The “biggest musical presence” in Chris Cornell’s life
As a resident of east London, I know plenty of men who are obsessed with Johnny Cash. The kind of men whose jeans are too small and belts are too big, whose hair is too long and nails are too short, and whose clothes have one too many holes in them to be considered chic.
The difference between these men and Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell is that they never had the chance to meet the ‘Ring of Fire’ legend. On the contrary, Cornell met Cash once or twice in his life, and, as he recalled as per Billboard, “He was so gracious, and he was such an influence on me as a musician… I’ve felt like he’s maybe one of the bigger presences in my life, in terms of artists that I’m a fan of”.
The ‘Show Me How to Live’ musician made the admission while recording vocals for the song ‘You Never Knew My Mind’, written by Cash, and whose tune he recorded at Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee, adapting two poems the country singer wrote in 1967 to music.
It was an unbelievably emotional time for the artist, who tragically took his own life soon after on May 18th, 2017, and for almost a year, the song remained hidden, only made available for fans to hear the haunting vocals posthumously in February 2018.
The lyrics are shockingly pertinent given the tragic circumstances, as Cornell sings, “My silence holds secrets find I answer but don’t answer. You did not see me well enough to recognise the signs,” before adding, in a painful past tense admission, “There were times and lots of laughter, and you felt you understood, we were carefree, open and honest, loving, easy, kind and true, and I suppose you never doubted, that we were altogether fine”.
The song details the painful inability to connect fully with a partner, but it also unveils an inner distance and sense of isolation from the rest of the world. Alone in that Tennessee cabin, Cornell poured all the gut-wrenching emotion into the song that a man on the brink might have to offer, making it a surreal experience for the icon, to say the least.
The song appeared on the tribute album Johnny Cash: Forever Words, which was masterminded and co-produced by his son, John Carter Cash, and elsewhere, the record included contributions from Kacey Musgraves, Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson, the Jayhawks, Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson, and more.
Cornell’s appreciation of Cash was anything but one-sided. On Cash’s 1996 album Unchained, he covered the Soundgarden hit ‘Rusty Cage’, taking it to a more hopeful side, charting the liberation from mental confinement, as Cash did best, stripping the tune back and highlighting the mission for freedom and, pertinently, staying alive.
The Audioslave frontman wasn’t exactly known for his lyricism, but Cash’s re-interpretation of the track engendered an avalanche of kind words directed straight at him, praise that would keep coming for the rest of his career, and I’m sure if Cash had heard Cornell’s haunting version of his heartfelt poems, he would’ve had plenty more praise to give.
