Right Turn

Like much of Alice in Chains' music, "Right Turn" is an unromanticized look at heroin addiction. The timing of the song leaves room for speculation about who it's about (if anyone), but two subjects seem most likely. Inside, always trying to get back inside But it's hard to penetrate pig-thick skin I'm 'bout as low as I can get I'd leave but I can't forget 1) Alice frontman Jerry Cantrell wrote the song. He never messed with heroin. The drug's association with Alice comes from vocalist Layne Staley and bassist Mike Starr, not Cantrell, but Cantrell was forced to watch many of his friends succumb to the drug. According to accounts pieced together in Alice in Chains: The Untold Story by David de Sola, Staley was just starting to get hooked on heroin during the recording of Sap. He was known to lock himself in bathrooms for long periods of time and was more challenging to work with than usual. It seems he started messing with the drug during the band's August 1991-January 1992 tour with Van Halen. In addition to locking himself in bathrooms, Staley's demeanor had changed. Rather than being an upbeat joker, he'd become mellow and detached. Two more verses point to the possibility of Staley as subject: 'Bout as low as she can get She'll leave me but she won't forget And she wonders why she ain't right, she ain't right Ain't right, she ain't right Staley's addiction started with his girlfriend and eventual fiancé, Demri Parrot. It's a tricky subject to write about because no one is really sure how the events actually played out. Some accuse Parrot of introducing Staley to heroin, while others say it was the other way around. Whatever the truth (and, ultimately, does it really matter?), the two battled with the drug at the same time. Parrot died on October 29, 1996, of overdose complications. Staley followed her six years later of the same cause. Now we're as low as we can get Can't leave and can't forget We ain't right, we ain't right Not right, we ain't right 2) It's possible that Cantrell was watching Staley's addiction unfold and writing about that, but a more likely subject is Andrew Wood, frontman of Mother Love Bone. Sap came out of a recording session done for the 1992 film Singles. The band was brought in to record "Would?," which is on the film's soundtrack, but they also used the time to do some demos, including "Rooster" and all the songs on Sap. "Would?" is about Andrew Wood, who died of a heroin overdose in 1990. He was the godfather of the Pacific Northwest music scene that eventually became known as "grunge," and personal friends and acquaintances with many figures that emerged from it. It appears most likely that "Right Turn" is about Wood. If so, then the title might be referring to the direction Wood took his life. What if he'd made a right turn rather than a left?

The EP liner notes credit "Alice Mudgarden" for "Right Turn." The name represents an ad hoc combination of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell and Mudhoney frontman Mark Arm. According to Cantrell, the guest vocalists, along with Ann Wilson of Heart (who sang on "Brother" and "I Am Inside"), were brought in on a whim. In an interview with Guitar World (January 1993, Vol. 14 No. 1), Cantrell said that the band were sitting around the studio and just decided to call local musical friends to contribute. To their surprise, all three showed up within an hour. Arm was nervous because he didn't feel he had the kind of vocal power that Wilson and Cornell did, but Cantrell has specifically cited his performance for giving him chills. "It's like the voice of death," Cantrell said.

On the UK version of the "Would" single, "Right Turn" is the last of three B-side tracks (the others being "Man In The Box" and "Brother").