Shannon's Tattoos<<

One thing you owe to Shannon Hoon. Whether you liked him or not, you've got to admit that he had the guts to do some really "drastic" tats, and if he were alive, i'd expect to see him even more inky now!To me, the reason of such a great buzz around his tats is that they spot some light on the dark side of him, showing a much more "crazy" Shannon Hoon, really far from the smalltown-mellow mood-good feelings attitude of the "No Rain" era, carrying on a whole new way of thinking about the guy, and giving further shape to him. I mean, they kind of remind more of the sick and outstanding side of Shannon, the police run-outs at high school and stuff, not the quiet living of the countryside! In perspective, the most eccentric tattoos are the latter ones (see below for details), and i think this is a key point to understand him and his apparently meaningless choices. In some way they sort of reflected his condition, his habits ect... Whatever...here you go.

Guide: as a general rule, every picture (even if under a specific tattoo) shows a little bit of many tats. So my best advice, while looking for a tattoo, is to have a glance at the whole number of these pics. This is the best way to get a complete idea of the tattoos.

Fish tattoo

This was easily the bigger tat he had. He got this early on (before moving to L.A.), to cover a scar from a "stab" he got back in high school (the "dark" side again, huh?). They've done a good job , i see no scars. This astonishing pics come with no doubt from the tattooer's (gee! the tattoo artist) portfolio. Every good tat artist keeps some photographs of his best works to show his quality around. The first on the left seems a hurtful passage!

Wrist tattoo

Having seen this one in some old pics of Shannon I guess it could be is very 1st. It was some strange kind of bracelet, really cool. The eccentric look suggests a possible unique tattoo, projected by Shannon or by someone esclusively for him (it's a common practice). pic#4 pic#5

God's Presence tattoo

This is probably the last tattoo done by Shannon, and perhaps the most widely known, since it appears on Nico cover. It can be placed in the short period of time going by the Woodstock '94 performance, where he doesn't have yet, and before the '95 Soup tour (and his death). It tells a poem by his great-great grandmother written in February 11, 1884. Note: the same lines, although with the title of "God's Presents", were recorded by Shannon on February 11, 1995 and make the main lyrical text of "Car Seat" on Soup. pic#2 pic#3

Monster and the World tattoos

In the upper left arm there's a well coloured world, wrapped by some parchment's stripes saying "eye and mind". it means it takes an eye to see what we've done to the world, and a mind to change it.
colours: blue, deep blue, green, parchment-like yellow.

The winged monster seems like some sort of mithologic dragon killing a snake. Very good job, huh?. Like the fish he had these already, when Blind Melon came together. For what i know, they could've been done by some tattoer around the Lafayette. pic#2

Circle tattoo

It raffigured a little man showing weird signs, all within a rope frame.

Cockroaches' Necklace tattoo

The most terrifying of the whole pack! Except for the God's presence, this is probably the most recent tat he did. It was nothing but a necklace made entirely with a bunch of nice cockroaches. The funny thing is that those cutes were Shannon's biggest fear! And this might be the reason why he made it so "comfortable" (this and because he wanted to hide it a little bit, i think) This is sick, man! More seriously: i hate it, yet i'm uncontrollably drawn to it. pic#3 pic#4 pic#5

Unknown#1: Possible reworked tattoo

This seems a little different from the original circle tat in the same position. Could be a recent reworking of it. This pic sucks.

Unknown#2: Possible unknown tattoo

Don't know what it is... but i'm sure it's something!