{"id":46926,"date":"2025-09-18T14:53:51","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T14:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/18\/alternate-lyrics-to-alice-in-chains-song-in-new-layne-staley-book\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T14:53:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T14:53:51","slug":"alternate-lyrics-to-alice-in-chains-song-in-new-layne-staley-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/18\/alternate-lyrics-to-alice-in-chains-song-in-new-layne-staley-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Alternate Lyrics to Alice in Chains Song in New Layne Staley Book"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>An upcoming book featuring journal entries from <a href=\"https:\/\/loudwire.com\/tags\/alice-in-chains\/\" target=\"_blank\">Alice in Chains<\/a> vocalist <a href=\"https:\/\/loudwire.com\/tags\/layne-staley\/\">Layne Staley<\/a> will\u00a0<span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">reportedly include unused lyrics intended for a\u00a0song on<em>\u00a0Jar of Flies<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n<h3>First Look At Layne Staley Book Shows Early Lyrics<\/h3>\n<p>Book distributor\u00a0<del><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/del>Simon &amp; Schuster has released the first few pages that will be part\u00a0<span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">of<em>\u00a0This<\/em><\/span><em>\u00a0Angry Pen of Mine: Recovering the Lost Journals<\/em>\u00a0<em>of Layne Staley<\/em>, a collection of Staley&#8217;s journal entries and other writings and art due out Nov. 11. The preview is being used to help promote pre-orders for the book.<\/p>\n<p>Staley died in 2002 at the age of 34 following a drug overdose.<\/p>\n<p>One of the photos from the\u00a0distributor shows what is noted as being lyrics for &#8220;I Stay Away&#8221; from the 1994 Alice in Chains album <em>Jar of Flies<\/em>. The lyrics are scrawled on a piece of paper in Staley&#8217;s handwriting.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/loudwire.com\/alice-in-chains-dirt-guitar-tuning-drop-b\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hear a Darker + Heavier Version of Alice in Chains&#8217; &#8216;Dirt&#8217; Album<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Fans of the band will immediately notice this version of &#8220;I Stay Away&#8221; is much different than the studio version.<\/p>\n<h3>How Newly Revealed &#8216;I Stay Away&#8217; Lyrics Differ From Recorded Version<\/h3>\n<p>Both the early version of the lyrics and those heard in the final studio recording contain the same opening lines:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Yeah, hey, I want to travel south this year<\/p>\n<p>Ah, woah, woah, won&#8217;t prevent safe passage here.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But things take a sharp turn after the first verse. The recorded version contains the chorus:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Why you act crazy?<\/p>\n<p>Not an act, maybe<\/p>\n<p>So close, a lady<\/p>\n<p>Shifty eyes, shady<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The early version of the chorus lyrics that will be featured in the upcoming book reads:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Why you always tracking around<\/p>\n<p>Points are in a trail on the ground<\/p>\n<p>Another sick room with your name<\/p>\n<p>The trauma&#8217;s just a play in the game<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>There were also apparently additional lyrics that Staley crossed out that had to do with &#8220;strength in voice&#8221; and &#8220;masturbation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align:center\">Alice in Chains, &#8220;I Stay Away&#8221;<\/h3>\n<h3>The Book Will Include Photos of Staley and His Poetry<\/h3>\n<p>Other\u00a0images released by Simon &amp; Schuster ahead of the release of\u00a0<em>This Angry Pen of Mine: Recovering the Lost Journals<\/em>\u00a0<em>of Layne Staley<\/em>\u00a0show Staley at different stages in his life, including a baby photo in his mother&#8217;s arms and another as a teenager playing the drums.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s also a journal entry showing what he planned to use to promote drum lessons as a teen for $5 per half hour of instruction. The advertisement text reminds potential students to &#8220;bring own sticks.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Additional images show never-before-seen unpublished poetry written by Staley.<\/p>\n<h3>Staley&#8217;s Family Participated in Book&#8217;s Creation<\/h3>\n<p>Many of the photos in the book were provided by Staley&#8217;s family. According to a report from <a href=\"https:\/\/floodmagazine.com\/206338\/layne-staley-alice-in-chains-this-angry-pen-of-mine-exclusive\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Flood<\/em> magazine<\/a>, the singer&#8217;s mother, Nancy McCallum, wrote the foreword for <em>This Angry Pen of Mine: Recovering the Lost Journals<\/em> <em>of Layne Staley.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In the foreword, McCallum says &#8220;I hope this book gives you a glimpse of the son I knew, the one beyond the headlines, the one with a beautiful, creative, happy soul.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/loudwire.com\/layne-staley-convinced-jerry-cantrell-sing\/\" target=\"_blank\">What Layne Staley Said to Jerry Cantrell to Convince Him to Sing<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Proceeds from the book&#8217;s sale will go toward the <a href=\"https:\/\/ths-wa.org\/support\/layne-staley-memorial-fund\/\" target=\"_blank\">Layne Staley Memorial Fund<\/a>, which was started by the former Alice in Chains member&#8217;s family to help provide education and treatment for heroin addicts and their loved ones in the Seattle area.<\/p>\n<p>The book is currently available for preorder via several outlets, including Amazon and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simonandschuster.com\/books\/This-Angry-Pen-of-Mine\/Layne-Staley\/9798886743203\" target=\"_blank\">Simon &amp; Schuster<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"photogallery-wrapper blog-photogallery \">\n<h2 class=\"photogallery-title\">Every Alice In Chains Song (With Layne Staley) Ranked<\/h2>\n<div class=\"photogallery-description\">\n<p>Here&#8217;s our ranking of every Alice In Chains song with Layne Staley, from <em>Facelift <\/em>to their <em>Music Bank <\/em>box set.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"photogallery-credit\">Gallery Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/loudwire.com\/author\/laurynschaffner\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lauryn Schaffner<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/diffuser.fm\/rest\/carbon\/api\/scripts.js?mver=26&#038;gver=6&#038;bid=443&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fplatform.twitter.com%2Fwidgets.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fapis.google.com%2Fjs%2Fplatform.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fconnect.facebook.net%2Fen_US%2Fsdk.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.pinterest.com%2Fjs%2Fpinit.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\" async defer data-osano=\"ESSENTIAL\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/diffuser.fm\/ixp\/366\/p\/layne-staley-book-i-stay-away-alternate-lyrics\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An upcoming book featuring journal entries from Alice in Chains vocalist Layne Staley will\u00a0reportedly include unused lyrics intended for a\u00a0song on\u00a0Jar of Flies. First&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":46927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-at","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}