If there’s one word to define 90s grunge bands, it might be claustrophobia. And if you needed one song to distill the feeling of being trapped, it’s Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage”.
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Chris Cornell wrote the song while Soundgarden undertook grueling tour after grueling tour. When Badmotorfinger arrived in 1991, Soundgarden rode a wave of Seattle bands that transformed the sound of American rock music.
These groups shared roots with heavy metal and punk, which only added to the sense of claustrophobia. The punk spirit opposed commercializing their underground music scene. Yet, the heavy metal riffs were widely beloved, and soon, grunge dominated culture.
“Rusty Cage” by Soundgarden could be the sonic avatar of an American cultural moment. Then it became a Johnny Cash song.
Feeling Pent-up
Cornell told Spin in 2011 that he wrote the lyrics in a van during a European tour with Soundgarden. “I honestly can’t remember where, exactly,” he said. “But I have a vivid memory of staring out the window, looking at the countryside, and feeling pent-up. I never wrote any of the words down, but I somehow remembered them.”
“You wired me awake
And hit me with a hand of broken nails
You tied my lead and pulled my chain
To watch my blood begin to boil.”
He said his goal was to create a “hillbilly Black Sabbath crossover.” Inspired by Tom Waits, Cornell came up with a guitar riff to fit the captive imagery in his lyrics.
“Too cold to start a fire
I’m burning diesel, burning dinosaur bones
I’ll take the river down to Stillwater
And ride a pack of dogs.”
Johnny Cash Goes Grunge
Johnny Cash recorded Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage” for his 1996 album Unchained. The album title reads like the other side of Cornell’s torment. But Cash was emerging from a different cage, and his goth country take on Soundgarden’s song continued his career resurgence with producer Rick Rubin. Cash’s Americana readings of alternative music introduced the country legend to a new audience who didn’t typically listen to country music.
After Cash released his version of “Rusty Cage”, Cornell told SiriusXM several people called to say, “how great the lyrics were.” Cornell then joked that “when our version came out, I didn’t get one message.”
You might not associate Cash with Black Sabbath, heavy metal, or grunge, but the rootsy origins of “Rusty Cage” by Soundgarden and its dark poetry are something you might find in Southern Gothic literature. It’s a perfect melodramatic folk tale to be sung by the “Man in Black.”
Photo by Jen Cash
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