Layne Staley Bio

Layne Staley was the singer of Alice in Chains and Mad Season.

He was born August 22nd, 1967 one day before I would be born 18 years later.

He is one of my favourite singers and I found his personality magnetic to me. For some reason it felt like I understood some of what he did to a degree I couldn't with other people.

I guess we used to live in the same shade of gray.

Layne started life in gray and ended it the same way, the circle completed. I have no intention of that and hopefully I've learned from him what not to do.

Odds were stacked against him.

In a world with 6 billion people, it's hard to think that not one cares about you. And although it wasn't true, Layne must have felt that initial rejection from his natural father who gave away the tougher, yet more rewarding route of fatherhood instead to carry on his descent and own eventual death by drugs.

Alice In Chains was apparently put together by a producer (Mike Starr, their first bassist claimed in his biography, though many people doubt his accuracy-though weight is behind this through quotes from Layne saying "On this album (Dirt) we wrote all our own songs..."-quite strange considering Facelift songs are all credited between the band) but whatever happened, there was plenty of talent with Jerry Cantrell was the main creative force behind it.

It must have been strange to sing someone else's lyrics, and when as a singer you're the focus point for the crowd, there must have been a certain guilt getting the credit for something that wasn't truly yours.

Layne however sang the songs as if they were his own, Would? was a fine example of the synergy between Cantrell and Stayley. A song completely written by Cantrell, Layne delivers it comfortably as if he's let it inside his skin and basted in it for a few days.

Of course some songs were written by Staley, originally a drummer he did pick up some guitar and he had an interesting relationship with words.

The song "God Am" from the 1995 album "Alice in Chains" was a play on words. Some people would probably see it as childish and clumsy, but I felt a charm from it and chose to pitch its quality high in my estimation.

The lyrics read in part:

"Dear god, how have you been then?
I’m not fine, fuck pretending
All of this death you’re sending
Best throw some free heart mending
Invite you in my heart, then
When done, my sins forgiven?
This God of mine relaxes
World dies I still pay taxes

Can I be as my God am
Can you be as God am
Can I be as my God am
God of all my God am”

Cynicism is something quite common in rock stars such as Layne and Kurt Cobain. Maybe that's the reason why they invited pathetic ends to their lives.

I'm a firm believer that there is always a way out of something, and that if something wrong happens, maybe it was caused by your actions, and even if it wasn't-YOU STILL HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILTY FOR IT.

Blaming God for your own problems is one of the weakest forms of cowardice I can think of. And however much I would have liked Layne if I knew him, the self deceit would have sickened me.

It's not fair for me to judge someone-and maybe the things that led them to their situation are understandable, but it doesn't mean I'm less right in saying it doesn't have to be that way and in fact other people are in better positions to see someone else’s problems sometimes.

On Frogs, the plaintive and haunting lament to his lost love, a girl who died in a car crash-he wails "Whys it have to be! This way... this wa-ah-aay..."

It didn't have to be Layne. People have problems, but problems make people stronger, and I feel that the reason Layne drifted into a coma and died after a hearty mix of heroin and cocaine was a long time coming. He didn't face his fears in the way he had used to.
The injustice he felt by life deprived a strong man of fight, because sure, he could fight for other peoples injustices and often did-but he couldn't fight himself and the negative patterns he'd set for himself... and of course, had been set for him by his childhood.

Mad Season was an intriguing part of Layne’s musical career.

Above was their sole album and it was beautiful in the same way Baker’s Adagio For Strings could render people’s soul’s icy.

Wake Up was the best song, a 7 minutes Jazz/Blues opus that always brings a tear to my minds eye.

The lyrics start by a calling voice saying “Wake up young man, it’s time to wake up…”

Maybe it was narcissism that made him focus his music so much on himself, but I could relate to the song so much it hurt. The thoughts of a long lost father waking me from sleep and the feeling I never wanted to get up came back to me. Hiding under the sheets and waking up on winters mornings in Rencomb flooded my memory… the sticks and pebbles mixed up with the snow.

The tone of the music was very crisp, and Layne’s rapier vocals cut across the instrumentation so clearly. The boy could sing.

“Wake up young man, it’s time to wake up
Your love affair has got to go
For ten long years, for 10 long years
The leaves to rake up
Slow suicide’s no way to go
Blue clouded gray
You’re not a crack up
Dizzy and weakened by the haze
Moving onward

So and infection not a phase

The cracks and lines
From where you gave up
They make and easy man to read
For all the times you let them bleed you
For little peace from God you plead, and beg
For little peace from God you plead

Wake up young man, it’s time to wake up
Your love affair has got to go
For ten long years, for ten long years
The leaves to rake up
Slow suicide’s no way to go
Slow suicide’s no way to go
Wake up, wake up, wake up…”

The song is a message to himself, and he didn’t listen. I can believe that the only thing people ever said to him was “You’ve got to change”, but they didn’t show him ways that made him want to. They didn’t provide him with the desire to change, and I feel so bad for that, but he had to want to change and face the hard work.

There are so many interesting references in the lyrics.

He sang the line “Wake Up” as a parent to a child, instructing himself that his love affair with has to go

10 years was probably a reference to the first time he met his father in ten years, who’s main contact with him revolved around asking his own son for drugs money.

The love affair was possibly to his father’s memory, I feel that his own drug use was probably from hearing how his father wanted drugs so much, and how he needed to understand what he was given up for. When he met his father, the disappointment he must have felt would clearly be just cause to give up the day dream that it would all be blue skies and ruby sun sets.

For a man singing “slow suicide’s no way to go…” his death was hypocritical and in the end, probably the way he wanted it. Wallowing in misery and self hatred he was found by a policeman, who filed in his report “______ called and said she hadn’t heard from Layne in about 2 weeks and that with other factors had reason to be concerned. We forced entry and I saw Mr Stayley on his couch, clearly deceased.”

If only someone could have really made him think and make him see that there were better ways, but in some sort of fluke he died on almost exactly the same day as Kurt Cobain, eight years on.

An interview he gave a short while before he died showed where he was at “I don’t even get anything out of it [heroin] anymore. I just do it to stop the pain I would get if I didn’t go on it.” Layne was a smart guy, he knew that Heroin just released the chemicals already in the brain and that there was a limited supply. Rightly or wrongly he may have thought that if he kicked the habit, he’d never be happy again, so what was the use?

He died for himself.

Even if he couldn’t have things the way he wanted-there are people robbed of their lives and they don’t have the choice when to die. He did, and he choose it to be slow and painful. It was selfish, and I just hope people can forgive him, and hope that I can too.


	*A Trip Down Memory Layne*
	Layne Staley was the singer of Alice in Chains and Mad Season. He was born August 22nd, 1967 one day before I would be born 18 years later. He is one of my favourite singers and I found his personality magnetic to me. For some reason it felt like I understood some of what he did to a degree I couldn't with other people. I guess we used to live in the same shade of gray. Layne started life in gray and ended it the same way, the circle completed. I have no intention of that and hopefully I've learned from him what not to do. Odds were stacked against him. In a world with 6 billion people, it's hard to think that not one cares about you. And although it wasn't true, Layne must have felt that initial rejection from his natural father who gave away the tougher, yet more rewarding route of fatherhood instead to carry on his descent and own eventual death by drugs. Alice In Chains was apparently put together by a producer (Mike Starr, their first bassist claimed in his biography, though many people doubt his accuracy-though weight is behind this through quotes from Layne saying "On this album (Dirt) we wrote all our own songs..."-quite strange considering Facelift songs are all credited between the band) but whatever happened, there was plenty of talent with Jerry Cantrell was the main creative force behind it. It must have been strange to sing someone else's lyrics, and when as a singer you're the focus point for the crowd, there must have been a certain guilt getting the credit for something that wasn't truly yours. Layne however sang the songs as if they were his own, Would? was a fine example of the synergy between Cantrell and Stayley. A song completely written by Cantrell, Layne delivers it comfortably as if he's let it inside his skin and basted in it for a few days. Of course some songs were written by Staley, originally a drummer he did pick up some guitar and he had an interesting relationship with words. The song "God Am" from the 1995 album "Alice in Chains" was a play on words. Some people would probably see it as childish and clumsy, but I felt a charm from it and chose to pitch its quality high in my estimation. The lyrics read in part: "Dear god, how have you been then? I’m not fine, fuck pretending All of this death you’re sending Best throw some free heart mending Invite you in my heart, then When done, my sins forgiven? This God of mine relaxes World dies I still pay taxes Can I be as my God am Can you be as God am Can I be as my God am God of all my God am” Cynicism is something quite common in rock stars such as Layne and Kurt Cobain. Maybe that's the reason why they invited pathetic ends to their lives. I'm a firm believer that there is always a way out of something, and that if something wrong happens, maybe it was caused by your actions, and even if it wasn't-YOU STILL HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILTY FOR IT. Blaming God for your own problems is one of the weakest forms of cowardice I can think of. And however much I would have liked Layne if I knew him, the self deceit would have sickened me. It's not fair for me to judge someone-and maybe the things that led them to their situation are understandable, but it doesn't mean I'm less right in saying it doesn't have to be that way and in fact other people are in better positions to see someone else’s problems sometimes. On Frogs, the plaintive and haunting lament to his lost love, a girl who died in a car crash-he wails "Whys it have to be! This way... this wa-ah-aay..." It didn't have to be Layne. People have problems, but problems make people stronger, and I feel that the reason Layne drifted into a coma and died after a hearty mix of heroin and cocaine was a long time coming. He didn't face his fears in the way he had used to. The injustice he felt by life deprived a strong man of fight, because sure, he could fight for other peoples injustices and often did-but he couldn't fight himself and the negative patterns he'd set for himself... and of course, had been set for him by his childhood. Mad Season was an intriguing part of Layne’s musical career. Above was their sole album and it was beautiful in the same way Baker’s Adagio For Strings could render people’s soul’s icy. Wake Up was the best song, a 7 minutes Jazz/Blues opus that always brings a tear to my minds eye. The lyrics start by a calling voice saying “Wake up young man, it’s time to wake up…” Maybe it was narcissism that made him focus his music so much on himself, but I could relate to the song so much it hurt. The thoughts of a long lost father waking me from sleep and the feeling I never wanted to get up came back to me. Hiding under the sheets and waking up on winters mornings in Rencomb flooded my memory… the sticks and pebbles mixed up with the snow. The tone of the music was very crisp, and Layne’s rapier vocals cut across the instrumentation so clearly. The boy could sing. “Wake up young man, it’s time to wake up Your love affair has got to go For ten long years, for 10 long years The leaves to rake up Slow suicide’s no way to go Blue clouded gray You’re not a crack up Dizzy and weakened by the haze Moving onward So and infection not a phase The cracks and lines From where you gave up They make and easy man to read For all the times you let them bleed you For little peace from God you plead, and beg For little peace from God you plead Wake up young man, it’s time to wake up Your love affair has got to go For ten long years, for ten long years The leaves to rake up Slow suicide’s no way to go Slow suicide’s no way to go Wake up, wake up, wake up…” The song is a message to himself, and he didn’t listen. I can believe that the only thing people ever said to him was “You’ve got to change”, but they didn’t show him ways that made him want to. They didn’t provide him with the desire to change, and I feel so bad for that, but he had to want to change and face the hard work. There are so many interesting references in the lyrics. He sang the line “Wake Up” as a parent to a child, instructing himself that his love affair with has to go 10 years was probably a reference to the first time he met his father in ten years, who’s main contact with him revolved around asking his own son for drugs money. The love affair was possibly to his father’s memory, I feel that his own drug use was probably from hearing how his father wanted drugs so much, and how he needed to understand what he was given up for. When he met his father, the disappointment he must have felt would clearly be just cause to give up the day dream that it would all be blue skies and ruby sun sets. For a man singing “slow suicide’s no way to go…” his death was hypocritical and in the end, probably the way he wanted it. Wallowing in misery and self hatred he was found by a policeman, who filed in his report “______ called and said she hadn’t heard from Layne in about 2 weeks and that with other factors had reason to be concerned. We forced entry and I saw Mr Stayley on his couch, clearly deceased.” If only someone could have really made him think and make him see that there were better ways, but in some sort of fluke he died on almost exactly the same day as Kurt Cobain, eight years on. An interview he gave a short while before he died showed where he was at “I don’t even get anything out of it [heroin] anymore. I just do it to stop the pain I would get if I didn’t go on it.” Layne was a smart guy, he knew that Heroin just released the chemicals already in the brain and that there was a limited supply. Rightly or wrongly he may have thought that if he kicked the habit, he’d never be happy again, so what was the use? He died for himself. Even if he couldn’t have things the way he wanted-there are people robbed of their lives and they don’t have the choice when to die. He did, and he choose it to be slow and painful. It was selfish, and I just hope people can forgive him, and hope that I can too.