Them Bones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the novel of the same name, see Them Bones (novel). For the spiritual song, see Dem Bones.
| “Them Bones” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| Single by Alice in Chains from the album "Dirt" |
|||||
| Released | 1992 | ||||
| Recorded | 1992 | ||||
| Genre | Alternative metal Grunge |
||||
| Length | 2:30 | ||||
| Label | Columbia Records | ||||
| Producer | Alice in Chains, Dave Jerden |
||||
| Alice in Chains singles chronology | |||||
|
|||||
"Them Bones" is the first song from the Alice in Chains album Dirt. Singer Layne Staley brought guitarist/songwriter Jerry Cantrell's disturbing lyrics to life with his eerie, alternately droning and howling vocals. The song is highly chromatic, and the time signature is 7/8--except for each chorus, which is in 4/4. Brutal, dark and bleak, it sets the tone for the album and is perhaps one of the band's most definitive works.
Jerry Cantrell on the song, from the liner notes of 1999's Music Bank box set collection:
I was just thinking about mortality, that one of these days we'll end up a pile of bones. It's a thought for every human being, whether you believe in an after-life or that when we die, that's it. The thought that all the beautiful things and knowledge and experiences you've been through just end when you end scares me, the thought that when you close your eyes for good, it's gone forever.
In 2006, Grave covered this song on their As Rapture Comes album. Additionally, the song was used in the English version of Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie and the Mavericks section of the surf film Riding Giants in 2004. The song appeared as well in the soundtracks in the video games, ATV Offroad Fury, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (in the radio station Radio X) and a cover version in Guitar Hero II (in which an ending solo was added to the song). The song for the "Barrels O' Fun" level in the game Doom II: Hell on Earth was very heavily based on Them Bones.
[edit] Track Titles
- "Them Bones" (2:30)
- "Bleed the Freak" (4:01)
- "It Ain't Like That" (4:37)
[edit] Chart positions
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Them Bones | Mainstream Rock tracks (US) | No. 24 |
| 1992 | Them Bones | Official UK Singles Chart | No. 26 |
[edit] References
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
