Former Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan discussed once hearing that his music had played a role in a close friend’s suicide in a new Metro Times interview, but the friend’s widow allayed his concerns.
Lanegan often draws comparisons to Nick Cave, an artist with a similar predilection for dark places. “There’s a master and pupil relationship. That’s about as deep as it goes,” Lanegan laughs. “He’s one of the all-time greats. Really inspiring and always impressive. I love his music and he’s a great guy as well.”
There was a moment where Lanegan wondered if his music had played a role in a close friend’s suicide. “He was listening to one of my records a lot and I thought, ‘This is terrible, this music somehow had something to do with this.’ But his widow said, ‘No man, he was listening to it because it was comforting,'” Lanegan says.
“When she put it in that perspective I thought to myself of some of the music that has gotten me through really hard times,” he continues, comparing his love for Joy Division’s Closer. “It was all I listened to for six months in this bleak wintertime in the ’80s when it came out. I was so depressed and that record got me through it, so I understood it in that way.”
You can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or join their live chat.
