The big-voiced Chris Cornell rose to fame as the frontman of the Seattle-born grunge band Soundgarden in the late 1980s and 1990s. In fact, though bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam are perhaps more well known, it was Soundgarden that paved the way for the Pacific Northwest grunge movement, the first of the big four to sign a major record deal.
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Sadly, though, Cornell passed away 2017, after he decided to end his own life. The only silver lining from that tragedy is the music fans still have access to thanks to his many songs and recordings in groups like Soundgarden, as well as solo and with Audioslave. Here below, we wanted to dive into four songs that Cornell wrote solo for his iconic grunge band. Four giant hits. So, let’s explore.
[RELATED: 3 Songs You Didn’t Know Chris Cornell Wrote Solo for Temple of the Dog]
1. “Black Hole Sun”
Written by Chris Cornell
This all-time song was released in 1994 on Soundgarden’s album, Superunknown. Today, it’s the band’s best-known track. Written by Cornell while driving home from working in the recording studio one night, the singer quickly sang a rudimentary demo into a tape recorder before bringing it to the band. The result was a No. 1 song on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. Cornell told Uncut magazine in 2014 that he was inspired by something a news anchor said. “I heard ‘blah blah blah black hole sun blah blah blah’,” Cornell explained. Then he sang the now well-known lyrics,
In my eyes
Indisposed
In disguises no one knows
Hides the face
Lies the snake
And the sun in my disgrace
Boiling heat
Summer stench
Neath the black, the sky looks dead
Call my name
Through the cream
And I’ll hear you scream again
Black hole sun
Won’t you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun
Won’t you come
Won’t you come
Won’t you come
2. “Fell On Black Days”
Written by Chris Cornell
This song gets at the depressive nature that Soundgarden often captured so well and that haunted Cornell throughout his life (eventually leading to his death). Featuring Kim Thayil’s bending electric guitar riff, this track was also released on the 1994 LP, Superunknown. Today, it’s one of their best known songs and was featured on their greatest hits album, A-Sides. On the swelling, worrisome song, Cornell sings,
Whatsoever I’ve feared has come to life
And whatsoever I’ve fought off became my life
Just when everyday seemed to greet me with a smile
Sunspots have faded, now I’m doing time
Now I’m doing time
‘Cause I fell on black days
I fell on black days
3. “Spoonman”
Written by Chris Cornell
One of the band’s most inventive songs, this track was also released on Soundgarden’s Superunknown, which was truly a breakout record for the group, producing some of its most beloved tracks. It features, as the name suggests, a real-life spoons player, who click-clacks before and during the offering. It’s a marvel, really, both for the talent displayed and for the rarity of spoons on rock songs. As for the track’s subject matter, Cornell sings about a person playing the spoons and the general mysticism that he associates with it, offering,
Spoonman, come together with your hands
Save me, I’m together with your plan
Save me
Save
Save me
Save me, yeah
Save
With your
With your hands
With your hands
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Hands
4. “Searching with My Good Eye Closed”
Written by Chris Cornell
This song comes from the 1991 Soundgarden record, Badmotorfinger. It is something of a meditative head-banger. Part-chant, part-spell, part-mythical musing. Cornell sings over heavy guitars and rhythms about transcendence through the mind. There is a stream-of-consciousness vibe to the offering, almost like the lost heavy metal song from The White Album. On it Cornell croons,
Painted blue across my eyes
Tied the linen on
And I’m on my way, on my way
Looking for the paradigm
So I can pass it off
Is it on my side, on my side
Is it to the sky, is it to the sky, is it to the sky, now
Searching for the ground with my good eye closed
If I took you for a ride, would you take it wrong?
Or would you make it right, make it right?
Looking for a pedestal that I can put you on
And be on my way, on my way
Is it to the sky, is it to the sky, is it to the sky now
Searching for a ground with my good eye closed
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage
