Blow Up the Outside World
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| “Blow Up the Outside World” | |||||
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| Single by Soundgarden from the album Down on the Upside |
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| B-side | "Dusty" (Moby mix) | ||||
| Released | November 18, 1996 | ||||
| Format | CD single, Vinyl | ||||
| Recorded | November 1995–February 1996 | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock, grunge | ||||
| Length | 5:46 | ||||
| Label | A&M | ||||
| Writer(s) | Chris Cornell | ||||
| Producer | Soundgarden | ||||
| Soundgarden singles chronology | |||||
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| Down on the Upside track listing | |||||
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"Blow Up The Outside World" is a song by the Seattle band Soundgarden. It appears as the sixth track on the band's final album Down on the Upside, released in 1996. The band released "Blow Up The Outside World" as a single in the fall of the same year. The song became a hit, topping the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks. It would later appear on the band's greatest hits album A-Sides and the 2007 Chris Cornell compilation The Roads We Choose - A Retrospective.
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[edit] Origin and recording
The song was written by frontman Chris Cornell. Kim Thayil on the song's guitar solo:
A blues-type thing, exactly. And after I recorded it, the rest of the band loved it, and the assistant engineer loved it, but I kept feeling like it was too stiff. I was using a Tele with .011's. I was listening to it, going, 'You know, it doesn't have my trademark finger vibrato,' like you can hear on Ultramega OK and Badmotorfinger. I wasn't quite satisfied with it, but because everyone else really enjoyed it, eventually I let it go...I finally had to relax and trust the guys that it was cool.[1]
[edit] Composition
Kim Thayil on the song:
A nice ironic, final single in a way. People said there was a Beatles-ish element. I suppose there is a bit of Paul McCartney and a little bit of Lennon in the flavour of the song. Everyone in the band grew up with the Beatles and we had a certain degree of respect and admiration for them that's not uncommon. I think many people were Beatles fans, especially for that period in time. There's a number of acoustic guitars on the track as well and then, towards the end of the song, it gets louder and aggressive and goes to these power chords, and is maybe a little reminiscent of AC/DC.[2]
[edit] Release and reception
Among other songs, this single contains a previously unreleased song entitled "A Splice of Space Jam". The cover art is taken from photographs by Catherine Chalmers, and at one point this image was considered for use for Down on the Upside.[3]
The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number eight on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Clear Channel included the song on its list of possibly inappropriate songs.
[edit] Lyrical meaning
When asked if he really wanted to "blow up the outside world," Chris Cornell said, "All the time, so it doesn't encroach on me -- you can hibernate and not have to worry about it."[4]
[edit] Music video
The music video for the song features frontman Chris Cornell being tied down to a chair in a position similar to Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange and forced to watch a film parodying the montage from The Parallax View along with scenes of Soundgarden performing. It was directed by Devo bassist Gerald Casale and filmed at Occidental Studios in Los Angeles.[5] The video was released in October 1996.[6]
[edit] Track listing
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[edit] Chart positions
Information taken from various sources.[7][8][9][10]
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | UK Singles Chart | 40 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 53 | |
| US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 | |
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 8 |
[edit] References
- ^ "Seattle Supersonic: The Screaming Life & Odd Times of Soundgarden's Kim Thayil". Guitar Player. July 1996.
- ^ "Kim Thayil's A-Sides". Metal Hammer. January 1998.
- ^ "Blow Up the Outside World". Unofficial SG Homepage.
- ^ Lanham, Tom. "Soundgarden". CMJ New Music Monthly. July 1996.
- ^ Gold, Jonathan. "Chris Cornell: Great Voice. Great Face. Great Soul". Details. December 1996.
- ^ Soundgarden music videos. Music Video Database. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.
- ^ EveryHit.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ Soundgarden Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ Soundgarden – Billboard Singles. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ Billboard.com / Soundgarden / Longplay. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "Hero of the Day" by Metallica |
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single (first run) December 28, 1996 - January 17, 1997 |
Succeeded by "Lady Picture Show" by Stone Temple Pilots |
| Preceded by "Lady Picture Show" by Stone Temple Pilots |
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single (second run) January 25, 1997 - January 31, 1997 |
Succeeded by "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers |
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