Would? is a song by Alice in Chains, released on June 30, 1992. Would? was written by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell as a tribute to his friend Andrew Wood, lead vocalist of Mother Love Bone, who died in 1990. Cantrell sings the verses of the song, while Layne Staley sings the chorus.
The song first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1992 film Singles where the members of Alice in Chains make a cameo appearance and later appeared on the band’s second studio album Dirt, also released in 1992. Would? was released as a single and peaked at No. 31 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1992, at No. 19 in 1996, and in 2019 the song peaked at No. 15 on the Hot Rock Songs chart after it was featured in the trailer for the season 2 of the Netflix show The Punisher.
The song was included on the compilation albums Nothing Safe: Best of the Box (1999), Music Bank (1999), Greatest Hits (2001), and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006). An acoustic version performed on Alice in Chains‘ MTV Unplugged in 1996 was released in a live album and DVD. In 2009, Would? was named the 88th Best Hard Rock Song of All Time by VH1.
Tracklist:
- Would?
Would? by Alice In Chains Lyrics
Know me broken by my master
Teach thee on child, love of hereafter
Into the flood again
Same old trip it was back then
So I made a big mistake
Try to see it once my way
Drifting body, it’s sole desertion
Flying not yet, quite the notion
Into the flood again
Same old trip it was back then
So I made a big mistake
Try to see it once my way
Into the flood again
Same old trip it was back then
So I made a big mistake
Try to see it once my way
Am I wrong?
Have I run too far to get home?
Have I gone?
And left you here alone?
Am I wrong?
Have I run too far to get home? Yeah
Have I gone?
And left you here alone?
If I would, could you?
Songwriters: Jerry Cantrell
The music video for Would? was released in 1992 and was co-directed by Cameron Crowe and Josh Taft. The music video won the award for Best Video from a Film at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. The video is available on the home video release Music Bank: The Videos.
Alice in Chains
Layne Staley: lead vocals
Jerry Cantrell: guitar, co-lead vocals
Mike Starr: bass
Sean Kinney: drums
Production
Produced by Alice in Chains
Engineered by Bryan Carlstrom, assisted by Annette Cisneros and Ulrich Wild
Mixed by Dave Jerden, assisted by Annette Cisneros
Mastered by Steve Hall and Eddy Schreyer
Layne Staley (August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002)
Mike Starr (April 4, 1966 – March 8, 2011).
