Shocked and heartbroken is my response to the news that Chris Cornell has died today, at just 52. As the vocalist of Soundgarden, his voice was inimitable, swinging between ethereal and a sweet spot of gravelly grunge, across four octaves in his prime.
Today’s Track Of The Day is a tribute to Chris, and the music of Soundgarden, that will never be the same, because there’ll never be another Chris Cornell. In these songs and albums, Chris Cornell lives on.
As well as the version of “Fell On Black Days” on the Superunknown album, Soundgarden also had a ‘video version’ of the song (below). The dark and shadowy video, as well as the rawer production quality always seemed to have this song seem more intimate. The album version being cleaner and brashier.
“I’m a search light soul
They say but I can’t
See it in the night
I’m only faking
When I get it right“
“Fell On Black Days” speaks about the existence of only darkness and failures in that state of depression. You can feel the sense of fight against this heaviness when Chris calls out ‘Sure don’t mind a change!’ before the last chorus, perhaps wanting to will a change out of that bleakness?
Listen to the video version below or stream the Superunknown version via Spotify.
RIP Chris. Thanks for the music and the inspiration. 💔
