“I’m not a lyric writer to make statements. What I enjoy doing is making paintings with lyrics, creating colourful images,” said Chris Cornell, the American rocker best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden. He was also the lead vocalist for Audioslave, a four-piece group made of members from Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, the creation of which was orchestrated by the legendary record producer, Rick Rubin. Audioslave and Soundgarden have been two of the most influential rock bands which inspired a whole generation of people to turn into artistes – explore songwriting and soundscapes, and to sing and write on profound topics of existentialism, hedonism and other philosophical and metaphoric pursuits.
If you have ever been a fan of The Beatles, you will hear a lot of similarities in Chris Cornell’s music (he has cited them as his major influences apart from Led Zeppelin) with lyrics that make you feel like it could be your story and with chord progressions you think you could have written over the melody of your life. His songs make you feel euphoria down to sadness and at times, make you feel like you were sitting in a glass-walled room seeing your thoughts at a distance. His music had the power to disassociate you from your body and take you to places, which only unfamiliar sounds and lyrics have the capability of doing. Or as the well known record producer, Timbaland puts it, after having worked with Cornell – “a learning experience.”
I had a chance to go see Chris Cornell perform at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles in late 2015. He played new songs from his album for a good 2.5 hours with just his guitar and interacted with fans. His songs take their time to get into you and then a few hours later, you are left humming parts. They slowly seep in and fill you up until it overwhelms and hits hard with the strange alien-esque, otherworldly lyrics.
With enduring hits across his career, timeless records such as Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden), Be Yourself (Audioslave), Euphoria Morning (his first solo album) which included the song Wave goodbye, a tribute to his contemporary and friend Jeff Buckley and his collaboration with Timbaland on Scream. Cornell had a multioctave range with voice spanning from a baritone to mid tenor. He also experimented with various different vocal styles combined with unique melodies. Cornell released five solo albums – six albums with Soundgarden, three with Audioslave. And this, not including work with other artistes and producing duties.
Just like former grunge pioneer, Kurt Cobain, Chris Cornell too allegedly committed suicide. He had drug and alcohol abuse issues during his years with Soundgarden but had strived to overcome them. He had also been dealing with depression and agoraphobia, partly due to being in that circle. Cornell had always been a loner and was able to deal with his anxiety around other people through rock music. In his early years, Chris spiralled into severe depression, dropped out of school and almost never left the house. These common mental health issues have been a recurring theme in a lot of musicians we have lost. Music, having such a powerful ability to heal, has let people express their feelings freely but the very reason for getting into music often strengthens the emotional expression until it becomes a habit. Probably, the only con is being in such an emotional field.
