Photo was taken from a mural in a buffet restaurant. The restaurant is Alley located in Ayala Malls By the Bay. I was truly surprised to see Layne Staley's image plastered on a corner wall(beside the restroom). I cant help but take a pic. Kudos to the artist for a great wall artwork and to the owner of the resto.
There were so many great bands from Seattle during the 90s era that created the grunge scene. We had Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth and Alice in Chains. I like all of them. They were all noisy yet artistic, however Alice in Chains was sort of different. I would probably claim Alice in Chains has the best melodies among the grunge bands mentioned.
My only reason I don't listen to all of their songs is it can suck you in to their melancholy. They just have this hypnotic allure to their sound but I try to avoid some of their songs even though tI like them very much. Dont get me wrong, they're the best, truly, but mostly they have many songs bordering on negative energy.
One of the songs I retain on my playlist is "Don't Follow."
First reason to listen to this wonderful song is its just really very melodic and pleasing to the war. It's not heavy, rather it's like a chill song Alice in Chains style.
The vibe is not really negative if you think about it although it might come off at first. From the title it says dont follow as it is talking about parting ways but then it's also making the other party realize their mistakes.
To put context on this song, Layne is kind of wallowing in substance abuse at that time and the bandmates have been trying to save him. The leader of the band Jerry Cantrell, who also writes most of the songs including this one, has been the staunched messiah for Layne. Finally he got fed up and just wanted to part ways after completing the next album.
He wrote this song about this situation. The genius about this song is the style. Even the song is split in two. The first part is sung by the leaver (Cantrell)
*"Hey, I ain't never coming home
Hey, I'll just wander my own road
Hey, hey, I can't meet you here tomorrow, no
Say goodbye, don't follow
Misery so hollow
Hey you, you're livin' life full throttle
Hey you, pass me down that bottle, yeah
Hey, hey you, you can't shake me 'round now
I get so lost and don't know how, yeah
And it hurts to care, I'm going down"*
Then the leavee (Staley) answers:
*Ooh, forgot my woman, lost my friends
Things I'd done and where I've been
Sleep in sweat, the mirror's cold
See my face, it's growin' old
Scared to death, no reason why
Do whatever to get me by
Think about the things I said
Read the page, it's cold and dead
And take me home
Yeah, take me home, oh oh
Take me home
Take me home, yeah
Take me home"
They call this style two-sides-of-a-story type of thing. Cantrell made it this way because its a split up song.
After finishing the album, and with all the band drama, Staley finally realized that his bandmates were just looking after him, and being the trooper that he is, went on to rehab. So they didn't split up the band in the end.
The song may come off as negative but it struck a cord on Staley that he really needed to do something with his problem.
This is not a typical grinding noisy type that Alice in Chains is known for. In fact it sounds more country.
Here's the link:
Credits to the owner of the video
This literally gave me goosebumps when I heard it. This song is what made me an AIC fan.
Enjoy the song. God bless💖