He Fell on Black Days

RIP Chris Cornell

I distinctly recall one day when I was 12 years old turning on MTV and finding not the music video I was looking for, but instead news that Kurt Cobain had killed himself. Obviously, that would be confusing to any young kid. But it was especially confusing to a young kid who had just started getting into music.

It’s honestly probably part of the reason why I was never that into Nirvana. Don’t get me wrong, they were amazing pioneers and there’s no greater testament to their legacy than to say that their songs stand the test of time. But even though I was a teenager in the 1990s and I was very into “grunge” music, Nirvana wasn’t my go-to. Two other Seattle bands were: Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.

In fact, the first music I ever bought with my own money (quarters expertly saved over time from lunch money — so, yeah, “mine”) was Soundgarden’s Superunknown. Given that it was 1994 and I wasn’t yet a cool, bleeding-edge tech kid, I bought it on cassette tape. And I played the hell out of it.

I would play it. Rewind it. Play it again. Rewind again.¹ I still know the words to every single song.

And so it was just extremely sad to wake up to the news today that Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden, was dead. Apparently also by his own hand. The 35 year old me can handle such a shock better than the 12 year old me could, but it’s a shock nonetheless.

And just very, very sad. He was only 52 years old.

As I went down my own path of musical discovery, Soundgarden led directly to Pearl Jam — which, of course, led directly to Temple of the Dog. This was the “supergroup” that comprised of members from both Soundgarden and what would become Pearl Jam.² I was too young to remember Mother Love Bone in real time, but my musical journey taught me all about Andrew Wood and his overdose, which in turn led to Temple of the Dog being formed by Cornell in tribute — and, of course, eventually to Pearl Jam.³

As fate would have it, the most recent concert I attended this past November was a reunion show for Temple of the Dog (thanks, Alex). I was beyond excited to see a band which had only existed in my young brain and memories, perform in person. Chris Cornell, as expected, was fucking brilliant. I feel very lucky to have seen one of his last performances. He was definitely a sight to behold on stage. A true rock star.

And that voice.

Even amongst grunge fans, Soundgarden was sort of an acquired taste. They were far more of a connector to 1980s metal than either Pearl Jam or Nirvana were — certainly, with their earlier stuff. Superunknown though, was right place and right time. And Chris Cornell’s voice would not be denied massive stardom. The other grunge bands had either great lyrics (Pearl Jam), great musical prowess (Nirvana), or unique combinations of both (Alice in Chains). But no one could match Cornell’s voice. I’m not sure anyone in rock could or will, period.

And so I’m just incredibly sad that the world will never again hear that voice. Yet I’m happy the recordings will live on.⁴ And I’m happy I got to hear it live, one last time. But just as with Cobain, and Layne Staley, and later Scott Weiland (not Seattle, but very much a part of that era), and countless others, the hits just keep on coming. In a very bad way.⁵

While “Hunger Strike” gets most the Temple of the Dog love — and rightfully so — Cornell’s real triumph with the band was undoubtedly the farewell to Wood: “Say Hello 2 Heaven”. Sadness subsides only in the thought that Chris will now get to say hello to Andy once again.

¹ Yes, this concept is exceedingly weird just 23 years later. Actually, that’s a long time. Wow.

² People often mistakenly say that Temple of the Dog was just “Pearl Jam plus Chris Cornell” but this isn’t technically true, since Matt Cameron, who yes, is now the drummer for Pearl Jam, was not at the time — he was the drummer for Soundgarden.

³ Pearl Jam was — and remains — essentially, the core of Mother Love Bone plus Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready (who also came over for Temple).

⁴ And I certainly don’t mean to discount Audioslave, which was a very solid band in its own right. I saw them perform a completely impromptu show once in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard — it was amazing. Nor do I want to discount Cornell’s solo work, some of which was truly excellent — he nailed the theme songs to one of the best James Bond films!

⁵ Few things will be more haunting than this song going forward.