Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially by Scott Sundquist, and later by Matt Cameron in 1986. Yamamoto left in 1989 and was replaced initially by Jason Everman and shortly thereafter by Ben Shepherd. Soundgarden disbanded in 1997 and reformed in 2010. Following Cornell's death in 2017, Thayil declared in October 2018 that Soundgarden had disbanded a second time. The surviving members of the band have continued to occasionally work together since then, including reuniting for a one-off concert in tribute to Cornell in January 2019, and again in December 2024 for a benefit concert in Seattle, with Shaina Shepherd on vocals, under the anagram Nudedragons.
Soundgarden was one of the pioneers of grunge music, a style of alternative rock that developed in the American Pacific Northwest in the mid-1980s, and helped to popularize it in the early 1990s, alongside such Seattle contemporaries as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana.
Song lyrics
[edit]- All lyrics are written by Chris Cornell, except where noted.
Ultramega OK (1988)
[edit]- All of seventeen, eyes a purple green;
Treated like a queen, she was on borrowed self-esteem.- "Flower"
Louder Than Love (1989)
[edit]- Hands all over the coastal waters.
The crew men thank her, then lay down their oily blanket.
Hands all over the inland forest,
In a striking motion, trees fall down like dying soldiers.
Yeah, like dying soldiers.
- If you've got some time to kill,
Slow resistance wins the war.
Well, I know, yeah, but that's no way to go,
You can't resist the louder pull.
Badmotorfinger (1991)
[edit]- Oh, you wired me awake
And hit me with a hand of broken nails.
Yeah, you tied my lead and pulled my chain
To watch my blood begin to boil.But I'm gonna break, I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run.
- Show me the power, child, I'd like to say
That I'm down on my knees today.
Yeah, it gives me the butterflies, gives me away,
'Til I'm up on my feet again.
I'm feelin'
Oh, I'm feelin' outshined, outshined, outshined, outshined.
- And you stare at me
In your Jesus Christ pose:
Arms held out,
Like you've been carrying a load.
And you swear to me
You don't want to be my slave,
But you're staring at me
Like ILike I need to be
Saved.
- Listen, hear, he is inside,
One who lives while others lie.
I close my eyes and walk a thousand years,
A thousand years that aren't mine.
Hey.
Superunknown (1994)
[edit]- So give up to greed, you don't have to feed me, yeah
Give up to fate, you don't have to need me
So let it go, won't you let it go, won't you let it go
Won't you let it, drown me in you, yeah?- "Let Me Drown"
- Take if you want a slice
If you want a piece,
If it feels right.
Break if you like the sound,
If it gets you up,
If it takes you down.
Share if it makes you sleep,
If it sets you free,
If it helps you breathe.- "My Wave"
- Whatsoever I feared has come to life
And whatsoever I've fought off became my life
Just when every day seemed to greet me with a smile
Sunspots have faded, now I'm doin' time, now I'm doin' time.'Cause I fell on black days
I fell on black days.
- In my eyes, indisposed,
In disguises no one knows
Hides the face, lies the snake,
In 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?
- Feel the rhythm with your hands
(Steal the rhythm while you can)
Spoonman
Speak the rhythm on your own
(Speak the rhythm all alone)
SpoonmanSpoonman, come together with your hands,
Save me, I'm together with your plan.
Save me, yeah.- "Spoonman"
- I woke the same as any other day,
Except a voice was in my head.
It said, "Seize the day, pull the trigger.
Drop the blade and watch the rolling heads."The day I tried to live
I stole a thousand beggars' change
And gave it to the rich, yeah.
The day I tried to win,
I dangled from the power lines
And let the martyrs stretch, yeah.
Down on the Upside (1996)
[edit]- I caught the moon today,
Pick it up and throw it away, alright.
I got the perfect steal,
A cleaner love with a dirty feel, alright.
Fallout and take the bait,
Eat the fruit and kiss the snake goodnight.Common ruse, dirty face,
Pretty noose is pretty hate.
- Nothing seems to kill me,
No matter how hard I try.
Nothing's closing my eyes.
Nothing can beat me down for your pain or delight.
No.
- Follow me into the desert, as thirsty as you are,
Crack a smile and cut your mouth and drown in alcohol.
'Cause down below the truth is lying beneath the riverbed
So quench yourself and drink the water that flows below her head.Oh no, there she goes
Out in the sunshine
Sun is mine, sun is mine.I shot my love today, would you cry for me?
I lost my head again, would you lie for me?
King Animal (2012)
[edit]- You can't go home, no, I swear you never can.
You can walk a million miles and get nowhere.
I got nowhere to go ever since I came back
Just filling in the lines from the holes to the cracks
Yeah!No one knows me
No one saves me
No one loves or hates me.I've been away for too long.
- I'm addicted to feeling.
Stealing love isn't stealing.
Can't you see that I understand your mind?I'm a walking believer,
I'm a ghost and a healer.
I'm the shape of the hole inside your heart!
- Though I can't put my hands on you, I can feel you now
In the bones and the blood flowing, needles on the ground.
In the ether I sail to you, floating on the fumes,
Run aground on the shore for you, simple wreckage.Taree, walk out and raise the road
To my tilted shadow.
I only know I've made it home
When I drown in your ghost light.- "Taree"
