Sing Backwards and Weep

A Memoir

By: Mark Lanegan

Narrated by: Mark Lanegan

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

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.

Great

Besides his use of unnecessary adjectives and descriptors, the book is perfect and you can’t stop listening. He becomes your friend in a way few authors can pull off. He’s Don Quiote or Ignatius Riley. Even as a former hardcore addict, I found the extent of his sickness nearly shocking at times.
I want the next chapter in his life. I hope he writes it.

Best Book On Planet

Raw Uncut & Interesting about one of the greatest times in music history by a guy who was in the middle of all of it. Love everything Lanagan.

God Bless you, Mr. Lanegan.

The shit this man went through to come out the other side is jaw dropping. His storytelling is as intelligent, charming and blunt as one might expect. Hands down the most depressing but probably the best rock autobiography I have ever listened to. Not a feel good story! A story of a hardcore junkie who would do anything, say anything to get his fix. Im so glad he stopped that shit.

the best

its the craziest most eye opening story I've heard about someone's life. I'd refer it to anyone.

RIP Mark

I loved his voice and music but never knew about his life - this book details all the lows he suffered sprinkled with an occasional high point. A vast talent, a wasted youth and young adult life. Carried by his talent to survive in spite of his best efforts not to. A junkie - a destroyer of all things - a raging narcissist - and a talent like few others. I wish I could hear of his life from the end of this book until his death. I hope it was much better. Rest his soul

Powerful Story, Amazing Narration

I deeply enjoyed this book. Having been a fan of Marks music for a long time i knew very little about his story or life. He is an incredible writer, as talented as any professional author writing a memoir. Hearing him narrate the story was truly a treat.

Excellent Memoir

This book is a rock icon delivering an incredibly vulnerable account of some parts of his life. It’s a must listen for any Lanegan fan.

Excellent book

Great memoir of an interesting guy, read by an interesting guy. Life sucks no matter how green the grass, it's how you get through it that counts. Mark made it count for himself.

Brutally honest and beautifully told tale

Mark perfectly captures the feeling of growing up in a small eastern Washington town that didn’t accept individualism only to find himself caught in the self made prison of addiction. Poignant and acerbic. I hope Mr. lanegan has found some peace in the here after