The Chris Cornell song influenced by Johnny Cash
When it comes to great songs, there are no rules regarding genre. Even though some artists might fit snuggly in pop music, rock and roll, or hip-hop, it all comes down to whether the song works in context with the lyrics in a way that touches people’s souls. While Chris Cornell may have already known how to make people’s hearts sing when working with Soundgarden, he got the collaboration of a lifetime when working with a country legend.
Before Cornell had gone down the country route, though, most of his tunes with Soundgarden were known to have a dark outlook on life. Instead of the usual word association games going on in Nirvana songs or the social commentary in Pearl Jam tracks, Cornell was known for making songs by quoting the bleakness in his heart, making for morose tracks like ‘Fell On Black Days’ and ‘Black Hole Sun’.
While Cornell also had a lighthearted side, this kind of writing was something that Johnny Cash could recognise instantly. Even though the country legend was known for making classic travelling songs and ballads with his wife, June Carter, Cash was no stranger to the dark side of life, eventually touring some of his most celebrated material in penitentiaries around the country.
When looking at the characters in his songs, Cash also had a positive view of those born on the wrong side of the tracks. Always rooting for the underdog, Cash was interested in making songs that put a spotlight on those on the dark side of life, from singing about a man who shot someone in Reno just to watch them die to worrying about the trials and tribulations of cocaine addicts.
In Cornell, Cash saw yet another songwriter with empathy towards the dark side of society, which would end up coming around when working with Rick Rubin. During his 1990s renaissance, Cash would cover Soundgarden’s ‘Rusty Cage’, taking the swirling metal song of the original arrangement and turning it into a gothic song about running off to new lands.
By the time Cash’s estate had released his final songs as part of the American series of albums, Cornell would eventually return the favour by putting new music to Cash’s words. On the song ‘You Never Knew My Mind’, Cornell wrote a melody pieced together from Cash’s letters he had scattered around his house towards the end of his life.
When talking about the origins of the letters, John Carter Cash remembered having no other singer in mind but Cornell, saying, “Chris told me then that he had been a fan of my father even when most of his friends listened to hard rock. When I was conceiving this album years later, I reached out to him, and he was excited and honoured to be involved”.
Considering he only had a hand in the music, Cornell sings these words like they are coming directly from his soul, blending his unconventional song structures with a country flair to give the song a Zeppelin-esque feel. Even though Cash and Cornell may have never been able to connect that much in the physical world, it’s easy for both of them to recognise the darkness in each other’s souls.
