Guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote this about the love of his life, Courtney Clarke. This song encompasses all of the insecurities and self-doubt inherent in a relationship. With singer Layne Staley singing the lyrics, this could be seen as a foreshadowing of his death from a drug overdose. He had been fighting his addiction for years, and this song can be read as part of his struggle with that.
RIGHT! see, I knew he died of an overdose (never listened to the band but growing up with grunge, kinda hard to not at least know a little about the band), and so I kinda went into the song only knowing that. The lyrics fit for me, in the same way that Hurt was about the same thing with NIN, but took on a completely different meaning when Johnny Cash sang it.
This song is a love song from guitarist Jerry Cantrell to the love of his life Courtney Clarke. Early pressings listed this as the 12th track on the Dirt album. Later pressings listed this as the 4th track on the Dirt album supposedly to fit better with the band’s desire to have the album loosely tell a story from song to song. On the Unplugged album it's the 5th track. Songwriter and guitarist Jerry Cantrell said of the song in the Music Bank box set liner notes, “Down in a Hole’s in my top three, personally. It’s to my long-time love. It’s the reality of my life, the path I’ve chosen and in a weird way it kind of foretold where we are right now. It’s hard for us to both understand…that this life is not conducive to much success with long-term relationships." Once Layne got his voice where he wanted it, it stayed there with little effort. He was always better live than studio version. Layne's vocal range can run rings around any other grunge singer in my opinion. Layne could sing the phone book and never hit a wrong note. Even at the end of his life, with no teeth and a lisp, his voice, wit and humor were all still there. Layne's voice and vocal range was so powerful he did NOT need auto tune or pro-tools until he lost his teeth and had a lisp around 1998, and even then he still killed the vocals. Barrett Martin (who played with Layne in Mad Season) said that when he stood to the side of the stage, he could hear the sound of Layne's vocal resonance come out of Layne's body LOUDER than it did coming out of the speakers, Layne's voice was that powerful. Layne's story is more tragic and haunting because you can actually watch and hear him deteriorate over the 12 year span: from the mild use of drugs in 1990 all the way through 1996 when he was deep into a heroin addiction to dropping to 90 pounds by 1998 to 86 pounds when he died in 2002. Layne was so much more than his drug addiction. He was able to come up with lyrics and harmonies off the top of his head. He knew enough to know that Jerry Cantrell was playing with the wrong people and gave him contact info for Sean Kinney and Mike Starr. He wrote the lyrics for the songs he sang on Mad Season's Above album and drew the cover art for that album. Layne was a genius in his own right. He still was able to figure things out in a snap off the top of his head. Layne just had his demons. With MTV Unplugged, when Layne finally gave the Okay to do it. They were supposed to rehearse in Seattle but NO one showed up. Sean, Mike and Jerry would show up at different times but Layne would be MIA or Layne would show up for one or two songs and then leave. When they finally got to New York, Sean and Mike had an argument with Jerry because they thought with Layne's condition and addiction, he wouldn't be able to hit the high notes. Jerry was the ONLY ONE who was confident that Layne could do it. When you watch DOWN IN A HOLE Unplugged, and Layne hits that high note, you see Jerry look over at Sean and Mike with this "I TOLD YOU SO!" smirk. Layne did it again on ROOSTER Unplugged and Jerry did that same smirk. The Unplugged show in 1996 is so heartbreaking to watch because Layne was deep in his heroin addiction (and yes, I know he was doing other drugs on top of Heroin). His liver was damaged and he knew it. He was just high enough to do the show to fight off withdrawal symptoms and he didn't get dope sick. He was such a ghost of himself during Unplugged. (Of course, Jerry had food poisoning) All Jerry saw when he looked over at Layne was his best friend was going to die soon due to the path Layne had chosen for his life. That show was filmed in April, 1996, premiered in May 1996. They did four shows with KISS in June-July 1996, after which Layne survived an overdose and became a recluse. After that, it was a six-year-long slow suicide. MTV (and the music industry) has more or less blackballed Layne (and yet, they laud over Kurt Cobain every April 5th, because Kurt was the "face of grunge", meanwhile Layne gets a "by the way"). The Grammys went so far as to invite Jerry, Mike and Sean to the Grammy show in 2003 and then refused to put Layne's picture up in the memorial of the musicians who died in 2002. (Or they "forgot" to) which pissed Jerry, Mike and Sean off and they walked out on the show. The friendship between Jerry and Layne was unbreakable. Jerry NEVER once thought of replacing Layne as the singer while Layne was still alive. He always wanted Layne to sing whenever he had AIC do something. If there were ever cosmic soulmates ... Layne and Jerry would be it. (And by that I mean, they were Sympatico with each other. The way they sang together was a perfect pitch where two voices make one. What you hear and see between Jerry and Layne was a genuine friendship. They looked after each other. When one had problems with a song, the other picked up the slack. They were a team. Jerry was doing a solo concert in Charlotte, NC when he heard that Layne was found two weeks after he died and Jerry was trying to get through the concert and crying. He did shows between the time he found out about Layne until Layne's funeral because if he had taken a break then, he didn't think he'd want to continue anything later after the mourning period. Alice In Chains was a band, but they were also a family. They had internal issues just like any family. When Layne died, it was like losing a loved one, a family member, you don't think of the fights you had with the person who died. You defend their memory. There is a reason Jerry wrote NO EXCUSES about Layne and the line "You, my friend, I will defend / And if we change, well, I'll love you anyway." "Whatever dramas are going on in my life, I always find that place inside my head where I see myself as the cleanest, tallest, strongest, wisest person that I can be." -- Layne Staley "My bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and my talent are my title." -- Layne Staley "When I tried drugs they were fucking great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me - and now I'm walking through hell and this sucks. I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them. I didn't want my fans to think heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen." -- Layne Staley "My grandmother and mother were such huge losses, but I got Layne, the guys, and I got this.” - Jerry Cantrell, Kerrang! (December 1, 2018) “Jerry really loved Layne [Staley]. They had a bond I haven't seen before,” Jerry’s former manager Bill Siddons, April 19, 2002 (the day Layne was found two weeks after he died).
The Unplugged show has a lot of sentimental value but it’s not a good representation of the band. Layne Staley (lead singer) was heavy into his addiction at this point and was a shadow of his former self. I recommend watching them when Layne was in his prime - their Live at the Moore show was unbelievable. As for the band as a whole, I believe they were the best out of the Seattle bands in terms of musicianship and songwriting. Jerry Cantrell (guitarist) is a next level songwriter.
This whole Unplugged show is a masterpiece, especially Nutshell. But some of the heavier stuff is just as good. And Laynes song "River Of Deceit" with the band Mad Season is fantastic!
At 5:30 in your video, Jerry nods and smiles to the rest of the band. Layne was really deep into his addiction and I like to think Jerry was nodding and saying to himself "THIS is Layne".
I noticed a similar thing during Puddle of Mudds acoustic cover of Nirvanas About A Girl. Just a little nod from the band to appreciate the glimmer of genius they’re seeing from a fellow band mate, it was really cool. You should check out the video I made of it, it’s a lovely version of the song if you haven’t already heard it.
Listen to the studio or early live shows to really hear Layne Staley, he was dying from heroin and lost a lot of power in his voice. This unplugged set is good, but not for the first time hearing the song.
@@markabusireactions For sure, they sound good here. Once you hear the studio version though you can tell how much power he lost in his voice by the time this unplugged was recorded.
I am begging you to delve into more Alice in Chains. Especially live versions because in my opinion, their live versions are so much better than studio. Especially Love, Hate, Love live at the Moose
Just came back to say that Plush (another great young female band who toured with The Warning last year and has also toured with AIC) does an awesome cover of this song!🤘
![Run Away - Tzuyu(TWICE) ツウィ 쯔위 [Music Bank] | KBS WORLD TV 240906](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KnHNNyAYiu0/mqdefault.jpg)
"Love, Hate, Love" live from the Moore theater if you want to see Layne's best.
Please do this one! It’s absolutely fantastic.
Try Love Hate Love at the Moore you might have a new #1 singer.Layne was something else 😉
Totally agree😊
Guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote this about the love of his life, Courtney Clarke. This song encompasses all of the insecurities and self-doubt inherent in a relationship.
With singer Layne Staley singing the lyrics, this could be seen as a foreshadowing of his death from a drug overdose. He had been fighting his addiction for years, and this song can be read as part of his struggle with that.
RIGHT! see, I knew he died of an overdose (never listened to the band but growing up with grunge, kinda hard to not at least know a little about the band), and so I kinda went into the song only knowing that. The lyrics fit for me, in the same way that Hurt was about the same thing with NIN, but took on a completely different meaning when Johnny Cash sang it.
Try out ALICE IN CHAINS' "Rooster" - you might enjoy it. As always, thanks for your straightforward reaction.
I think I will! And you’re welcome lol
This song is a love song from guitarist Jerry Cantrell to the love of his life Courtney Clarke. Early pressings listed this as the 12th track on the Dirt album. Later pressings listed this as the 4th track on the Dirt album supposedly to fit better with the band’s desire to have the album loosely tell a story from song to song. On the Unplugged album it's the 5th track.
Songwriter and guitarist Jerry Cantrell said of the song in the Music Bank box set liner notes, “Down in a Hole’s in my top three, personally. It’s to my long-time love. It’s the reality of my life, the path I’ve chosen and in a weird way it kind of foretold where we are right now. It’s hard for us to both understand…that this life is not conducive to much success with long-term relationships."
Once Layne got his voice where he wanted it, it stayed there with little effort. He was always better live than studio version. Layne's vocal range can run rings around any other grunge singer in my opinion. Layne could sing the phone book and never hit a wrong note. Even at the end of his life, with no teeth and a lisp, his voice, wit and humor were all still there. Layne's voice and vocal range was so powerful he did NOT need auto tune or pro-tools until he lost his teeth and had a lisp around 1998, and even then he still killed the vocals.
Barrett Martin (who played with Layne in Mad Season) said that when he stood to the side of the stage, he could hear the sound of Layne's vocal resonance come out of Layne's body LOUDER than it did coming out of the speakers, Layne's voice was that powerful.
Layne's story is more tragic and haunting because you can actually watch and hear him deteriorate over the 12 year span: from the mild use of drugs in 1990 all the way through 1996 when he was deep into a heroin addiction to dropping to 90 pounds by 1998 to 86 pounds when he died in 2002.
Layne was so much more than his drug addiction. He was able to come up with lyrics and harmonies off the top of his head. He knew enough to know that Jerry Cantrell was playing with the wrong people and gave him contact info for Sean Kinney and Mike Starr. He wrote the lyrics for the songs he sang on Mad Season's Above album and drew the cover art for that album. Layne was a genius in his own right. He still was able to figure things out in a snap off the top of his head. Layne just had his demons.
With MTV Unplugged, when Layne finally gave the Okay to do it. They were supposed to rehearse in Seattle but NO one showed up. Sean, Mike and Jerry would show up at different times but Layne would be MIA or Layne would show up for one or two songs and then leave. When they finally got to New York, Sean and Mike had an argument with Jerry because they thought with Layne's condition and addiction, he wouldn't be able to hit the high notes. Jerry was the ONLY ONE who was confident that Layne could do it. When you watch DOWN IN A HOLE Unplugged, and Layne hits that high note, you see Jerry look over at Sean and Mike with this "I TOLD YOU SO!" smirk. Layne did it again on ROOSTER Unplugged and Jerry did that same smirk.
The Unplugged show in 1996 is so heartbreaking to watch because Layne was deep in his heroin addiction (and yes, I know he was doing other drugs on top of Heroin). His liver was damaged and he knew it. He was just high enough to do the show to fight off withdrawal symptoms and he didn't get dope sick. He was such a ghost of himself during Unplugged. (Of course, Jerry had food poisoning) All Jerry saw when he looked over at Layne was his best friend was going to die soon due to the path Layne had chosen for his life. That show was filmed in April, 1996, premiered in May 1996. They did four shows with KISS in June-July 1996, after which Layne survived an overdose and became a recluse. After that, it was a six-year-long slow suicide.
MTV (and the music industry) has more or less blackballed Layne (and yet, they laud over Kurt Cobain every April 5th, because Kurt was the "face of grunge", meanwhile Layne gets a "by the way"). The Grammys went so far as to invite Jerry, Mike and Sean to the Grammy show in 2003 and then refused to put Layne's picture up in the memorial of the musicians who died in 2002. (Or they "forgot" to) which pissed Jerry, Mike and Sean off and they walked out on the show.
The friendship between Jerry and Layne was unbreakable. Jerry NEVER once thought of replacing Layne as the singer while Layne was still alive. He always wanted Layne to sing whenever he had AIC do something. If there were ever cosmic soulmates ... Layne and Jerry would be it. (And by that I mean, they were Sympatico with each other. The way they sang together was a perfect pitch where two voices make one. What you hear and see between Jerry and Layne was a genuine friendship. They looked after each other. When one had problems with a song, the other picked up the slack. They were a team.
Jerry was doing a solo concert in Charlotte, NC when he heard that Layne was found two weeks after he died and Jerry was trying to get through the concert and crying. He did shows between the time he found out about Layne until Layne's funeral because if he had taken a break then, he didn't think he'd want to continue anything later after the mourning period.
Alice In Chains was a band, but they were also a family. They had internal issues just like any family. When Layne died, it was like losing a loved one, a family member, you don't think of the fights you had with the person who died. You defend their memory. There is a reason Jerry wrote NO EXCUSES about Layne and the line "You, my friend, I will defend / And if we change, well, I'll love you anyway."
"Whatever dramas are going on in my life, I always find that place inside my head where I see myself as the cleanest, tallest, strongest, wisest person that I can be." -- Layne Staley
"My bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and my talent are my title." -- Layne Staley
"When I tried drugs they were fucking great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me - and now I'm walking through hell and this sucks. I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them. I didn't want my fans to think heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen." -- Layne Staley
"My grandmother and mother were such huge losses, but I got Layne, the guys, and I got this.” - Jerry Cantrell, Kerrang! (December 1, 2018)
“Jerry really loved Layne [Staley]. They had a bond I haven't seen before,” Jerry’s former manager Bill Siddons, April 19, 2002 (the day Layne was found two weeks after he died).
The Unplugged show has a lot of sentimental value but it’s not a good representation of the band. Layne Staley (lead singer) was heavy into his addiction at this point and was a shadow of his former self. I recommend watching them when Layne was in his prime - their Live at the Moore show was unbelievable. As for the band as a whole, I believe they were the best out of the Seattle bands in terms of musicianship and songwriting. Jerry Cantrell (guitarist) is a next level songwriter.
Love hate love live from the Moore will blow ypur socks off !
On the list it goes!
Then you have a new sub.from Norway.❤
@@SaraKvammen-tx7qc aww thank you!! ☺️☺️
Alice in chains is my all time favorite grunge band and they are definitely worth checking out, guaranteed 👌
This whole Unplugged show is a masterpiece, especially Nutshell. But some of the heavier stuff is just as good. And Laynes song "River Of Deceit" with the band Mad Season is fantastic!
At 5:30 in your video, Jerry nods and smiles to the rest of the band. Layne was really deep into his addiction and I like to think Jerry was nodding and saying to himself "THIS is Layne".
I noticed a similar thing during Puddle of Mudds acoustic cover of Nirvanas About A Girl. Just a little nod from the band to appreciate the glimmer of genius they’re seeing from a fellow band mate, it was really cool. You should check out the video I made of it, it’s a lovely version of the song if you haven’t already heard it.
Nirvana gets all the praise, Alice in Chains is the best band from Seattle and I don't think it's really that close.
You would be correct if it weren’t for Sunny Day Real Estate my dude! ☺️
@@markabusireactions lol sure
@@ChadH2023 aw don’t, I love that band. You’re tearing me apart, Chad!
@@markabusireactions I'm joshing you. Nice vid sir 👍
@@ChadH2023 thank you!! ☺️
Listen to the studio or early live shows to really hear Layne Staley, he was dying from heroin and lost a lot of power in his voice. This unplugged set is good, but not for the first time hearing the song.
I mean, I thought he sounded pretty damn good lol
@@markabusireactions For sure, they sound good here. Once you hear the studio version though you can tell how much power he lost in his voice by the time this unplugged was recorded.
You’re an idiot. This is one of the best performances ever.
You should check out Alice In Chains - “again”! Great reaction!
I am begging you to delve into more Alice in Chains. Especially live versions because in my opinion, their live versions are so much better than studio. Especially Love, Hate, Love live at the Moose
Layne Staley R.I.P. After Layne died no one thought AIC would carry on but they found a singer in William Duvall who sounds remarkably similar :)
Genuinely couldn’t tell you either way, but I do know that guy has an absolute belter of a voice. Much better than I was expecting!
It is definitely Layne trust me.
Eh? 😂
You should check out “Them Bones” if you want something a bit heavier. Or for something similar to this, “Rooster” is amazing.
I admit I haven't heard much from AIC, though I did hear "I'm Eighteen" and enjoyed it.
Wrong band, that was Alice Cooper.
@@moefeaux1442 My bad. Thanks for the correction
Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell, coupla great voices. You missed out not listening to AIC and STP. More AIC please! Check out Man in the Box 🙌🤘
Just came back to say that Plush (another great young female band who toured with The Warning last year and has also toured with AIC) does an awesome cover of this song!🤘
In my opinion Layne Staley is one of the best of the best.He had something besides talent.
He did sound amazing, I still need to check out more
Is an emotional banger a type of sausage?
It’s like a spicy chipolata