Monday, May 2, 2011

And... We're Back.

Hey all, thanks for bearing with me during the break.

So, during my short time away, I listened to a lot of music. More specifically, Seattle's own Alice in Chains. Now, I've been listening to them for a good long while, but it wasn't until I started this blog that I noticed this. I've been dying to make this post for a while.

This entry is going to be a little different than usual, and depending on the feedback, I might do every new entry like this. I'm going to interpret the short entirety of their song Nutshell from the 1994 album, Jar of Flies

We chase misprinted lies
We face the path of time
And yet I fight
And yet I fight
This battle all alone
No one to cry to
No place to call home

Oooh... Oooh...
Oooh... Oooh...

My gift of self is raped
My privacy is raked
And yet I find
And yet I find
Repeating in my head
If I can't be my own
I'd feel better dead

The last 2 lines are the most interesting to me, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Overall, I think this is a song about Layne's outlook on life in general, with the second verse about how the media/world is destroying his sense of privacy, and disallows him to be himself. 

"We chase misprinted lies, we face the path of time." To me, this reads as "We're so desperate for the truth, we'll follow your lies, since it's all we have." 
"And yet I fight, and yet I fight this battle all alone. No one to cry to, no place to call home." I think this is pretty self explanatory, but I can't tell if he means that his "battle" is his life, or his addiction. Either way, he feels that he has nobody to help him get through it, nor a shoulder to cry on.

"My gift of self is raped, my privacy is raked." Like I had said earlier, I think part of this song is about how the public is destroying his sense of self, and I think this could be a partial cause of his falling into a recluse life when his fiancee died. Would you want cameras in your face after something like that? 

And now, the part of the song that always hits me hardest. 
"If I can't be my own, I'd feel better dead." I always thought that this was the song that allows you get to know the singer on an emotional level you wouldn't hear in any other of his songs. But this line is pretty up front about what he means, it just always pulls me into the song when I listen to this song.

This is what I believe to be the best Layne Staley tribute video on YouTube, brought to you by "seaofsorrow17". It is currently the most viewed tribute video to Layne Staley, and for very good reason. See for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfFtyOpwQkQ

Imagine for a minute that this was your life. Addicted to heroin, convinced that you're alone, being the singer for one of the biggest acts to come out of Seattle in the '90s, with the public always in your face. What would you do? 



Thanks for reading.


8 comments:

  1. Welcome back! Glad to see your posting again!

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  2. Never heard that band before, interesting though!

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  3. Hey, new follower, have you ever heard of Dubstep? I just got a new headset, spent quite a bit of dough on it... Anyway, seeya

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  4. Umm... I've heard of it. It's not really my thing, though.

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  5. Sounds cool, I might have to check them out.

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  6. So, should I continue my posts like this, or what? I was also thinking about changing the blog entirely.

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