Hunger Strike (song)

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“Hunger Strike”
“Hunger Strike” cover
Single by Temple of the Dog
from the album Temple of the Dog
B-side "Your Saviour" / "All Night Thing"
Released 1991
Format CD single, Cassette, Vinyl
Recorded November 1990–December 1990
Genre Grunge
Length 4:03
Label A&M
Writer(s) Chris Cornell
Producer Rick Parashar, Temple of the Dog
Temple of the Dog singles chronology
"Hunger Strike"
(1991)		 "Say Hello 2 Heaven"
(1991)
Temple of the Dog track listing
"Reach Down"
(Track 2)		 "Hunger Strike"
(Track 3)		 "Pushin Forward Back"
(Track 4)
Audio sample
Info (help·info)

"Hunger Strike" is a song by Temple of the Dog from the band's 1991 self-titled debut album. It was Temple of the Dog's most popular song. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It appears on the 2007 Chris Cornell compilation The Roads We Choose - A Retrospective.

Contents

[edit] Origin and recording

The song was written by Chris Cornell. It features a duet between Cornell and vocalist Eddie Vedder. Cornell was having trouble with the vocals at practice, when Vedder stepped in. Cornell later said that "he sang half of that song not even knowing that I'd wanted the part to be there and he sang it exactly the way I was thinking about doing it, just instinctively."[1]

Chris Cornell on the song:

When we started rehearsing the songs, I had pulled out "Hunger Strike" and I had this feeling it was just kind of gonna be filler, it didn't feel like a real song. Eddie was sitting there kind of waiting for a [Mookie Blaylock] rehearsal and I was singing parts, and he kind of humbly—but with some balls—walked up to the mic and started singing the low parts for me because he saw it was kind of hard. We got through a couple choruses of him doing that and suddenly the light bulb came on in my head, this guy's voice is amazing for these low parts. History wrote itself after that, that became the single.[2]

Guitarist Mike McCready on the song:

I remember thinking that this was a really beautiful song when I heard it. Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) showed me the riff. I had a '62 reissue Strat and I wanted to use the fourth-position tone setting - between the bridge and middle pickups - for the beginning of the song because I like that softer sound. Then I kicked it to the front pickup for the heavier part of the song. This is one of many amazing songs written by Chris.[3]

[edit] Release and reception

Although the album had been out for a year by 1992, A&M Records realized what they had in their catalog was essentially a collaboration between Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, who had both risen to mainstream attention in the months since the album's release. A&M decided to re-issue the album and promote "Hunger Strike" as a single. "Hunger Strike" became the most successful song from Temple of the Dog on the rock charts. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number seven on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Jim Guerinot, A&M's senior VP of marketing at the time, said, "I don't think that anyone would have paid attention if 'Hunger Strike' wasn't a great song."[4] It still receives regular radio play on many hard rock radio stations.

David Fricke of Rolling Stone said, "Cornell and Vedder...turn its four minutes into a veritable opera of rock-star guilt...Cornell turns on the Robert Plant-style napalm full blast, but it is Vedder's scorched introspection that brings the conscience in the song to a full boil. "Hunger Strike" was his first starring vocal on record; it is still one of his best."[5]

[edit] Music video

A&M decided to re-issue the album and promote "Hunger Strike" as a single, with an accompanying music video directed by Paul Rachman. It features the band performing the song on a beach and in a forest. The video was filmed at Discovery Park in Seattle, Washington. The West Point Lighthouse is featured in the video. There are two different versions of the video for the track.

[edit] Live performances

The song was first performed live in Seattle at the Off Ramp Café on November 13, 1990.[6] In the time since the album's release, the band reformed for short live performances on four occasions where both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam were performing. They performed "Hunger Strike" on October 3, 1991 at the Foundations Forum in Los Angeles[6]; October 6, 1991 at The Hollywood Palladium for the Rip Magazine 5th anniversary party[7]; August 14, 1992 in Reston, Virginia; and September 13, 1992 in Irvine, California (both shows were part of the Lollapalooza festival series in 1992).[8]

Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder reunited to sing the song during a Pearl Jam show in 2003, and Eddie Vedder and Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney performed a rendition of "Hunger Strike" that is viewable as an easter egg on disc 1 of the Pearl Jam Live at the Garden DVD. Pearl Jam also performed the song in Antwerp and Barcelona in 2006 with Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother singing Chris Cornell's parts. Chris Cornell added "Hunger Strike" to his solo live set in 2007.

[edit] Formats and track listing

7" Single (Germany and UK)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Chris Cornell) – 4:03
  2. "All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
7" Promotional Single (UK)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
  2. "All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
12" Single (UK)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
  2. "Your Saviour" (Cornell) – 4:02
  3. "All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
12" Promotional Single (UK)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
  2. "Your Saviour" (Cornell) – 4:02
  3. "All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
CD (Australia)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
  2. "All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
CD (UK and Germany)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
  2. "Your Saviour" (Cornell) – 4:02
  3. "All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
Promotional CD (Canada)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
Promotional CD (UK)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
  2. "Your Saviour" (Cornell) – 4:02
  3. "All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
Promotional CD (US)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
Cassette (UK)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
  2. "All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
Promotional Cassette (US)
  1. "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
  2. "Say Hello 2 Heaven" (excerpt) (Cornell)
  3. "Pushin Forward Back" (excerpt) (Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Cornell)
  4. "Reach Down" (excerpt) (Cornell)

[edit] Chart positions

Information taken from Billboard.[9]

Year Chart Position
1992 US Mainstream Rock Tracks 4
US Modern Rock Tracks 7

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nicholls, Justin (1991-04-14). KISW 99.9 FM: Seattle, Radio Interview by Damon Stewart in The New Music Hour with Chris Cornell, Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard. Fivehorizons.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  2. ^ Weisbard, Eric, et al. "Ten Past Ten". Spin. August 2001.
  3. ^ Gilbert, Jeff. "Prime Cuts: Mike McCready - The Best of Pearl Jam!". Guitar School. May 1995.
  4. ^ "In the Temple of Pearlgarden". Entertainment Weekly. July 31, 1992.
  5. ^ Fricke, David. "Temple of the Dog: Temple of the Dog". Rolling Stone. December 14, 2000.
  6. ^ a b Pearl Jam: 1990/1991 Concert Chronology. Fivehorizons.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  7. ^ Kerrang! 100 greatest gigs of all time.
  8. ^ Pearl Jam: 1992 Concert Chronology part 2. Fivehorizons.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  9. ^ Temple of the Dog Chart History: Singles. Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
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