well,I am pretty sure this song is for his lost fiance' Demri,who died in 1996 from I geuss heroin overdose,but I've heard different story,but it makes sense,he loved her,and now he's with her again..RIP Layne,your with Demri now

i have to agree with aicguy22. this song is most certainly about Demri who died of heart complications as a result of heroin use. Layne didn't take her passing very well, especially since he hadn't seen her for a while before she died. that is one of the main reasons why he became a total recluse in '96. this song was released on Music Bank in '99, so i dont think it was written in AIC's early days.

SworntotheBlack,your right,it was writen when Get Born again was written,back in 99,months before they release Music Bank....and your right too about the heart complications

Yeah it is about her. Anyone find it ironic that this was Alice in Chains last song they recorded together? And it was called "Died!" talk about bad luck Staley. he should have written one called "gonna stop doing Heroin"
After Layne died I was reading and Died, Get born again and another one were the last 3 songs they recorded together

Good song real raw i wish they couldve finished it,it is sad that this had to be the last song recorded ny the band kinda fitting ending i guess

Yeah, it is fitting that the last AIC song was Died. However, they all saw it coming. I mean, they knew they were going to have a tough time after they got back together from there first "hiatus." Susan Silver said that self destruction was not far off for the band when she ended managing them.

"Over Now" was the last song on Tripod. Jerry hinted it was like that for a reason. They pretty much knew that it would be the last album, or at least there wouldn't be one following it soon. They also used that song to end there "Unplugged" Session. (the TV show, not the CD or DVD) That was there last real National public appearance. Over Now was the real closer for AIC. Died was more of a coincidence.

i always thought of this as an early song, just the way it sounded really. Kinda raw.

Very moody, very dark, very cool.

while this isn't a bad song, it sounds to me that they didn't finish it. it sounds like they didn't give it much work in the studio. layne's vocals sound pretty different from usual, notably in the chorus. i'm not saying it sounds bad, just pretty different.

my biased opinion, don't take it personally: you're all wrong.

my interpretation of the song, again, don't get mad at me, i'm just being raw, much like the song.

if anyone knows much 'bout Layne Staley(i know a little bit, he's one of my vocal idols), they know he had a long time search for his father, who he lost as a child. When Layne + dad met, Layne wound up using heroin because of his father's addiction, and a cash flow from Layne's newfound money from rock fame. Layne found out his dad was a jackass anyways.. was severly depressed about it.

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Actual lyric-to-explanation:

"still you leave me rotting on the rock all alone"

His dad abondoned him as a child.

I almost cried at work listening to this shit. Reminds me directly about my life. Personal stuff, I know, but hey- it's music.

"it's my fault for knowing not what I should have known"

Layne believed it was not what fate wanted when he pushed the search for the skeleton-in-the-closet of a father he had. He believed it was a wrong decision to pursue the information found about his father's whereabouts.

Sorry if this lacks detail, I'm ...... :D

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I think this is a beautiful song. It's brutally honest and really exposes Layne's emotional side. "My heart is tired of beating slow" is particularly powerful. I also had assumed that it was an early recording...but it makes better sense that it is one of the last. I think the unpolished sound adds to its charm.

Man talk about coincidence...Demri cuz of heroin and wuznt discovered till weeks later...hmmm so wuz stayley...I feel bad for cantrell that guy is a survivor him and Kinney...i'm not gonna say Inez cuz he wuz w/ them shortly but I LOVE ALL OF THE MEMBERS of AIC and i pray for them alot...just cant wait for new stuffs as of 2007

i heard this was a song Jerry was working on for his solo album, showed it to Layne, and it picked him up and back into the band. my guess is that Cantrell really tried to keep the band together, I don't think it was his choice to go solo (especially considering his first solo album even featured Inez and Kinney). I think his heart was in Alice much more than Staley's - Layne said on many occasions that music is just one of his outlets, while Cantrell imo really was the prolific member of the group, writing most of the music and lyrics, with Staley mainly contributing his charm. And its pretty obvious in hindsight that the drugs and shit got in the way of Layne's work. Don't get me wrong, I love Layne, and aic would not have been the insightful, tormented, funny, dark, epic and tragic band they were without him; but at the same time I see him as a weight that held them back. I'm astounded by Jerry's patience, how he kept his cool, stood up for Layne and made excuses for him, interview after interview and show after show... theres no better place to see that than on the unplugged show. The couple of outtakes they included on that were apparently of many - they hadn't played for 3 years and Staley was obviously sick and probably loaded. Even now Jerry is basically forced to mention Layne's legacy every time he speaks or plays. How would you like to have to mention your dead friend every single day? Fuck it, Jerry is my hero - I can't believe the strength of that man.

Although Jerry wrote that great riff and intended it for his solo album, I don't know if he had any lyrics for it. If this was written by Staley then it's certainly about Demri imho. It starts out saying he wants to go to heaven and find out where all the junkies go (to find Demri). He blames himself - he knew she was killing herself with heroin, but only now knows that he should have done something.

Next verse, he talks of visiting hell, and seeing all the fun things to do there. Maybe that's a metaphor for drugs itself.

The chorus is about Staley losing a will to live and will to work. He hardly released anything after Demri's death. I see her passing as the last straw with his fight against heroin. It seems to me that from that point he had nothing to live for but the drug.

"And it was called "Died!" talk about bad luck Staley. he should have written one called "gonna stop doing Heroin" " ... funny yet sickening... and Negrum, Inez was there from 92.. a decade before the death of Staley. I'm pretty sure he felt the effects of Layne's death as bad as any of them.

Good luck Jerry, Mike and Sean, and rest in peace Layne & Demri.

hey, the lyrics are sort of wrong


"My heart is dried up beating slow,
its been deflating since you died"

and the second verse

"visit all attractions slipping past genocide"

Does anyone think this song sounds really upbeat for what it's about? Especially for how they can normally make a song sound so melancholy and hopeless..?

I think nothingsacred is right about some of the lyrics, but I believe it's a combination of the two. I think he's refrencing his father, but also his girlfriend Demri. "You just up and left me on this rock all alone" I think refers to his father, but the second verse "You just left me rotting on this rock all alone" I think refers to his girlfriend dying, because his father left him in childhood, but his girlfriend left him rotting for good. The first parts of both verses seem like visiting heaven and hell, like ductape said, and the chorus is just giving up. Knowing he has nothing left to live for. The guy couldn't even get his fix anymore... he was just preventing himself from dying from withdrawal. I think most people here probably watched the interview where he said he wasn't getting high anymore, he was dope sick, puking and shitting himself all the time. At least he's in a better place now.

RIP Layne Staley

"you just up and left me on this rock all alone" obviously refers to demri going to heaven and leaving staley behind on earth all alone(rock all alone)