62 Chris Cornell Quotes

Chris Cornell quotes

1. Everything's different. You have to recognise the fact that I'm different. Time goes on, and you change. I'm coming into this as a different guy, that's probably the biggest thing.

2. It's definitely a different world. Smoking is bad for your voice, for sure, but you learn to function in that world of bad. Now I'm in better shape, and I'm much more physical onstage, but I have to watch getting winded. Once I'm winded, I don't sing right. I would have smoked three cigarettes already during this interview [laughs].

3. I used to work in jobs I hated because I needed the money to buy a guitar. I know what it feels like to be depressed. On the other hand, I also know what it feels like to have money, to be successful, to be independent, but I can tell you that money and success never solve your problems.

4. 'Tighter and Tighter' was actually written around the same time as 'Black Hole Sun.' In fact, I did a demo with four songs on it to play for the band. 'Black Hole Sun,' 'Sounds Like Days,' 'Tighter and Tighter' and a song called 'Anxious.' We blew off 'Anxious' entirely and recorded 'Tighter and Tighter' for the last record. It was the last song we did. It was number 16 and we ran out of studio time. We had the rhythm tracks done and it was just needing vocals and my guitar solos. We just ran out of time. It was falling flat anyway. I changed the arrangement a little bit.

5. I've always liked depressing music because a lot of times listening to it when you're down can actually make you feel less depressed. Also, even though a person may have problems with depression, sometimes you can actually be kind of comfortable in that space because you know how to operate within it.

6. The problem is, no one really knows what run-of-the-mill depression is. You'll think somebody has run-of-the-mill depression, and then the next thing you know, they're hanging from a rope. It's hard to tell the difference.

7. I look back at bands like the Small Faces, the Yardbirds, Free, the Byrds -- what came out of those bands? If you look at the family trees of some of the British Invasion groups, a lot of those guys wound up in the most successful groups of the '70s. So you do find a lot of super-groups in that era. In a sense, Led Zeppelin was that.

8. When I was maybe nine years old, I listened to the entire Beatles catalogue, non-stop, for about a year, being a naive child, I didn't know who sang what song. I didn't know it was a different guy. I didn't know it was Paul singing Helter Skelter. I didn't know it was John singing Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey.

9. There's a tendency for people to want to be led. I've touched on that subject a few other times in other songs I've written. But this one was more personal, and it also suggests that people find their true strength at a point where they seem to be at their biggest weakness. And I think that's when you can really find inspiration from someone. When someone is living high on the hog and someone can do no wrong and everyone loves them, that's really not the time to look at them and see what they're really made of or really worth. The time to be inspired by someone is when they're dealing with tragedy and negative aspects of themselves and the world around them. When I'm confident and filled with understanding and strength, I'm probably not really exhibiting anything that's worth following. But if I'm knee deep in shit and I'm managing to get through it, maybe I'm setting an example that someone else can benefit from.

10. I think we all carry a depressive streak in us but most people just hide it. A lot of people think that entertainment has to be something loud, cheerful and happy. I don't buy into it. Depression can be very inspiring. At least for me it can be. The quiet aspects of life are very important, because let's face it, life is pretty difficult.

11. Follow My Way is one of my favorites. It describes the idea that a person's true strengths and positive sides are really found more in their weaknesses and their trying times, than in their greatest successes or brightest moments. You're receiving accolades and people are patting you on the back, but the moments that define you as a person are when you're in really bad circumstances. When there's been deaths, there's been a really serious problem in your relationship, or you've lost yourself as a person. That's when you have to be strong and rise to the occasion.

12. I don't think that fans of RAGE or Soundgarden will be disappointed.

13. Music driven by money deserves to fail.

14. I'm not suicidal, except when I drink. That's why we don't all drink at the same time, there'd be no-one alive to drive home.

15. I'm not this together, well adjusted rock star guy, that's not true: I'm as fucked up as anybody.

16. I don't think a band should compromise themselves for anything. Not for an audience, not for a record label. Because if you compromise yourself, I don't think a fan is gonna believe in what you do.

17. I don't think there are too many rock bands in history that can look at the beginning and middle and ending of themselves and see what I see when I think of Soundgarden. I think from the beginning through the middle and the end it was such a perfect ride and such a perfect legacy to leave

18. I didn't have the same focus (when I was in Soundgarden) I have now. Now everything has come together. The focus on my wife and my children, it really helps me make sense of the music side of it somehow

19. The only criteria I apply when making music is 'Does it make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end? It doesn't matter what style it is, what it reminds me of, what it doesn't remind me of. If it doesn't give me that feeling of inspiration, then it's not there yet.

20. In a lot of ways being a rock musician is an oppurtunity just be be a kid, to stay irresponible.

21. Making this video was fun because we were in a steel foundry. And there was like a black cancer dust all over everything. We're all gonna get cancer from it and die. so I hope you enjoy it. This will be the video that killed Soundgarden.

22. Wow. As long as the checks we send him clear, he seems to keep saying good things about us.

23. Whatever you do and however you do it and however famous you become, you still came out of some woman. You're still part of the human race. You're still as much responsible for what's going on as anybody else. If anything, you become more aware.

24. I'm not gonna tell people what they should and shouldn't take...unless they get too high and step on my toes - then I'll punch them in the face and they'll learn that way.

25. My job isn't to create a body of work that can be understood by anyone. I don't think it's the artist's job to worry about it. When I was making records, and no one knew who I was, it wasn't an issue, so I don't see why it would be an issue now. You can't give any indication, at any point in your career, that you're willing to conform or take direction. If that is common knowledge, then they'll leave you alone, and their options are really only to accept you and leave you alone entirely, or tell you to fuck off. And you have to be willing to accept that possibility. If you're willing to accept that,it creates a certain amount of confidence and shows a certain amount of strength that people are attracted to, and they want to be a part of it.

26. If I wrote a line then questioned it, do I really want people to hear me say that? Is that too personal? That moment of fear meant I should keep it.

27. Susan was really busy with one of her bands, and there was about a month when I never left the house. I didn't go out in public; I didn't talk to anyone on the phone -- I went a little psycho. If I hadn't been alone so long, I would not have gone as far as I actually went. But one day I went from wondering what I would look like with a shaved head to 'That's pretty cool.' Then I put my hair in a big envelope and mailed it off to my wife. The funny thing was, I did this really silly, personal thing for no reason, and then all of a sudden it was on MTV News and in Newsweek, and I still hadn't left the house. I thought it was strange, because I don't know how anyone found out about my hair, and I don't know why they cared.

28. Oh god, that was like f--king 1112 years ago. Do you miss it?

29. I have really early memories of life, so don't freak out. As a child I'd get caught up in how words didn't make any sense. I remember hearing the song 'She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain When She Comes,' trying to figure out what the fuck the guy was talking about.

30. The Beatles were my first love. My friend John Zimmer's oldest brother was kicked out of his house, and his parents put all of his stuff in the basement, where it was getting destroyed by flood waters. He had about fifteen Beatles records. So I stole the whole stack -- lovingly put paper towels between each of them. For over a year I listened to nothing but the Beatles. It was my music school.

31. At a talent show in sixth grade at Christ the King, my Catholic school in Seattle. I remember being incredibly nervous and also bringing the house down. Teachers were crying. I sang a song called 'One Tin Soldier.' A girl in my class knew it on piano and accompanied me.

32. He was always hidden somewhere having a personal crisis -- always. One time I was in the room when he was talking to his manager, Doug Goldstein, about wanting the Goodyear blimp for the show. I said this as a joke -- even though it was true -- that the Fuji blimp was the largest blimp in the world. Axl was like, 'That's it! It's gonna be the Fuji blimp!'

33. And at Wembley, with G n' R, I saw a guy die and be resuscitated. It was an enormous fat guy. While he was dead, he pissed in his pants. Paramedics were banging on his chest, and one of them hit him good, and he woke up swinging. I remember thinking, 'I don't like this.'

34. It wasn't because we had no future. It wasn't because we had no perspectives, but because of the way we handled things in the past. We always did things our own way, as a band and because we liked it that way. It was how Soundgarden worked. I think we're in a phase now where we just don't have enough enthusiasm to record another Soundgarden album and to tour. I think it's all very natural, just like everything that Soundgarden ever did. We always did what was best for the band. So if it's best not to record an album and to stop being a band, then that be it. It's not a problem for us.

35. Of course, there are hard rock fans who only like hard rock and that's OK, but I think the majority of the people out there are rather open minded. I always liked a lot of different styles and hard rock was just one of them.

36. It's strange, simply because when the format changed, it wasn't really an organic change. It was a forced change. If you go into Tower Records, Sam Goody or Musicland, the places where 80% of people buy their music, there's no option to buy vinyl. It's not there and it's too bad. The funny part is, I remember when I was younger, the only shops that would sell CD players were the audiophile shops where everything was really expensive. Now the only place you can buy a new turntable is those same places that were responsible for switching the format. A lot of the audiophiles like the vinyl so much more.

37. Our record company wanted us to do a greatest hits album. Well, we thought it would be really funny to put out an album and call it B-sides instead of A-sides. We were never a band who tried to produce hit singles. I don't even think we've got something like 12 top-20 singles. That's one of the reasons why we all think the compilation should consist of rare recordings.

38. It's quite funny; Soundgarden were always part of a certain scene but now two years after our split, things seem to have changed. They're playing our songs on the radio, but they label us as classic rock. I'm really proud. After all, it means that they regard us as an important band. I didn't think it would happen so quickly.

39. The story of Soundgarden is my own story in a way, so why should I be afraid to talk about it? There's always a question that leads back to Soundgarden and I'm proud that I was part of the band, so why should I mind talking about it? After all, it was a great time for the most part of it.

40. I had offers from at least 20 different bands. It wouldn't be fair to mention names, but some bands were really known, some were not, and there were countless calls from musicians who wanted to be on my album.

41. I think everybody, no matter how rich or poor, how young or old, has a phase in his life when he's depressive. It's reality. Not a lot of people want to talk about it. Most people rather hide that fact, but it's just one of the facts of life that absolutely fascinates me.

42. Chris has a very penetrating and unique artistic vision that, when melded with ours, makes for a unique band chemistry. It's such a different vibe than any of us has ever experienced before. There's a great deal of camaraderie.

1. And if you don't believe the sun will rise, stand alone and greet the coming night in the last remaining light.

2. And if you dont believe the sun will rise, stand alone and greet the coming night in the last remaining light.

3. There was this moment when we made 'Superunknown': the Seattle music scene had suddenly ended up on an international stage with huge success.

4. I think it's important for fans to know that but if I'm doing something that inspires me musically then I think it will inspire someone else too.

5. As a child, I was this record collector/listener that would sit in a room and listen to the entire Beatles catalog alone, over and over and over again.

6. When you start your first band and it has an impact on the rest of the world you go through a lot with those guys and you become very protective of that legacy.

7. In the United States, workouts tend to focus on body image and how you look. For me, it's really all about the brain.

8. I don't care what people think of me or for what reason they think of me. I don't feel like I don't know who I am to the degree that I have to change my hair to create a new me.

9. I would look at older blues musicians who just keep going into their seventies. They keep doing it until they drop dead. And I've always felt like that's what I want to do. I've felt that since the day I was able to start playing music for a living. I don't see the point of thinking about retiring because it's not work to begin with.

10. When that much time goes by, you're really listening to your old music differently. At the time it's written, it was the beginning of our career and with every song we're thinking, 'This is what's creating us.' Now, nothing is creating us. We're well-created. We're there. It becomes just pure pleasure and you become sort of an archeologist of your own music. You don't judge it, because what's the point? It's a 30-year-old song. It just becomes fun.

11. Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavours.

12. It's good for me to be involved in different things.

13. I started as a drummer, so I sort of took on singing duties by default. I had sung backgrounds and some lead vocals from behind the drums in different bands that I'd been in, and I'd gotten great responses for the songs I would sing. I really started pursuing the possibility of being a lead singer based on the fact that I was working a full-time restaurant job and then playing gigs at night, hauling drums around. One day, it just dawned on me that, 'Hey, I could be in a band and be the singer, and it would be a lot easier!'

14. Companies figured out that the easiest way to make money was to reissue records that the accounting department had paid for years ago and already made a profit.

15. It's great when you play to an audience that knows the words to all your songs, and sings them back to you.

16. 'Spoonman' wasn't written for any album. It was just written for fun.

17. There was no animosity in the breakup of Soundgarden.

18. In spite of my lack of education, I didn't lack direction.

19. A true musician, like Johnny Cash, should be able to walk into a room with nothing but an instrument and capture people's attention for two hours.

20. The fans own the records and listen to them and love them. It becomes the soundtrack to some part of their lives, and we don't control that. To me, that's what's exciting about what we do.