Few 90s songs are more recognizable than Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”. The Seattle-based band released the iconic song on their fourth studio album “Superunknown” in 1994. The song was written by the late Chris Cornell and became the band’s most popular song. In this article, we will dive into the meaning, story, and legacy behind Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”.
The Origin Behind the Song
The story of “Black Hole Sun” started after Chris Cornell misheard a news anchor talking about a ‘black hole sun’. Cornell thought it was an amazing title for a song and started composing the song in his head during a 35-minute drive home from Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, just outside Seattle.
“It all came together, pretty much the whole arrangement including the guitar solo that’s played beneath the riff,” Cornell reflected to Uncut Magazine. “I spent a lot of time spinning those melodies in my head so I wouldn’t forget them.”
After arriving home, Cornell sang the melodies he wrote in his head into a dictaphone. The next day, he composed chords over the melody, laying the foundation of the song. Thereafter, he wrote the lyrics.
The Meaning of the Song
It’s difficult to draw a concrete meaning out of “Black Hole Sun”. Chris Cornell admitted he played around with words for words’ sake and didn’t understand the lyrics himself upon writing the song. “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,” Cornell told Request in 1996.
The essence of the meaning of “Black Hole Sun”, however, lies more in the picture the song paints than in the intention behind the words. Cornell wrote the song around the title “Black Hole Sun”, a phrase he was fascinated with because of the contrast between a black hole and the sun.
“A black hole is a billion times larger than a sun, it’s a void, a giant circle of nothing, and then you have the sun, the giver of all life. It was this combination of bright and dark, this sense of hope and underlying moodiness,” Cornell stated.
The bleak yet intriguing atmosphere of the song portrays a sense of sadness, alienation, and emptiness. In the chorus of the song, Cornell questions why the black hole sun won’t come to wash the rain (sadness) away.
Introducing the Song to the Band
Chris Cornell was initially hesitant to introduce the song to bandmates Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, and Ben Shepherd. He was afraid that they wouldn’t like the song because it didn’t fit Soundgarden’s sound. The reactions to the song, however, were rather opposite to Cornell’s expectations. In 2017, the producer of the song Michael Beinhorn recalled what he felt the first time he heard “Black Hole Sun”.
“I’ll never ever forget how I felt when they started playing that song. From the very first few notes, I felt like I’d been hit by a thunderbolt. I was just absolutely stunned. What in the world is this? I get goosebumps thinking about it now.”
The Song’s Iconic Music Video
The iconic music video of “Black Hole Sun” most definitely contributed to the popularity of the song. The music video was produced by Howard Greenhalgh, who self-described it as ‘a sci-fi sarcastic thing where it’s the end of the world and everybody’s smiling’.
The music video is set in a dreamlike apocalyptic world and features people with eccentric facial characteristics. Near the end of the video, the people are consumed by a black hole. Soundgarden – known for their hesitance towards music videos – loved Greenhalgh’s end result and approved it without making adjustments.
“I love the video because it worked,” Cornell told Artist Direct. “It just happened to be a guy with a great idea who happened to believe in our notion that we’re reluctant video stars who are going to give you nothing. The contrast of us giving you nothing and your vision is actually going to be better than if we’re jumping around acting like crazy rock people and you’re doing these flash jump-cut edits and crazy lighting. We’re weird enough as it is, and we’re tired of trying to not be. It worked.”
The music video for “Black Hole Sun” received heavy rotation on MTV and earned Soundgarden an MTV award for Best Rock Video in 1994.
The Legacy of Black Hole Sun
Soundgarden released “Black Hole Sun” on their fourth studio album Superunknown. The song was released as a single and became a worldwide hit, selling over 3 million copies. It also won Soundgarden a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1995.
Over the years, “Black Hole Sun” grew out to be Soundgarden’s most popular song. The combination of the unique bleak atmosphere of the song, Cornell’s ambiguous lyrics and soaring vocals, as well as outstanding instrumentation, make “Black Hole Sun” an all-time classic.
Interested in more stories behind iconic songs? Click here
