If you dreamed up a cartoonishly ideal rock star, it might look and sound something like Chris Cornell. The grunge bands were supposed to be anti-rock stars, but Cornell was anything but. However, beneath Cornell’s rock-god looks and mind-blowing voice lurked darkly poetic lyrics, as you’ll notice in the three Soundgarden classics below.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Rusty Cage”
I didn’t take notice of the lyrics to “Rusty Cage” until Johnny Cash covered it. The words were obscured in Soundgarden’s original beneath Kim Thayil’s gloomy Black Sabbath riff and Chris Cornell’s high howls. But Cash’s baritone revealed a Southern Gothic tale about yearning for freedom. Cornell said he came up with the idea while touring in Europe with Soundgarden. The band wasn’t a household name then, and while Cornell stared out the window of his tour vehicle, he felt trapped. This is, without question, my desert-island Soundgarden tune.
When the forest burns along the road
Like God’s eyes in my headlights
And when the dogs are looking for their bones
And it’s raining icepicks on your steel shore.
“Jesus Christ Pose”
No one could have predicted how the Seattle bands would disrupt the existing rock and roll order. Soundgarden released “Jesus Christ Pose” as the first single from Badmotorfinger, which, by no means, was a radio-friendly choice. Musically, it lives on the border between Soundgarden’s sludgy dissonance and heavy blues. Here, Chris Cornell critiques famous people striking the Christ pose in music videos and on magazine covers. Using the crucifixion as a fashion statement, but also inventing a sense of martyrdom for rock stars and models.
And you stare at me
In your Jesus Christ pose
Arms held out
Like you’ve been carrying a load.
“Black Hole Sun”
I chose this one because it shows Chris Cornell playing with words for the sake of bending language without any commitment to meaning or narrative. It’s like a great book that’s also utterly plotless. “Black Hole Sun” became one of Soundgarden’s biggest hits, and even Cornell couldn’t explain what this one’s about. Yet listeners often attribute meanings to abstract lyrics regardless of the writer’s intention—using their experiences to fill in the blanks. Apart from poetry for poetry’s sake, “Black Hole Sun” may be Cornell’s best vocal performance. His outro vocal still gives me goose bumps.
In my eyes,
Indisposed,
In disguises no one knows.
Hides the face,
Lies the snake,
And the sun in my disgrace.
Photo by Jen Cash
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.