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)
Waltzing In Blue
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm bleeding for you
Only scratch,
Waltzing in blue
Oh, can't see the day
Blinded by you
Fading away
No, nobody home
They've gone out to play
Got to the boat
It's like curses are known
And love, love ? stain
Hours by hours
Down to decay
Oh, what can I say?
I'm still haunted by you
Quiet as a ghost
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
The song Waltzing In Blue by Mark Lanegan is a melancholic and sad melody that talks about a relationship that has failed and has caused the singer to be distressed, depressed, and isolated. The opening lines set the tone for the entire song as the singer states that he is bleeding for the person he loved and is only scratching the surface of his sorrow. The next few lines talk about how he is blinded by the person he loved and how he is fading away. It's easy to interpret that the singer is experiencing an emotional breakdown, and the whole song speaks to his shattered state of mind.
As the song progresses, the singer seems to be isolated and alone in his misery. He talks about how there's nobody home, they've all gone out to play. This sense of abandonment is heightened by the lines, "It's like curses are known, and love, love, stain." This could mean that their love was cursed from the beginning, and the stain denotes some lasting damage or mark that it left. The next few lines "Hours by hours, Down to decay" suggest that the singer is experiencing a slow and painful death of his mental health. And he's just Waltzing in Blue.
The repeated chorus of "Waltzing in blue" suggests that the singer is trapped in a state of melancholy and is unable to find his way out. The song ends on a somewhat depressing note with the singer stating that he's still haunted by the person he once loved, and he's as quiet as a ghost. The overall tone of the song is gloomy and sad, and the lyrics speak of someone in deep pain, trying to make sense of their shattered life.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, what can I say?
Expressing helplessness in expressing a situation
I'm bleeding for you
Suffering emotionally for someone
Only scratch,
A situation not as bad as it seems
Waltzing in blue
Drowning in sorrow
Oh, can't see the day
Feeling hopeless and overwhelmed
Blinded by you
Unable to see anything beyond the person
Fading away
Slowly losing oneself
No, nobody home
Emptiness and loneliness
They've gone out to play
Others have moved on with life
Got to the boat
Escaping the reality of the present
It's like curses are known
Bad luck is inescapable
And love, love ? stain
Love is tainted and ruined
Hours by hours
Slowly ticking away time
Down to decay
Engulfed in a state of deterioration
I'm still haunted by you
Unable to escape the memories and feelings
Quiet as a ghost
Suffering silently
Waltzing in blue
Drowning in sorrow
Waltzing in blue
Drowning in sorrow
Waltzing in blue
Drowning in sorrow
Waltzing in blue
Drowning in sorrow
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Cristian Sánchez López
Oh, what can I say?
I'm bleeding for you, only a scratch
Waltzing in blue
Oh, I can't see the day
Blinded by you, faded away
Waltzing in blue
No, nobody home
They've gone out to play, gone to the ball
Psychoses and all
And love, loves fevered stain
Hour by hour, is down to decay
Oh, what can I say?
Still haunted by you
Quiet as a ghost
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Waltzing in blue
Thulas Mads
This song touches my soul
David Eats
This song is a fucking vibe
RX2TUNES
Sounds like the Earth Droning and Slowly Turning at 432 hz..
Mandarin Alkova
🌹
Иван
Dance to Stargazer with cat and dog. I am dance to Waltzing now.
Иван
DNK ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Иван
W. Byrd. "All l ghost all my lie, you see only a cute image"
Θεοδωρος Λ.
Yes