Voices

Album: The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013)
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Songfacts®:

  • This was the first song written for The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. It was penned by singer-guitarist Jerry Cantrell in 2011 before he went into hospital to fix his damaged shoulder cartridge. He told Grammy.com: "Before I had the surgery I think I demoed 'Voices' really quick, that was a kind of quick song and came together within a couple of days of just me messing around here at the house. It was right after tour and it was a good, strong song and so I sent it around to everybody and everybody liked it and I thought, 'F--k, that's good.' That was the first thing that came together on the record, so I knew there was a good song there."
  • Jerry Cantrell told Noisey in 2013: "Voices", in terms of songwriting, is very internal, it's not external. It comes from a very personal place, but of course it can be applied to anything, from any place in society."
  • The music video was directed by Robert Schober, who goes by Roboshobo; he also who also directed the videos for the Alice in Chains tracks "Stone," "Hollow" and "Phantom Limb." For "Voices," neon signs with lines from the song were placed around Seattle at different locations frequented by the band: Mama's Mexican Kitchen, The Crocodile, The Comet, Super Genius Tattoo and The Central Saloon. The signs were real, not computer generated, and left for a time after the shoot so fans could grab selfies with them and post them on Instagram.

    The "Everybody Listen" sign is below a memorial at the Central Saloon where photos of Layne Staley, and Kurt Cobain were placed.
  • The song spent 20 weeks on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, peaking at #3.

Comments: 1

  • Jacob from Brodhead, WiDo you know what that song is about? it is about PTSD and hearing voices.
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