Shadow Of The Season Nearly Lost You The Screaming Trees

Shadow of the Season Album: Sweet Oblivion (1992) Track 1
Nearly Lost You Album: Sweet Oblivion (1992) Track 2
by Screaming Trees

Around the time of the recording of the album, the band’s original drummer Mark Pickerel left to pursue other musical interests, and was replaced with Barrett Martin.

Nearly four years passed in between Sweet Oblivion and the band's follow-up album, Dust, a move that hurt much of the band's commercial momentum.

Written by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, and bass player Van Conner, "Nearly Lost You" is probably the most famous song by Screaming Trees. Some would even call it their signature. Released in 1992, it was certainly perfect timing to ride the crest of the grunge wave.

In fact, Screaming Trees are one of the acts considered part of the "godfathers of grunge" club, alongside Melvins, U-Men, Skin Yard, Soundgarden, Green River, and Malfunkshun. It was also perfect timing for MTV video rotation; MTV had just discovered grunge and was still young enough to get excited about it.

Barrett Martin, the drummer here, also worked with Stone Temple Pilots and R.E.M. But his latest accomplishments is to be ordained a Zen priest, as of 2000. No word on how that's working out for him, but then, Zen priests are pretty quiet.

The song's success on the charts was partly because of its appearance on the soundtrack to the 1992 Cameron Crowe film Singles.

After the break-up of Screaming Trees in 2000, Mark Lanagan released a series of critically acclaimed albums with former Belle & Sebastian vocalist and cello player Isobel Campbell. Their first, Ballad of the Broken Seas, made the shortlist for the UK Mercury Music Prize in 2006.

Shadow of the Season
Written by: Mark Lanegan, Gary Conner

The hour is ending, can't you see?
There is no way now, to get free
In the shadow of the season
Without a reason to carry on

Without a reason
Without a reason

And from the north woods, down on the valley
In a world of hurting, I'm moving on
Out from the lighthouse, out on the ocean
Can't climb the mountain, so very tall

Said Lord, please give me what I need
Said "There's pain and misery"
Oh, sweet oblivion feels alright

The hour is drawing ever closer
And rolling over, won't let me be
In the shadow of the season
To find a reason to carry on

Said, "Lord, please give me what I need"
Said, "There's pain and misery"
Oh, sweet oblivion

She calls me onward to her side
And feels her song deep inside
And finally reasons

In the shadow of the season
To find a reason to carry on
In the shadow of the season
To find a reason to carry on

Find a reason
To carry on, to carry on
To find a reason, yeah
To carry on, to carry on

Writers: GARY CONNER, MARK LANEGAN, VAN CONNER

Did you hear the distant cry
Calling me back to my sin
Like the one you knew before
Calling me back once again

I nearly, I nearly lost you there
And it's taken us somewhere
I nearly lost you there
Let's try to sleep now

Drag me far enough to know
I'm blind every mile that you burn
There's a rider that's fallen and
It's clear there's no time to return

I nearly, I nearly lost you there
And it's taken us somewhere
I nearly lost you there
Well let's try to sleep now

Did you hear the distant lie
Calling me back to my sin
Like the one you knew before
Calling me back once again

I nearly, I nearly lost you there
And it's taken us somewhere
I nearly lost you there
Well let's try to sleep now
I nearly lost you there
I nearly lost you
I nearly lost you there
I nearly lost you there
I nearly lost you there
Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah oh
Nearly lost you there