There’s very few snippets of music that literally give me goosebumps. One of those rare instances is the first verse of Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike”. I could choose many examples to make a point about Chris Cornell being one of the greatest singers in rock history. Maybe the righteous anger in the criminally underrated “Gun” that makes me wanna start a revolution right fucking now. Maybe his gut-wrenching rendition of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” that might make you shed more tears than Sinead O’Connor did in the video to her own incredible version of the song. Maybe the increasingly desperate “I’m going hungry” screams in - again - “Hunger Strike” that make me wanna steal bread from the mouths of decandence and hand deliver it directly to wherever Chris is now. But in a way that verse, that fleeting little moment, touches me even deeper. It shows a quality many singers underestimate. The fact that he was able to convey emotions in such a subdued manner sets him even further apart from the pack, as a singer and a songwriter. He could do it all and he knew when to push and when to pull back. “Temple of the Dog” is of course much more than that. It might be one of the most touching tributes to a lost friend in rock history. An ode to a guy who split the difference between glam rock and grunge almost eerily perfectly, created at the dawn of a new era by members of two bands who would be at the forefront of it all, living Andrew’s dreams. All of this symbolic weight could overshadow the music, but even if you didn’t know anything about the circumstances it would still stand as a singularly beautiful piece of rock music. Especially those heavenly 70 seconds. - Manu
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