You Know My Name
For those that are aware of who I am will know I am a huge James Bond fan. One of my favourite Bond themes is from, Casino Royale, Daniel Craig's first outing as James Bond.
Here it is;
It is sung by a man called Chris Cornell. He died on Wednesday at the age of 52. I started listening to his band's music as a 17 year old. At the time Grunge broke into the mainstream and his seattle band, Soundgarden where at the forefront. They were the ones signed to the major label. Without Soundgarden you would not have had Nirvana, nor Pearl Jam.
Chris Cornell was the creative genius behind this band and what he brought as well was his 'voice'. And what a voice it was, rasping, roaring. I can pick a Cornell song from 5 miles away just by hearing that voice. I loved that voice from the moment I heard it scream out 'Black Hole Sun', to the time last Thursday night when, after dropping off my daughter at Cubs I went for an hour and half walk in the rain until I had to pick her up again. I spent that time listening to Chris Cornell's recent live album. I had no idea that within 7 days he'd be dead.
A part of me, that 17 year old boy who spent his summers listening to Pearl Jam and Soundgarden with Duncan, Shaun and Nathan, died with him. It may sound a tad melodramatic and it undoubtedly is, but it is also, sadly, true. I was distraught when I got an email from Duncan at work just after the news broke. He knew what this meant. And he emailed me as soon as he heard. We both knew how much of our growing up was tied into this music. Our shared memories were soundtracked to his music. Now that he has gone, it is like someone has robbed me of an aspect of my life.
This track about sums it up. Written nigh on 26 years ago. The film singles was a huge part of my late teenage years. The soundtrack saw contributions from all my favourite bands at the time; seasons is one of them. And it still haunts me now; the lyrics and the voice combine to the slow paced melancholy. Not Cornell's usual sound at this time when Soundgarden were blending metal with grunge. This though, so tender and so vulnerable spoke to us all at that time. It has etched itself into my conscious for nearly three decades. I shall carry it to my grave.
Here it is;
It is sung by a man called Chris Cornell. He died on Wednesday at the age of 52. I started listening to his band's music as a 17 year old. At the time Grunge broke into the mainstream and his seattle band, Soundgarden where at the forefront. They were the ones signed to the major label. Without Soundgarden you would not have had Nirvana, nor Pearl Jam.
Chris Cornell was the creative genius behind this band and what he brought as well was his 'voice'. And what a voice it was, rasping, roaring. I can pick a Cornell song from 5 miles away just by hearing that voice. I loved that voice from the moment I heard it scream out 'Black Hole Sun', to the time last Thursday night when, after dropping off my daughter at Cubs I went for an hour and half walk in the rain until I had to pick her up again. I spent that time listening to Chris Cornell's recent live album. I had no idea that within 7 days he'd be dead.
A part of me, that 17 year old boy who spent his summers listening to Pearl Jam and Soundgarden with Duncan, Shaun and Nathan, died with him. It may sound a tad melodramatic and it undoubtedly is, but it is also, sadly, true. I was distraught when I got an email from Duncan at work just after the news broke. He knew what this meant. And he emailed me as soon as he heard. We both knew how much of our growing up was tied into this music. Our shared memories were soundtracked to his music. Now that he has gone, it is like someone has robbed me of an aspect of my life.
This track about sums it up. Written nigh on 26 years ago. The film singles was a huge part of my late teenage years. The soundtrack saw contributions from all my favourite bands at the time; seasons is one of them. And it still haunts me now; the lyrics and the voice combine to the slow paced melancholy. Not Cornell's usual sound at this time when Soundgarden were blending metal with grunge. This though, so tender and so vulnerable spoke to us all at that time. It has etched itself into my conscious for nearly three decades. I shall carry it to my grave.
I will carry all of his music with me as I have done since I was 14/15 years old. There will be no more music to add to this now. That is the saddest part. What we have is, what we have. And as one of his song titles tells us, his death 'fell on black days'.
I for one am mourning him, Duncan too.
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