Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
I have never felt such frustration
Or lack of self control
I want you to kill me
And dig me under
I want to live no more
One who doesn't care
is one who shouldn't be
I've tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me
For me
I want to taste dirty
a stinging pistol
In my mouth, on my tongue
I want you to scrape me from the walls
And go crazy
like you've made me
One who doesn't care
is one who shouldn't be
I've tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me
One who doesn't care
is one who shouldn't be
I've tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me, for me
You, you are so special
You have the talent
to make me feel like dirt
And you, you use your talent
to dig me under
And cover me with dirt
One who doesn't care
is one who shouldn't be
I've tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me
One who doesn't care
is one who shouldn't be
I've tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me
Or lack of self control
I want you to kill me
And dig me under
I want to live no more
One who doesn't care
is one who shouldn't be
I've tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me
For me
I want to taste dirty
a stinging pistol
In my mouth, on my tongue
I want you to scrape me from the walls
And go crazy
like you've made me
One who doesn't care
is one who shouldn't be
I've tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me
One who doesn't care
is one who shouldn't be
I've tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me, for me
You, you are so special
You have the talent
to make me feel like dirt
And you, you use your talent
to dig me under
And cover me with dirt
One who doesn't care
is one who shouldn't be
I've tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me
One who doesn't care
is one who shouldn't be
I've tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
Show Me a Little Shame
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
He certainly did earn that reputation.
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Personally, it pisses me off when I see that most of the conclusions that people come to (Layne's words) are all drug related. Completely missing the point of not only the song, but the tragedy woven into the words by a suffering and lonely man.
All throughout his turmoil, he retained his mental stability, although at times I am sure even he would admit to being 'out of it', but to only see "drugs" in his words dishonors the human being within. He was misunderstood in life and it seems inevitably that remains the case in death as well.
I agree it's an oversimplification to say it's all about drugs. Why would a person turn to dangerous drugs in the first place if not to numb the pain they are experiencing?<br /> <br /> A lot of the lyrics to this and other AIC songs sound like the writer suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder, IMHO.<br /> <br /> It's a very painful condition where you simultaneously crave an impossible amount of love & acceptance as an adult that you never got as a child and that no one can now give you (except yourself) and are repulsed by the craving. And you feel worthless deep down because you never received the proper validation as a child.<br /> <br /> Any small sign of rejection from someone you care about opens up a pandora's box of pain and you use hate as a shield against the pain. Or you may disconnect from all emotions to protect yourself ("One who doesn't care is one who shouldn't be/I tried to hide myself from what is wrong for me.")<br /> <br /> Eventually you may turn to drugs to numb it all (think of the song Hate to Feel) because even death seems preferable to the exhausting emotional roller coaster that seems endless and inescapable.<br /> <br /> The thing that smacks the most of BPD is the fantasy he's having to kill himself just to show someone else how much they've hurt him. And the idea of death being preferable to the frustration & lack of control over oneself & one's emotions.<br /> <br /> Just my opinion!
@SaintDLee I agree. Alot of their songs could be interpreted as being about drugs. But so could any song about extreme love/hate. People don't reallize the feelings that come with drug abuse. The guilt shame loneliness torment disappointment emptiness selfishness..etc.. not everything he wrote was about drugs. But even the ones he did write about them were really just about the underlying feelings.and the reasons he felt a need to escape to begin with. Lifelong AIC fan here, also sober Heroin addict (I call it HELL-OIN) CLEAN FOR 8 YEARS NOW!! thinking about beautiful souls and minds wasted and taken to soon such as Layne, is one if the things that keeps me going when I think of slipping up. I've lost too many friends to the stuff and the world has lost too many talented artists. God knows we could use some decent music here in 2023! Sorry for the late reply haha but yeah
This song is far better than any lamentation written in the Bible.
This is a lament from the heart, a heart about to sputter out.
This is may be one of the best songs ever penned.
@OpinionHead <br /> <br /> It's pretty fucking ignorant to compare them, they are completely different lamentations in nature: One is written, the other is musical. At the end of the day, the spirit in both is true. <br /> <br /> God, such ignorance.
sounds like Layne was talking to his addiction face to face,in the line /you are so special/you have the talent/ to make me feel like dirt/he was hating his addiction and in a essence himself for letting it control him.lots of addicts have a love/hate relationship with their addiction and this was his hate for it showing.....damn,i wish he hated more,then maybe he would'nt have died
@aicguy22 agreed................
I agree that Staley wanted to talk about heroin here, but i totally hate the way people start to argue about the meaning of the song. It could have 1000 different meanings, this is what art means, it depends on what each listener needs to hear. To me, it's about hating someone that made you feel like crap and caused you to lose self-esteem, and the need to get revenge for that. But that's just my humble opinion.
@zmonk I'd argue it still is about internal struggles within one self more so than with someone else ... but yes agree, each to their own (and your personal experiences may determine whether you see it as an internal struggle or an external one).
@zmonk Yeah I read that "it is definitely about drugs" but my interpretation is the weakness you have towards other human beings and so you choose the easy way and ask them to "bury" you"instead of trying to understand you.
It is obviously about suicidal feelings derived directly from Layne's heroin addiction. I think it is the bleakest, most depressng song I've ever heard. "One who doesn't care is one who shouldn't be" shows exactly where layne was at when this sng was written
It's just a song that's full of hatred for someone, and how he wants to make that person feel like they made him.
@Songmeaningsuser lol this isnt about a person it is about heroin addiction.........
@Songmeaningsuser it is either about his addiction or an internal struggle within himself (and not a third party) IMO
one of my favourite AiC songs. laynes vocals were always so fucking perfect!
lol
UMM...well screaming3s then you must be messed up (or not a true alice in chains fan) but Layne died from a speedball (cocain and heroin) overdoes so yea you dont know what your talking about at all!!! I think that this song id definetly anout heroin! and most of there songs are ...well thats how i see them. luv ya Lyane RIP
Mud wrestling. That gave me a good laugh.