Angry Chair (2022 Remaster)

The concept of the "angry chair" noted in the song comes from AIC vocalist Layne Staley's childhood. His father would put him in timeout by sitting him in a chair in front of the mirror. The angry chair in the song, though, is clearly metaphorical, and the lyrics are discussing adulthood. Corporate prison, we stay, hey I'm a dull boy, work all day, oh So I'm strung out anyway, hey "I'm a dull boy, work all day" is a reference to the "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" proverb. "Corporate prison" might be a reference to the band working for a record label, which was still relatively new at that point. They cut their first EP, We Die Young, only two years earlier in July 1990. This was also around the time that Staley is suspected to have fallen into the early stages of heroin addiction, which adds context to the line, "So I'm strung out anyway." Staley's philosophy was that songs should be autobiographical to resonate emotionally. It's not much of a stretch to tie his words to the life he was living at that time.

This is a rare AIC song written entirely by vocalist Layne Staley. Jerry Cantrell was the main songwriter, and most of Staley's credits were as cowriter. Cantrell has stated that he was "proud" of Staley's work on this. This is the also the first song that Staley played guitar on in the recording. He also sometimes played it for live performances.

The song hit #27 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and #34 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was the only AIC song to peak higher on the Modern Rock chart than on the Mainstream one.