Sing Backwards and Weep
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4.7 • 116 Ratings
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- $22.99
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
This gritty bestselling memoir by the singer Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age, and Soulsavers documents his years as a singer and drug addict in Seattle in the '80s and '90s.
When Mark Lanegan first arrived in Seattle in the mid-1980s, he was just "an arrogant, self-loathing redneck waster seeking transformation through rock 'n' roll." Little did he know that within less than a decade he would rise to fame as the frontman of the Screaming Trees and then fall from grace as a low-level crack dealer and a homeless heroin addict, all the while watching some of his closest friends rocket to the forefront of popular music.
In Sing Backwards and Weep, Lanegan takes readers back to the sinister, needle-ridden streets of Seattle, to an alternative music scene that was simultaneously bursting with creativity and dripping with drugs. He tracks the tumultuous rise and fall of the Screaming Trees, from a brawling, acid-rock bar band to world-famous festival favorites that scored a hit number five single on Billboard's alternative charts and landed a notorious performance on Late Night with David Letterman, where Lanegan appeared sporting a fresh black eye from a brawl the night before. This book also dives into Lanegan's personal struggles with addiction, culminating in homelessness, petty crime, and the tragic deaths of his closest friends. From the back of the van to the front of the bar, from the hotel room to the emergency room, onstage, backstage, and everywhere in between, Sing Backwards and Weep reveals the abrasive underlining beneath one of the most romanticized decades in rock history-from a survivor who lived to tell the tale.
Gritty, gripping, and unflinchingly raw, Sing Backwards and Weep is a book about more thanjust an extraordinary singer who watched hisdreams catch fire and incinerate the groundbeneath his feet. It's about a man who learnedhow to drag himself from the wreckage, dust offthe ashes, and keep living and creating.
"Mark Lanegan—primitive, brutal, and apocalyptic. What's not to love?" —Nick Cave, author of The Sick Bag Song and The Death of Bunny Munro
Customer Reviews
Amazing
Listening to Mark read this book adds a whole new level of power
Fellow Survivor
By far the most intense and honest autobiography of any of the musicians books I’ve read. He will take you through a gauntlet of emotions Often with a wry sardonic humor that had me hooked from the start. I bought in audio book format which was in Mark’s own voice. I would love to read (or hear) a follow-up book if he has time between all the great music he’s making!
Raw and authentic, truly Mark Lanegan.
My experience with this book slowly changed as I continued reading. Mark tells about his perilous journey with addiction, the rock and roll scene of his time, and many more challenging experiences. His words are so raw, so be expecting of a graphic memoir.
The book is narrated by mark himself. At the start, I was a bit turned off due to how he conveys emotion in scenarios with dialogue between characters that he’s acting out. The story also ends on what I would consider a cliff-hanger. It was definitely unexpected for me, and didn’t seem right to end the story. So for those reasons I give this memoir four stars.
All-in-all expect a gripping, gut-wrenching, and raw story from the man himself. There were many times when I caught myself in aw of the words coming out of his mouth. I absolutely loved the book. His choice of words, authenticity, and raspy voice made for a very good read and gave much insight into the culture of 90’s rock.