Down in a Hole
A slow ballad Cantrell wrote for his girlfriend and doubted was strong enough.
Alice in Chains, from Dirt (1993)
- Written by
- Jerry Cantrell
- Released
- 1993
- Album
- Dirt
Cantrell wrote Down in a Hole for his then-girlfriend, Courtney Clarke. He was at first hesitant to show it to the band, feeling it was too soft, but the band responded well. In the Music Bank liner notes he put it in his personal top three and said it reflected the path he had chosen. Columbia sent it to US radio on 14 September 1993 as the album's fifth single. It spent 21 weeks on the Album Rock Tracks chart and peaked at number 10. Nigel Dick directed the video, shot in a desert location on 9 August 1993.
The band did not play it live until MTV Unplugged in 1996. In 2020 Code Orange covered it on the live album Under the Skin. AllMusic's Ned Raggett wrote that the end result feels like a ruined man looking for comfort.
On stage
- 1996-04-10, MTV Unplugged The first time the band played the song live.
Covers and versions
- Ryan Adams (2007) Played live on his tour and included on the EP Follow the Lights.
- In Flames (2017) On the covers EP Down, Wicked & No Good.
More songs by Alice in Chains
Man in the Box, Would?, Rooster, Them Bones
Sources
- Down in a Hole, Wikipedia