Down in a Hole (VII)

"Down in a Hole" by Alice in Chains is a song that can be interpreted in many ways. There is the more literal meaning of "the hole" that could be hell. This is shown through lines such as "Down in a Hole, Loosing my Soul...My wings have been denied." Since hell is often referred to as a "pit" in which you loose your soul to the devil, we are lead to believe that this could be what the speaker is speaking of. The metaphorical meaning of "the hole" could be a pit of despair in which the speaker has found himself. For the purpose of the argument, this is the meaning we will go with. Through the use of pathos and vivid imagery the speaker attempts to give the audience a window to his soul and the pit of despair he has found himself in.

The speaker in "Down in a Hole" could be any one person who has found themselves in a hole that they put themselves in, that they cant get out. The speaker compares this dark point in his/her life to a tomb or a womb, both of in which there is no light and no escape.___ The speaker reiterates the point of helplessness by saying that he is down in a hole and he "doesn't know if he can be saved." He is mourning the loss of himself so he decorates his heart like a grave. The speaker is talking about his life and the expectations of his family, friends and the society he lived in. It is rumored that this song was written about the lead singer of Alice in Chain's drug use. When this identity that Layne Staley was supposed to live up to didn't play out the right way he actually turned to the use of drugs such as heroine. This information puts the depression and pit off addiction into perspective. The drugs form a pit of which there is no escape.

Because the speaker is down in this pit of despair and maybe even addiction he is comparing it to hell. Loosing one's soul and being denied one's wings is an reference to hell. "...They've put all the stones in their place" could be referencing to the ancient torturous ritual of stoning one to death. He feels like the pressure placed on him by his society, family, and friends is too much and he is weighted down by the "stones." The speaker has "tasted the sun" and his tongue has been "burned of the taste," which could be a parallel drawn between Staley's heroine use which ended up killing him and tasting the sun.

This song uses stylistic devices such as metaphors and repetition throughout the song to drive the purpose home. The whole song is a metaphor comparing the speakers despair to a pit that is inescapable. While there is no actual pit, the imagery produced by this metaphor is developed to help the audience better understand the pain the speaker is trying to portray. This also helps convey the raw emotion that is missing from a lot of our music today.( Alice in Chains did an amazing job of writing and singing this song to convey a feeling a lot of people who look to music for consonance can identify with.)