The music world has had some time to process the fact that this year we sadly lost Chris Cornell. First and foremost he was a father, husband, son, brother and friend. While they had the opportunity to get to know Chris on a personal level we the fans simply got to know Chris Cornell through interviews through the music that he left us with to enjoy.
I was no fan of Grunge music and I hated grunge music back then what I like the about Soundgarden was that they came out in 1988 and they put out a couple of records first before they made it big during grunge they were not a band that madean album during grunge and were an immediate success. I mean what band from the grunge era can say they inspired Metallica, opened for Guns N Roses and Skid Row. Chris Cornell had the kind of music career every musician dreams of. He was the frontman of two very successful bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. He had a solo career and which he was allowed to do whatever music he wanted. He was also asked to write a song for a James Bond movie how cool is that. He had the Rockstar look and the rock star persona.
What made Chris special is that he was a songwriter and his voice. You could enjoy the music but also pay attention to the lyrics. He simply had an amazing voice. He sounded as good now as he did 30 years ago. He could sing a song like Seasons and then break out into a full blown rock song. He has a voice that is irresplaceble, you can’t find anyone who could sing the way that he does. We enjoyed his uniqueness.
He was admired by his peers who called him the best rock voice, after his death a lot of musicians paid tribute to him by performing soundgarden songs. The music that he made meant something. He would write the songs and once the fans heard the songs he would leave it up to fans to interpret what the song means to them it is mysterious to know what was he thinking behind some of the songs. There are many other songwriters like that one that I interviewed I asked some questions about the songs that he wrote he said it is up to the fans.
The video for Spoonman is super cool in that the band is not in the video you just see pictures of them and that it’s a good sign that he has always liked having the mystique. Back in those days when a band was gone for a while and came back you had no idea what they looked like there was no social media. Bands could disappear for a period of time from the public eye.
Audioslave has a song called “Doesn’t remind me”. It is a song that left to a million interpretations. I love listening to that song because it takes me back to being an 11 year old discovering music, discovering bands that I have never heard of. I am curious to read and hope people will share the memories of the songs that they he had written.
“Fell on black days” was a great song that helped me through a period of depression in high school where I felt life was messed up. The songs will live on, everyday soundgarden, audioslave, temple of the dog, and Chris Cornell solo material is on the radio, somewhere right now someone is playing the music loud in their house or in their car. I am sure in 10 years there will be a new generation of people who will hear a song and ask who is that and like the music of audioslave, temple of the dog, or soundgarden. It is sad soundgarden didn’t get to release a new album with Chris, or that a audioslave full blown reunion didn’t happen. Chris Cornell left the fans with 14 studio albums (Soundgarden, Temple of the dog, Audioslave, solo work) to enjoy and listen to. What a great music catalog he left behind. We will always be able to watch the videos, enjoy the music. Rest in peace Chris. We will always remember the music.
Angel Alamo 