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Bury me softly in this womb
I give this part of me for you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers
In a tomb...in bloom
Down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved
See my heart I decorate it like a grave
You don't understand who they
Thought I was supposed to be
Look at me now a man
Who won't let himself be
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
I'd like to fly,
But my wings have been so denied
Down in a hole and they've put all
The stones in their place
I've eaten the sun so my tongue
Has been burned of the taste
I have been guilty
Of kicking myself in the teeth
I will speak no more
of my feelings beneath
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
I'd like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied
Bury me softly in this womb
Oh I want to be inside of you
I give this part of me for you
Oh I want to be inside of you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers (Oh I want to be inside of you)
In a tomb...in bloom
Oh I want to be inside...
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, outta control
I'd like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied
I give this part of me for you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers
In a tomb...in bloom
Down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved
See my heart I decorate it like a grave
You don't understand who they
Thought I was supposed to be
Look at me now a man
Who won't let himself be
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
I'd like to fly,
But my wings have been so denied
Down in a hole and they've put all
The stones in their place
I've eaten the sun so my tongue
Has been burned of the taste
I have been guilty
Of kicking myself in the teeth
I will speak no more
of my feelings beneath
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
I'd like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied
Bury me softly in this womb
Oh I want to be inside of you
I give this part of me for you
Oh I want to be inside of you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers (Oh I want to be inside of you)
In a tomb...in bloom
Oh I want to be inside...
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, outta control
I'd like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied
Lyrics submitted by Ice
Track duration: 05:46
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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. (thanks Live Freak - Beirut, Lebanon)
This was released as a single with "Rooster," another song similar to it in style, in that they both feature harmonizing between Staley and Cantrell - the softer acoustic side of the band.
On most versions of the album, this is 4th on the track list. However, there are some versions on which it appears 12th, right before the album closer "Would?"
It is, hands down, one of the best songs. Ever.
"I've eaten the sun so my tongue
Has been burned of the taste"
- He's overindulged in the sun (heroin,) which has burned his taste (senses.) Now everything he experiences does not compare to the sun. - Heroin has burned his taste of everything, and now nothing else can even compare to the happiness that heroin gives him.
He knows this is all his fault, which is why his next line is, "I have been guilty
of kicking myself in the teeth."
He'd like to break free of what he's going through, but he can't. "I'd like to fly, but my wings have been so denied."
"Bury me softly in this womb
I give this part of me for you
Sand rains down, and here I sit
Holding rare flowers in a tomb, in bloom"
The "womb" is the sadness and depression, and yet he is giving a part of himself for this one girl. The sand that is raining down is his shell, his walls, and the rare flowers are the softer parts of himself that he hides from the world. They are in bloom, meaning he is ready to show her the other side of him.
"Down in a hole, and I don't know if I can be saved
See my heart, I decorate it like a grave
Oh, you don't understand who they thought I was supposed to be
Look at me now, I'm a man who won't let himself be"
The depression is weighing down on him tremendously, and he doesn't know how to stop it. His heart is like a grave, dead, and no one understands who he is or what he wants to be. He beats himself up for it and will not let himself be.
"Down in a hole, feeling so small
Down in a hole, losing my soul
Down in a hole, feeling so small
Down in a hole, out of control
I'd like to fly, but my wings have been so denied"
He feels small, empty and possibly suicidal. He wants to feel better, but every time he does, his wings are denied, it always comes back to him.
"Down in a hole, and they put all the stones in their place
I've eaten the sun, so my tongue has been burned of the taste
I have been guilty of kicking myself in the teeth
I will speak no more of my feelings beneath"
He opens himself up for this girl, and she turns her back and rejects him. "I've eaten the sun..." he numbs the pain somehow, be it Drugs, Alcohol, Self-harm or whatever, so his tongue will be burned of the taste, so he won't feel the pain anymore. He beats himself up for it, kicks himself in the teeth, all because he scared the one he wanted away, and he decides to shut himself up once more and not speak of how he feels inside.
"Oh I want to be inside of you" is probably the lust, wanting to be with her, wanting to hold her, make love to her, everything he can't do.
That's my interpretation, thanks for reading! :)
When he talks about eating the sun, she was his sun...he's feeling guilty of devouring every bit of her beauty. She was everything to him, his entire happiness. Once you lose a happiness like that, there's no way of tasting it again...that's how much she meant to him.
"Bury me softly in this womb
I give this part of me for you"
- He longs for comfort. He's willing to put whatever soul and faith he has left into your hands, and asks for help.
"Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers
In a tomb...in bloom"
- Time goes by, and here he sits...waiting for the end, which he knows is coming...but hasn't happened yet.
"Down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved
See my heart I decorate it like a grave"
- He's given up hope. He can see what he's become, but he knows it's too late.
"You don't understand who they
Thought I was supposed to be
Look at me now a man
Who won't let himself be"
- People had expectations of him due to his talent and his celebrity. He knows he couldn't live up to those standards and now he's a broken man.
"Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
I'd like to fly,
But my wings have been so denied"
- Simple. Depression. He'd like for things to turn around...but he it's just not his fate.
*If you understand the meaning...the next verse may be the most depressing and hopeless lines ever written > *
"Down in a hole and they've put all
The stones in their place"
- People have given up on him
"I've eaten the sun so my tongue
Has been burned of the taste"
- He knows what happiness is, and realizes he will never feel it again. It may also relate to the fact that an addict is always chasing their "first high" which is always the best and something they try to feel again.
"I have been guilty
Of kicking myself in the teeth"
- He knows it's his own fault
"I will speak no more
of my feelings beneath"
- He's resigned to his fate and will bother you with it no more.
"Oh I want to be inside of you"
- He simply wishes he could feel the things you do...happiness, joy...the small things in life that make every day worth living. But it's not to be.
This may be my favorite song of all time...and especially when you see the Unplugged version...this is Layne Staley's Swan Song. I hope he's found peace.
Lane Staley gave us many clues in regards to his emotional state including his struggle w addiction in many of his songs, as well as clues to how his life might end.