to his new life with the wild people, leaving behind society and its rules for a more visceral existence.
Line by Line Meaning
My sin, my sin is done and it won't be forgiven
I have committed a sin and it cannot be pardoned
I'm gone I'm gone
I have left and I am never coming back
I'm gone where the wild people living
I have gone to live amongst the untamed individuals
Gone where the wild, the wild people living
I have left behind civilization to be with those who live unconventionally
Some of them know close to the bone
Some of them understand the harsh reality of life
They kill the messenger, they kill the tax man waiting in line
These people are ruthless, they even kill those who deliver messages and the ones waiting in line to pay taxes
They kill the passenger where the train and toxic alike
They murder passengers whether on a train or in a dangerous situation
A holiday has come, my mind has escaped the body
I have lost myself in the moment and disconnected from reality
I shine away my light now with the wild people riding
I am now riding with the untamed individuals, hiding my true self
Gone with the wild, the wild people riding
I have left with the feral individuals to escape from societal norms
Ma-ma-mama please, please don't kill the messenger man
Mother, please do not harm the messenger who brings news
And ma-ma-mama please please don't kill the passenger man
Mother, please do not harm the passenger who is traveling
Saturday I'm sick, sick with the fire descending
On Saturday, I am emotionally distraught as my passion consumes me
Burn some day to the quick, to the quick of the match of a mouth stick
I am burning my days quickly, using my words like a matchstick to fuel my desires
Lyrics © Red Brick Music Publishing
Written by: Mark Lanegan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@lucianaok477
My sin, my sin is done and it won't be forgiven
I'm gone I'm gone
I'm gone where the wild people living
Gone where the wild, the wild people living
Some of them know close to the bone
They kill the messenger, they kill the tax man waiting in line
They kill the passenger where the train and toxic alike
A holiday has come, my mind has escaped the body
I shine away my light now with the wild people riding
Gone with the wild, the wild people riding
Some of them know close to the bone
Ma-ma-mama please, please don't kill the messenger man
And ma-ma-mama please please don't kill the passenger man
Saturday I'm sick, sick with the fire descending
Burn some day to the quick, to the quick of the match of a mouth stick
My sin, my sin is done and it won't be forgiven
I'm gone I'm gone I'm gone where the wild people living
Gone where the wild, the wild people living
Some of them know close to the bone
Ma-ma-mama please, please don't kill the messenger man
And ma-ma-mama please please don't kill the passenger man
R.I.P Mark...
@colgrey438
My sin, my sin is done and it won't be forgiven
I'm gone, I'm gone, I'm going where the wild people living
Gone where the wild, wild people living
So long alone, close to the bone
They kill the messenger, they kill the taxman waiting in line
They kill the passenger where the train and taxi collide
A holiday has come, my mind has escaped into hiding
I've shot away my life out where the wild people riding
Out where the wild, the wild people riding
So long alone, close to the bone
Mama Mama Ma please, please don't kill the messenger man
Mama Mama Ma please, please don't kill the passenger man
Saturday I'm sick, I’m sick with a virus descending
Burn Sunday to the quick, to the quick with a match on a mile-long stick
My sin, my sin is done and it won't be forgiven
I'm gone, I'm gone, I'm going where the wild people living
Gone where the wild, wild people living
So long alone, close to the bone
Mama Mama Ma please, please don't kill the messenger man
Mama Mama Ma please, please don't kill the passenger man
@cecilyjsmusicvideos7619
I can't believe Mark Lanegan entered eternal life today. I am so sad and yet so very grateful for his work today and every day. Ugh. This is a heavy, heavy loss. He wasn't done.
@victoryinyeshua8
Geeze I love this Man's music!
@bjohnstoneful
perfection. Thank you.
@AnBoscus
Beautiful song
@spacealienjesus709
It's hard to pick a favorite Lanegan album..
But, this is it for me..
@vinyldiary6664
I saw him on this tour in a small club in Lisbon. The man itself...epic as fuck. Such a legend
@exexalien
My favorite is Bubblegum, but this is great and he never made a bad one. RIP.
@cecilyjsmusicvideos7619
Me too
@Textor3090
"Whiskey for the holy ghost" for me, but this ones also great
@bloodyzebbidy
Great album..