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)
You Only Live Twice
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
One life for yourself and one for your dreams.
You drift through the years and life seems tame,
Till one dream appears and love is its name.
And love is a stranger who'll beckon you on,
Don't think of the danger or the stranger is gone.
Make one dream come true, you only live twice.
And love is a stranger who'll beckon you on,
Don't think of the danger or the stranger is gone.
This dream is for you, so pay the price.
Make one dream come true, you only live twice.
In Mark Lanegan's song "You Only Live Twice," the lyrics suggest the duality of life that many people experience. The song begins with the idea that life seems to offer two separate opportunities for living, one where a person lives for themselves and the other where they live for their dreams. The implication is that a person's life consists of two parts, the mundane reality of daily existence and the hope and inspiration of their dreams.
The lyrics then describe a situation where a person seems to drift through life, experiencing little excitement or passion until they encounter a dream that gives their life meaning. This dream is embodied by love, which is described as a stranger that beckons the person onward. The lyrics suggest that despite the danger inherent in this stranger, it is a risk worth taking because of the transformative power of love.
Line by Line Meaning
You only live twice or so it seems,
Life feels like it only happens once, but sometimes it feels like we get a second chance.
One life for yourself and one for your dreams.
There's a balance between doing what you need to survive and pursuing your passions.
You drift through the years and life seems tame,
As you get older, life can seem routine and uneventful.
Till one dream appears and love is its name.
But then something or someone comes along that reignites the fire in you and gives meaning to life once again.
And love is a stranger who'll beckon you on,
Love can feel mysterious and unpredictable, but it can also lead us to amazing experiences.
Don't think of the danger or the stranger is gone.
Sometimes we have to take risks to pursue what we love, and we should not let fear hold us back.
This dream is for you, so pay the price.
Achieving our dreams often requires sacrifice and hard work.
Make one dream come true, you only live twice.
If we're lucky enough to find something we're passionate about, we should do everything we can to pursue it because life is short.
Contributed by Makayla O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@RichardKoning
You only live twice
Or so it seems
One life for yourself
And one for your dreams
You drift through the years
And life seems tame
'Til one dream appears
And love is its name
And love is a stranger
Who'll beckon you on
Don't think of the danger
Or the stranger is gone
This dream is for you
So pay the price
Make one dream come true
You only live twice
And love is a stranger
Who'll beckon you on
Don't think of the danger
Or the stranger is gone
This dream is for you
So pay the price
Make one dream come true
You only live twice
@withthelightsout8518
R.I.P. Mark, you will live forever in our hearts and in your music ❤
@drdpression
I just wanted to listen to this song and have just read your comment: that's so sad, I'm stunned! R.I.P. Mark
@RichardKoning
You only live twice
Or so it seems
One life for yourself
And one for your dreams
You drift through the years
And life seems tame
'Til one dream appears
And love is its name
And love is a stranger
Who'll beckon you on
Don't think of the danger
Or the stranger is gone
This dream is for you
So pay the price
Make one dream come true
You only live twice
And love is a stranger
Who'll beckon you on
Don't think of the danger
Or the stranger is gone
This dream is for you
So pay the price
Make one dream come true
You only live twice
@cocoono11
This cover these days is so sweet and haunting. 💖
@karinabon6682
What a wonderfull musician !!!
@Sgallins
RIP Lanegan, you will be missed.
@murilodasilva9618
Voz incrível
@Olliebear38
Great cover 😀
@marialaurapanzeri2999
Love love love this
@Kerry-ft2zf
Now you know how many hearts you've touched