Sing Backwards and Weep

A Memoir

By: Mark Lanegan

Narrated by: Mark Lanegan

Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

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 listeners 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 than just an extraordinary singer who watched his dreams catch fire and incinerate the ground beneath his feet. It's about a man who learned how to drag himself from the wreckage, dust off the 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

©2020 Mark Lanegan (P)2020 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"The artist's journey to find one's true voice can travel some very dark roads; addiction, violence, poverty, and soul-crushing alienation have taken the last breath of many I have called friend. Mark Lanegan dragged his scuffed boots down all of those bleak byways for years, managed to survive, and in the process created an astonishing body of work. Sing Backwards and Weep exquisitely details that harrowing trip into the heart of his particular darkness. Brutally honest, yet written without a molecule of self-pity, Lanegan paints an introspective picture of genius birthing itself on the razor's edge between beauty and annihilation. Like a Monet stabbed with a rusty switchblade, Sing Backwards and Weep is breathtaking to behold but hurts to see. I could not put this book down."—D. Randall Blythe, author of Dark Days and lead vocalist of Lamb of God

"If you ever wondered how Mark Lanegan's music came to blossom, here's a taste of the dark dirt that fertilized it. But saying that, or something like it, feels irresponsible, almost like saying 'If you want to make great, soul-shattering art, traumatize yourself to the limit and beyond' ... Sing Backwards and Weep is gnarly, naked, and true."—Michael C. Hall of Dexter and Six Feet Under

"Harrowing, edgy, tense, and hypnotic. A very truthful, sobering account of what it's like in the throes of addiction, with shades of Bukowski, Burroughs, and Hunter S. Thompson."—Gerard Johnson, director and writer of Tony, Hyena, and Muscle

Love you, Mark

I finished this audiobook in 36 hrs. Sleep and work kept me from finishing it in a day. I loved every minute of it .

A history of a beloved musician I knew little about.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and Lanegan did a wonderful job reading it. A harrowing tale of rock stardom, severe addiction and brushes and friendships with some of Seattle and the world’s most renowned musicians. Unbelievable tales of trying to maintain heroin addictions on the road. I was always wondering what went wrong with the trees and it’s all in there. His music has changed my life and it was a pure pleasure to hear more about the music that enriched my life and the darkness that was most definitely an inspiration behind it.
Thought I might add, the Liam Gallagher story had me rolling.
Thanks Lanegan for the wonderful book. I am so glad to hear more about your history and those whose music made my life bearable. Thank you!

Came for the music, stayed for the drugs

An absolutely riveting memoir. I was a Trees fan back in the nineties and am a musician myself, so I am drawn to rock memoirs. But the music in Mark’s story is not at the center. It is his crippling addictions and the harrowing, cringy, sad, frustrating, and at times hilarious anecdotes that leave you shaking your head and in wonder of how he is still alive and/or didn’t end up in prison. One of the better rock memoirs. Glad he made it through.

Heartbreaking, chilling, and beautiful.

Mark's storytelling is remarkable. I listened to this book, and at many points had to stop, collect my thoughts, and reflect on how Mark could still be alive.

At the onset of the recording, there is a slight 'sigh'...as if he's taking a reluctant deep breath, readying himself to tell his story. A final, 'here goes nothing'. From there, the story begins innocuously enough, a small-town boy seeking something bigger and better. I could empathize with his woes having grown up in a small town myself. But, soon after, the chapters begin to take chilling twists and turns. I could literally feel myself getting frustrated with him for being so, repeatedly, stupid. (Sorry Mark, it's true!). The universe clearly had better plans for him because no one person should have survived what he's put himself through in his 50+ years.

Definitely worth the listen! And the first listen on Audible.com that's prompted me to write a review.

A one of a kind singer, artist and writer.

Mark Lanegan is one of the most brilliant singers, artist and writer that comes along once in a lifetime. He was never afraid to bare his soul good, bad or ugly and turn it into something beautiful. I have listened to his music since the year 1990 and he saved my life with his words. I hope the world will find what I found so long ago in your music and writing and I hope now you see how much you meant to so many. - Shannon Smith ( Cooper, Proulx)

Greatnesses

Not a screening trees fan at all. What a story. I heard mine in there a bunch. All that pain and destruction.All that shame and disgrace.All that evil and hell. Still alive and sober. I cried, laughed and cried again. Mark...thank you. Layne...I’m sorry and Kurt...Rest easy and Courtney...wow I didn’t know. A great painful listen. Not for the faint of heart

One of the best I have heard!

I have listened to over 30 of these and this one of the top 3. Excellent story read by the author. Worth your time.

Harrowing tales

I just finished listening to Mark's own reading of his book on Audible. What a harrowing tale of Rock N' Roll depravity and survival. It was gritty as fuck and poetic throughout. There were endless staggeringly ugly moments and beautiful ones. It's truly amazing that he's still here; there are so many that aren't now. The interpersonal moments were where the book shined for me, the behind the scenes touching moments with Layne, Kurt and Chris especially. The raw telling of his youth and dysfunctional family gave rare insight to what created his dark, brooding poet in the making. I'm proud of Mark for making this laid bare, soul baring story of his life. Anthony Bourdain encouraged him to write it and he followed through with his promise to finish it. It's sad that he's not here to read it himself now. I'd love to read second book of his life since getting clean and making the best music of his life in the last 20 years.

Just buy it.

If you're a fan of late 80's early 90's music from Seattle this book is a must read. Amazing.

Incredible

A rare and priceless insight to a very particular time and place. It’s amazing Mark survived to tell the story and hearing his voice reading is an absolute gift.