While "Good" earned the band critical notoriety and substantial underground cred, they did not -- with this release or any subsequent -- break into the mainstream. After the release of Good, the band replaced Dupree with Billy Conway, a former bandmate of Sandman. Morphine's 1992 release of Cure for Pain, promoted by heavy touring, received some mainstream positive attention, selling over 300,000 copies worldwide and spawning a chart hit in many countries with the single Buena
Subsequent releases include Yes and Like Swimming.
On July 3, 1999, Mark Sandman collapsed on stage in Palestrina, Italy, a suburb of Rome. He was pronounced dead of a heart attack at the scene. He was 46. Morphine released The Night -- arguably their best effort -- posthumously in 2000.
After Sandman's death, the remaining band members reformed and continued to record as Twinemen and later as The Ever Expanding Elastic Waste Band
In 2004, the Mark Sandman box set Sandbox was released by Hi-n-Dry, Mark Sandman's own label. It contains two CDs and a DVD of previously unreleased material spanning Sandman’s musical career. The DVD features clips from early Sandman shows, interviews from the Morphine tours, and various videos from other Sandman solo and group projects, such as Treat Her Right.
"Some day there'll be a cure for pain,
And that's the day I throw my drugs away" - Mark Sandman
Links:
The Other Side - A Morphine Fanzine
Morphine at Myspace
Empty Box
Morphine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No meaning to me, just an empty box
Sender was a woman
Sender was a woman
She said, she's sending me everything that I, I
I never gave her before
She said, "Fill it up and send it back
So I sent her back an empty box
A big mistake, sent back an empty box
Half in the shadows, half in the husky moonlight
And half insane just a sound
I cross them to a valley, a valley so dark
That when I look back, I can't see where I began
I can't see my hands, I don't even know if my eyes are open
In the mornin' I was by the sea
And I swam out as far as I could swim
Until' I was too tired to swim anymore
And then I floated
And tried to get my strength back
And then an empty box came floatin' by
An empty box and I crawled inside
Half in the shadows, half in the husky moonlight
And half insane just a sound in the night
Half in the shadows, half in the husky moonlight
And half insane just a sound
Alright
The song "Empty Box" by Morphine presents an enigmatic story of a man who received a package from a woman containing an empty box. Despite the absence of any meaningful object inside, the sender insisted for the man to fill it up and send it back. Instead, he mistakenly returns an empty box back to her. Filled with regret and confusion, the man walks into a valley so deep that he cannot see where he first started. In the valley, he loses his sense of reality - he no longer knows if his eyes are even open. He then wakes up by the sea and swims out as far as he could. Exhausted, he sees an empty box floating by and crawls inside.
The ambiguous lyrics of "Empty Box" can be interpreted in various ways, and it is unclear what the actual meaning of the song is. Still, it is possible to draw some conclusions from the possible references presented in the song. The empty box can symbolize a gift that is devoid of any significant meaning to the receiver. The man's disorientation and confusion can represent a mental state of a person who has lost touch with his reality. Finally, the empty box's presence throughout the song can be interpreted as a metaphor for the void left in the man's life that he cannot fill.
Line by Line Meaning
Tore open the package it was an empty box
I opened the package and found it to be completely empty.
Sender was a woman
The package was sent to me by a female sender.
She said, she's sending me everything that I, I, I never gave her before
The woman claimed to have sent me everything that I had never given to her before.
She said, "Fill it up and send it back, fill it up and send it back"
She instructed me to fill the box with something and send it back to her.
So I sent her back an empty box, a big mistake, sent back an empty box
By mistake, I returned an empty box to her instead of filling it up with something.
Half in the shadows, half in the husky moonlight, and half insane just a sound
I was in a state of confusion and distress, wandering in the night with my emotions all over the place.
I cross them to a valley, a valley so dark, that when I look back, I can't see where I began
I ventured into a dark and unknown valley, so much so that it was impossible for me to trace my steps back.
I can't see my hands, I don't even know if my eyes are open
I was so lost in the darkness that I couldn't even see my own hands or tell whether I was opening my eyes or not.
In the mornin' I was by the sea, and I swam out as far as I could swim, until' I was too tired to swim anymore, and then I floated, and tried to get my strength back
I found myself by the sea in the morning and swam as far as I could until I was exhausted, then I floated on water, trying to restore my strength.
And then an empty box came floatin' by, an empty box and I crawled inside
As I floated on the sea, an empty box drifted by and I entered it.
Half in the shadows, half in the husky moonlight, and half insane just a sound in the night, half in the shadows, half in the husky moonlight, and half insane just a sound
In the dark night, I remained bewildered and overwhelmed, partly hidden and partly visible to anyone who looked in my direction.
Alright
The song ends with a simple affirmative statement.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Mark Sandman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bpbw
Tore open the package it was an empty box
No meaning to me, just an empty box
Sender was a woman
Sender was a woman
She said, she's sending me everything that I, I
I never gave her before
She said, "Fill it up and send it back
Fill it up and send it back"
So I sent her back an empty box
A big mistake, sent back an empty box
Half in the shadows, half in the husky moonlight
And half insane just a sound
I cross them to a valley, a valley so dark
That when I look back, I can't see where I began
I can't see my hands, I don't even know if my eyes are open
In the mornin' I was by the sea
And I swam out as far as I could swim
Until' I was too tired to swim anymore
And then I floated
And tried to get my strength back
And then an empty box came floatin' by
An empty box and I crawled inside
Half in the shadows, half in the husky moonlight
And half insane just a sound in the night
Half in the shadows, half in the husky moonlight
And half insane just a sound
Alright
@marcsalzman8082
They just had their own thing, thank the good Lord I was able to see them live & they were truly amazing
@jardel_lucca
I truly envy you
@lourdesmata9225
Just discovered this song and I’m in love. It never ceases to amaze me how a song from 25 years ago can still resonate. The magic of music <3
@igorsanmartin7654
While I'm drinking whiskey right now this song reminds me a part of my life that wasn't that good, but I miss that!
R.I.P Mark, true music here!
@nyauni
Same here.
@Bootsyfruit
There is no other band like Morphine on planet Earth!!!! This song exudes this!!!!!! RIP Mark Sandman...
@user-oe3in1kv6p
Я тащусь, это просто стиль
@gabrielcastro9658
Que hermosa canción. Con los espacios para que la canción pueda respirar. Enorme banda Morphine. Saludos de un fan argentino. 🇦🇷 🎷
@Noel_13
Abrazo grande amigo. Es una banda tremenda. Saludos.
@mateoportas4121
1:34 that bass line is brain melting