Like A Stone

"dfa" from Richland, WA.. you'd really benefit from talking to Jehovah's Witnesses, my friend. They changed my life for the better. They practice what the bible really teaches.. please don't let rumours you hear about them turn you away, they aren't true anyways. You genuinely crave understanding of the bible's teaching, then that's where you'll find it. Matthew 5:3 - “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them."

Dear death, In your house i want to be, room by room patiently, ill wait for you their, like a stone, Ill wait for you their, alone.

This song stands alone, at a musical & meaningful level that will last eternally. Regardless of one's spiritual beliefs...GOD BLESS Audioslave and everything they represent. Chris states it's about dying, but the incredible realization is that everyone has their own personal interpretation!! Most of us have experienced some type of death during our lifetimes, but this song emphasizes how we must all check our own personal inventories, knowing what goes around and will definitely play a part when we leave this earth!!

i want this song played at my funnel when i die i love this song my fav talks about the ultimate wait dearth it self what could be much better then going to heaven in the sky i know i have a place up there just waiting for my number to come up ps i thinking of getting a tattoo of that song on my back

This song is amazing. I love the guitar solo also.

I believe that this song begins with a man who is dreaming of his death. He begins (in a cobweb afternoon in a room full of emptiness.) - that is the place where he dreams he dies, alone. (by a freeway i confess i was lost in the pages of a book full of death, etc.) - he is in a hearse in his coffin holding his bible telling him (if were good were laid to rest when and where we wanna go.) He then explains that he wants to go in her house when he is a ghost. (To a place i recall i was there so long ago.) - He used to always be with her in her home, when they were in love (and there you led me on, in your house.) He wants to be in her house, patiently waiting for her to die so they can reuinte. In the end, he wakes up from his dream and reads the bible. Then he realizes he's screwed, because he was not living good. (And on i read until the day was gone, and i sat in regret of all the things ive done.) And in the beginning it says "if we're good were laid to rest when and where we want." So he has to keep on dreaming about what he wishes to happen when he dies.

I'm not a religious person AT ALL. However, this is my favorite song of ALL TIME! I just love it. I means a lot to me and puts things into perspective about my first love who died.

I have the dvd of audioslave's and Tim talks about how he thought it was a love song and then he asked Chris about it and he said "Its about dying"

The song Like A Stone refers to

someone who is approaching death. The

lyrics mention a person lying in bed 'Lost In A Book full of Death." This may refer to the Old Testament in which there are numerous accounts of warfare, death and disease which is visited upon the inhabitants of the earth as punishment for sin, which is a topic visited in the latter portion of the lyrics when the author referes
to "His regret for all the things he has done in life, to include all that he has blessed and wronged."The phraase "In your house I long to
be, room by room, patiently," is possibly a reference to the New Testament where Jesus states to His disciples, "I go to my father's house, where there are many rooms. I go there to prepare a place for you, and then I will return and take you there, where you will dwell forever" (paraphrased).

This song does effect me on a deeply emotional level. My personal interpretation on the song - not meant to be glamorized as the artist's inspiration - is the feeling that I've studied several religious dogma hoping to find absolute truth only to be let down - something didn't add up or I felt like I was being conned. I have a deep longing to be whole and fulfilled spiritually. The bible says we were made to worship God and have a relationship with Him. If that's true it can sure get twisted up because we will worship anything to try and fill that void. There have been times when I was so hungry I would pray to anyone - good, bad or indifferent, it didn't matter. That's what the song means for me... to be fulfilled spiritually and return to my loved ones that I've lost and be forgiven completely by any means necessary, including desperation. The yearning I have for it at times is unbearable; I simply can't ignore it. So I will keep calling out until I get an answer. At times it seems like I'm wandering from room to room and some part of me is waiting "like a stone".

Can people just say they like the song or something instead of a pointless argument on what the song is about?

Ohh...it took me ages to learn the lyrics of this song....i just love " like a stone "!!!!!

Great sing-along song! love them!

Wow, the people below me! I guess it's because none of them are from the Northwest. I seriously think you people are way overthinking this. It's people like this that make an artist that just threw some paint on a canvas famous. OK, Nykole isn't stupid, she gets it. "Praying to anyone who will take me to heaven," a person afraid of nothingness after death trying to make amends at the last minute. It's really not that hard to grasp people. P.S. - a can of Campbell's soup, c'mon people, Andy Warhol isn't a very creative artist, but thanks to over anylizing morons, he's a genius.

I think most people have it right here. Chris wrote the song with something specefic in mind (whether it was an event, a person, or just a general feeling) but as with any good piece of writing the reader (or listener) will be able to internalize it and identify it with their own feelings or musings.
TO Heather from Mead: When I first read your comment I was like "come ON! He says it in the DVD! It's about DEATH!" Then I shoved my ego back down where it belongs and realized the way you felt waiting for your boyfriend is a little taste of how it feels to wait for death sometimes. You are tired, anxious and just want it to get here.....so sorry for being all snobbish when I read your comment =^_^=

For me this song is about a person who believes that heaven is whatever you want it to be. So for this person heaven would be where ever his loved one is. I love this song.

I LOVE THIS SONG. One of the few hard rock songs that can invoke catharsis in me.

I write alot of songs about spirituality and I say this song means he knows he is gonna die and he wants to be with god.We came from God in the beginning so we where ther long ago if not just by being a thought in gods mind we where there.Like a stone is saying when im just laing there buried.We are like stone when we are buried and we are also alone ,atleast in our physical form.Cornell is one of my favorites,and can definitely tell he was influenced by the Beatles.

Sorry for Greg, San Antonio, TX who said with a lot of humility that the meanings of the songs are personnal to the people who listen to it. These words have a common sens. People like to learn too when they're listening to music. If you take it with a selfish mind the song means anything you want it to say and you don't learn anything. That's the easy way... If you really want to know the message the singer wants to transmit, you got to know what he's talking about. Since a long time, Chris Cornell talks about spiritual things. We can suppose he's based on specific situations when he writes something and it's good to know the context. At last, we can transpose it to our lives...

Well I think Chris Cornell is talking about how he wants to be with god, because in the bible theres a scriputure that says in heaven there is a house with many rooms and he has one saved for you already. Thats not the actual scripture but it does go sumthing like that. and the chorus is, In your house, i long to be, room by room, patiently.

excellent guitaring in this song. not one of my favs, but i really like cornell's singing and he probably has the best voice in rock, i like his "louder than love" wailing though. if u like audioslave, then try out soundgarden

this song is good when you just want to sit back and chill this is the type of song that you listen to when you have a hangover and such.

Classic good vs. evil: 'Waiting like a stone"-Satan waiting for the final battle with Jesus. "Book full of death" i.e.: Bible. "In your house I long to be"- Satan envies Jesus' position in heaven. "I was there so long ago"- Jesus and Satan were once brothers. "The wine was bled"-Jesus' sacrifice in which His blood(wine)was spilled."In dreams until my death"-Satan is prophesised to be destroyed. I believe that this entire album (and the second)revolves around a central theme that incorporates this idea and other more specific and detailed info that relates to the Bible. (And no I'm not a Bible thumping fanatic!)Just a possibility!!??

"On a cobweb afternoon
in a room full of emptiness,
by a freeway, I confess
I was lost in the pages
of a book full of death.
Reading how we'll die alone.
If we're good, we'll lay to rest
anywhere we want to go." and then somewhere it states that it's your house I want to go. It sounds like a man just waiting to die, then live back past good memories, possibly the ones he had with a loved one.

I personaly Think that this song is a man who is about to die telling a loved one that he will wait for her/him in death wondering through the rooms of their home, and this is why he prays to go to heaven because he knows this is where the loved one will go.

Most of the commentators here are probably not song writers by trade. If they were, they'd know that artists are often plagued by the interpretation of the consumer who forces this on others. Did you watch the DVD? Out of his own mouth he said that the images you get are your own. Why would he share every single meaning of every song? The poet will know that a piece of writing is not only for the consumer. Some have died never sharing the meaning of their most valued work. What you get from it is for you, what he got from it (he said, "I know how I feel about it. I know what it means.") may never be revealed, other than what Tim Commerford explained in the DVD. Spend maybe 15 years or so writing for the masses and you'll see things differently.

LIke a stone is an amazing song

the song does have meaning but what cornell was saying is how you interperate the actual meaning is your own way of seeing it, and no one can make u change it

that is NOT true, chris cornell is a very spiritual man with deep songs, have you not herd any of the soundgarden songs?? theyr realt deep and sometimes confusing! I listen to cornells songs over and over just to get a vague picture of what his songs mean! Like a stone is one of the best songs he has ever wrote, its honest and has a very deep meaning. When they say that he isnt trivial it mens that he does not sing about stupid stuff (unlike "big dumb sex"-soundgarden) he sings about stuff that has deep spiritual meaning.

Thank you Angie. Perfectly put.

This song means whatever you want it to mean. Thats the whole point of it. Whether you take it literally on waiting like a stone forever or taking a spiritual adventure to greater enlightenment. Mostly its about finding yourself and discovering your well being.

Its actually 'On my deathbed I will pray to the gods and the angels, Like a Pagan to anyone who will take me to heaven.' I thought it was obvious. Tim C. says that from working with Cornell, there is nothing trivial about his lyrics, Cornell sings everything literally. Cornell is just deep. His lyrics are deep, but simple, there is no need to closley analyze his songs, he means what he says.

Am a lil confused!! is the song bout someone waiting for his death or is it bout him waiting for his loved one forever??
and what does this line "Like a pagan, I will pray to the gods and the angels..." mean??

This song just reminds me of being in an attic - locked up with all the dust - on a summer's day and wondering what it's all about. Just . . . the thoughts that go through your head when you let your mind wander - like what happens on the other side and deep stuff like that that no-one really talks about.

Death? It doesn't make any sense. My own interpretation of this song is that the man about to die, and is singing to a loved one. He's telling her he'll wait for her in death, since they weren't together in life. The man can be of any age... and it's a love song to a girl, telling her that even though they aren't together in life (like there might have been a fight, see verse three) that he'll wait for her in death, and that he's sorry. "your house" would be her burial plot, room by room would mean next to each other, waiting like a stone is pretty obvious... since he'll be dead. I interpret it as a love song from one person to another explaining how they were meant for each other (the line in verse two about being in heaven before, and having her lead him in heaven)

Well anyway, thanks a lot songfacts for ruining this interpretation of the song.

This song doesn't have to be religious to mean something to everyone who's ever heard it. The lyrics explain it all. Best song.

The lyrics "Like a pagan, I will pray to the gods and the angels..." Is about the truest line of any song I've ever heard. On your deathbed you'll do anything to make it right.

Audioslave's "Show Me How to Live" also seems to be about God.

In the dvd, he says it is about a man who is waiting to die...it describes him in a house of death waiting for the end

this song doesnt remind me of god or anything but it reminds me of going to my boyfriends house when he wasnt there and waiting for him to get home.

I think it's really neat how they wrote the lyrics for this song.

I love this track! Its so good. I can't stop playing it.

When Audioslave bassist Tim C. asked Chris what he was waiting for ("I'll wait for you there...like a stone) he responded by saying "death".

I agree with Joel. Chris Cornell has one of the best voices! Like a Stone is my favourite Audioslave song.

This is the best song off their album and Audioslave rule!