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Black Hole Sun

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"Black Hole Sun"
Song
B-side"Like Suicide" (acoustic) / "Kickstand" (live)

"Black Hole Sun" is a song by the American alternative rock band Soundgarden. It was the third single released from the album Superunknown (1994). It is arguably the band's most recognizable and most popular song. The song topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It would later appear on the band's greatest hits album A-Sides and the 2007 Chris Cornell compilation The Roads We Choose - A Retrospective.

Origin and recording

The song was written by frontman Chris Cornell. Cornell said that he wrote the song in about 15 minutes.[1] Cornell came up with the song while using a Leslie speaker. Guitarist Kim Thayil said that the Leslie speaker was perfect for the song as "it's very Beatlesque and has a distinctive sound."[2] The song was performed in drop D tuning. Drummer Matt Cameron called the song "a huge departure."[3]

Lyrics

Cornell stated, "It's just sort of a surreal dreamscape, a weird, play-with-the-title kind of song."[4] He also said that "lyrically it's probably the closest to me just playing with words for words' sake, of anything I've written. I guess it worked for a lot of people who heard it, but I have no idea how you'd begin to take that one literally."[5] In another interview he elaborated further, stating, "It's funny because hits are usually sort of congruent, sort of an identifiable lyric idea, and that song pretty much had none. The chorus lyric is kind of beautiful and easy to remember. Other than that, I sure didn't have an understanding of it after I wrote it. I was just sucked in by the music and I was painting a picture with the lyrics. There was no real idea to get across."[3] Commenting upon how the song was misinterpreted as being positive, Cornell said, "No one seems to get this, but "Black Hole Sun" is sad. But because the melody is really pretty, everyone thinks it's almost chipper, which is ridiculous."[6] When asked about the line, "Times are gone for honest men", Cornell said:

It's really difficult for a person to create their own life and their own freedom. It's going to become more and more difficult, and it's going to create more and more disillusioned people who become dishonest and angry and are willing to fuck the next guy to get what they want. There's so much stepping on the backs of other people in our profession. We've been so lucky that we've never had to do that. Part of it was because of our own tenacity, and part of it was because we were lucky.[7]

Release and reception

"Black Hole Sun" was released in the summer of 1994 and became the most successful song from Superunknown on the American rock charts and arguably the band's most recognizable and popular song. It appeared on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 Airplay chart, reaching the top 30. The following week it debuted on the Top 40 Mainstream, where it peaked at number nine in its eighth week and remained on the chart until its twentieth week. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. In 1995 it won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.[8]

Outside of the United States, the single wasspongebob on a stick released in Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In Canada, the song reached the top ten on the Canadian Singles Chart. It remained in the top ten for three weeks and became the band's highest charted song in Canada. "Black Hole Sun" reached the UK Top 20 and was the last single from the album which charted in the UK Top 20. The song remains the band's highest charting single in the United Kingdom to date. "Black Hole Sun" debuted at number ten in Australia but quickly descended the chart, however widespread airplay and a promotional visit to Australia stimulated a resurgence of interest in Superunknown. "Black Hole Sun" would peak at number six on the Australian Singles Chart. "Black Hole Sun" reached the top 30 in Germany, New Zealand, and the Netherlands and was a top ten success in France, Ireland, and Australia. It was a moderate top 2 name="greatest90s">"VH1: 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s". VH1. Retrieved 2008-08-09.</ref>

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Clear Channel included the song on its list of possibly inappropriate songs.

"Black Hole Sun" is a playable song in the game Rock Band. The song is also available in the game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore.

Music video

File:BlackHoleSun.jpg

The surreal and apocalyptic music video for the song was directed by Howard Greenhalgh, produced by Megan Hollister for Why Not Films (London), shot by Ivan Bartos, and features post-production work by 525 Post Production (Hollywood) and Soho 601 Effects (London). The video was released in June 1994.[9] In an online chat, the band stated the the video "was entirely the director's idea," and added, "Our take on it was that at that point in making videos, we just wanted to pretend to play and not look that excited about it."[10] In the video, Cornell can be seen wearing a fork necklace given to him by Shannon Hoon.[1] After several weeks of airplay on MTV, a second version of the video was substituted containing more elaborate visual effects than the original. Thayil said that the video was one of the few Soundgarden videos the band was satisfied with.[11]

The music video for "Black Hole Sun" became a hit on MTV and received the award for Best Metal/Hard Rock Video at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards.[12] In 1995, it received the Clio Award for Alternative Music Video.[13] The video is available on the CD-ROM Alive in the Superunknown.

Live performances

Cornell performed a solo version of the song on his Euphoria Morning tour and Live Earth set. It was also performed by Cornell's former band, Audioslave, on its Out of Exile tour and during its Live 8 performance. A performance of the song by Cornell can be found on the Audioslave DVD Live in Cuba, which was filmed at the band's concert in Havana, Cuba. The song was performed by Cornell during the 2008 Projekt Revolution Tour, with Cornell only singing, not playing guitar. This switch was possibly made because Cornell sometimes crowd surfs during the song.

Cover versions

"Black Hole Sun" has been covered by numerous artists. One of the first cover recordings was a jazz version by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé on the 1997 compilation album, Lounge-A-Palooza. The singer-songwriter Paul Anka gave "Black Hole Sun" a swing treatment on his 2005 album Rock Swings. Peter Frampton covered "Black Hole Sun" on his 2006 instrumental album, Fingerprints. Frampton was joined on the track by Cameron and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. A cover was also done by the band Copeland which was featured on the 2006 compilation album Punk Goes '90s. In 2008, the Brad Mehldau Trio covered "Black Hole Sun" on the band's Live album (recorded in late 2006), working the song's verse and chorus melodies into a 23 minute long extemporaneous jazz piece.

In addition to cover versions, "Black Hole Sun" has also inspired a few parodies. "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied the song in 1996 with "The Alternative Polka", a polka medley entirely made up of alternative rock songs, from the 1996 album Bad Hair Day.

Track listing

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1994 Canadian Singles Chart[14] 5
Australian Singles Chart[15] 6
Irish Singles Chart[16] 7
French Singles Chart[17] 10
UK Singles Chart[18] 12
Swedish Singles Chart[19] 19
New Zealand Singles Chart[20] 22
US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay[21] 24
US Mainstream Rock Tracks[22] 1
US Modern Rock Tracks[22] 2
US Top 40 Mainstream[23] 9
Dutch Singles Chart[24] 25
German Singles Chart[25] 26

Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to "Black Hole Sun" is adapted in part from AcclaimedMusic.net.[26]

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Guitar World United States "100 Greatest Guitar Solos"[27] 2007 63
VH1 United States "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s"[28] 2007 25
Kerrang! United Kingdom "100 Greatest Singles of All Time"[29] 2002 49
Q United Kingdom "The 1001 Best Songs Ever"[30] 2003 543
Total Guitar United Kingdom "100 Hottest Guitar Solos"[31] 2006 56
The Movement New Zealand "The 100 (+300) Greatest Songs of All Time"[32] 2004 80
The Movement New Zealand "The 77 Best Singles of the 90s"[33] 2004 32
Pure Pop Mexico "The 100 Best Singles of All Time"[34] 2003 100
Spex Germany "Singles of the Year"[35] 1994 15

References

  1. ^ a b "Gardener's Question Time". Kerrang!. March 1, 1997.
  2. ^ Gilbert, Jeff. "Sleepless in Seattle". Guitar World. May 1994.
  3. ^ a b Clay, Jennifer. "Soundgarden: Painting Beautiful Pictures". RIP Magazine. June 1996.
  4. ^ "Soundgarden: The Badass Seed". Rip Magazine. April 1994.
  5. ^ Crisafulli, Chuck. "Rogues Gallery". Request. June 1996.
  6. ^ True, Everett. "Journey into the Superunknown". Melody Maker. March 19, 1994.
  7. ^ Foege, Alec. "The End of Innocence". Rolling Stone. January 12, 1995.
  8. ^ "37th Grammy Awards - 1995". Rockonthenet.com. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  9. ^ "Soundgarden music videos". Music Video Database. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  10. ^ "Interview With Chris Cornell and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden". Spin Online. November 15, 1995.
  11. ^ Maloof, Rich. "Kim Thayil of Soundgarden: Down on the Upbeat". Guitar Magazine. July 1996.
  12. ^ "1994 MTV Video Music Awards". Rockonthenet.com. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  13. ^ "Clio Awards Search Archive". clioawards.com. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  14. ^ "Canadian Charts - "Black Hole Sun"". RPM. Retrieved 2008-03-07. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  16. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  17. ^ "French Single/Album Chart / Soundgarden / Longplay". lescharts.com. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  18. ^ "EveryHit.com". Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  19. ^ "Swedish Single/Album Chart / Soundgarden / Longplay". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  20. ^ "Soundgarden". New Zealand-charts.com. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
  21. ^ "Billboard.com / Soundgarden / Longplay". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-02-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ a b "Soundgarden Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-12-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ "Billboard.com / Soundgarden / Longplay". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-02-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ "Dutch Single/Album Chart / Soundgarden / Longplay". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  25. ^ "Chartverfolgung / Soundgarden / Single". musicline.de. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  26. ^ ""Black Hole Sun" accolades". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference 100greatest was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Cite error: The named reference greatest90s was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ^ "100 Greatest Singles of All Time". Kerrang!. Retrieved 2008-05-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "The 1001 Best Songs Ever". Q. Retrieved 2008-05-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference 100hottest was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ "The 100 (+300) Greatest Songs of All Time". The Movement. Retrieved 2008-05-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  33. ^ "The 77 Best Singles of the 90s". The Movement. Retrieved 2008-05-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  34. ^ "The 100 Best Singles of All Time". Juice. Retrieved 2008-05-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  35. ^ "Best - Singles of the Year". AcclaimedMusic.net. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
Preceded by Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single
July 16, 1994 - September 2, 1994 		Succeeded by
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