Fell on Black Days (song)

"Fell on Black Days"
Single by Soundgarden
from the album Superunknown
B-side "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" / "Fell on Black Days" (video version)
Released May 1995
Format CD single, Vinyl
Recorded July–September 1993 at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle, Washington
Genre Grunge
Length 4:42
Label A&M
Writer(s) Chris Cornell
Producer(s) Michael Beinhorn, Soundgarden
Soundgarden singles chronology
"My Wave"
(1994)		 "Fell on Black Days"
(1995)		 "Pretty Noose"
(1996)
Superunknown track listing
"My Wave"
(Track 2)		 "Fell on Black Days"
(Track 3)		 "Mailman"
(Track 4)

"Fell on Black Days" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "Fell on Black Days" was released in 1995 as the fifth single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown (1994). The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song was included on Soundgarden's 1997 greatest hits album, A-Sides and the 2010 compilation Telephantasm as the Superunknown version on the single disk version and the video version on the Deluxe Edition.

Composition

"Fell on Black Days" is a grunge song,[1] and was written by frontman Chris Cornell. The time signature of the song is in 6/4.[2] Cornell said, "On 'Fell on Black Days; the drums are totally straight, even though the riff is in six, so it doesn't feel quirky at all."[2] Guitarist Kim Thayil has said that Soundgarden usually did not consider the time signature of a song until after the band had written it, and said that the use of odd meters was "a total accident."[2]

Lyrics

Cornell on "Fell on Black Days":

"Fell on Black Days" was like this ongoing fear I've had for years...It's a feeling that everyone gets. You're happy with your life, everything's going well, things are exciting—when all of a sudden you realize you're unhappy in the extreme, to the point of being really, really scared. There's no particular event you can pin the feeling down to, it's just that you realize one day that everything in your life is FUCKED![3]

Release and reception

"Fell on Black Days" was released as a single in 1994 in various versions with the previously unreleased B-sides "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" and "Motorcycle Loop". Several versions of the single featured an original demo version of the song. This demo is completely different from the more familiar version. It features different lyrics and music, with considerably heavier drop D guitar. Only the chorus contains lyrical similarities to the final version. Soundgarden performed this version live on Pearl Jam's January 8, 1995 Self-Pollution satellite radio broadcast, a four-and-a-half hour long pirate broadcast out of Seattle, Washington which was available to any radio stations that wanted to carry it.[4]

It appeared on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 Airplay chart, peaking at number 54 in its tenth week and remaining on the chart until its twentieth week. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 13 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in Australia and the United Kingdom. In Canada, the song reached the top 70 on the Canadian Singles Chart and remained in the top 70 for two weeks. "Fell on Black Days" reached the top 50 in the Netherlands and in Ireland it was a moderate top 20 success.

The song was featured twice on the TV show Supernatural in the episodes "Simon Said," and "Southern Comfort". The Vampire Diaries featured the song in the season 6 episode "Black Hole Sun" which in turn was named after Soundgarden's smash hit.

Music video

The music video for "Fell on Black Days" was directed by Jake Scott, who would later direct the music video for "Burden in My Hand".[5] The black-and-white video consists of a filmed live performance of the band in a studio, with Brendan O'Brien producing the recording. The video was filmed at Seattle's Bad Animals Studio in October 1994. The video was released in November 1994.[5] It is available on the CD-ROM Alive in the Superunknown. The video version of the track can be found on the "Fell on Black Days" single, Songs from the Superunknown, and the Deluxe Edition of the band's 2010 compilation album Telephantasm.

Track listing

All songs written by Chris Cornell, except where noted:

Promotional CD (US)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" (radio edit)
Promotional CD (US)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" (alternate mix)
  2. "Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
CD (UK)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
  2. "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" (Cornell, Kim Thayil) – 4:06
  3. "Fell on Black Days" (video version) – 5:26
CD (UK)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
  2. "Girl U Want" (Gerald Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh) – 3:29
  3. "Fell on Black Days" (demo) – 4:01
CD (Europe)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
  2. "Motorcycle Loop" (short version) (Thayil) – 1:32
  3. "Girl U Want" (Casale, Mothersbaugh) – 3:29
  4. "Fell on Black Days" (demo) – 4:03
CD (Europe)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
  2. "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" (Cornell, Thayil) – 4:06
  3. "Birth Ritual" (Cornell, Matt Cameron, Thayil) – 5:51
  4. "Fell on Black Days" (live) – 4:52
CD (Europe)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
  2. "My Wave" (live) (Cornell, Thayil) – 4:34
7" Vinyl (Europe and UK)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
  2. "Motorcycle Loop" (Thayil)
  3. "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" (Cornell, Thayil) – 4:07
CD (Australia)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
  2. "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" (Cornell, Thayil) – 4:07
  3. "Fell on Black Days" (demo) – 4:04
  4. "Motorcycle Loop" (short version) (Thayil) – 1:34
  5. "Fell on Black Days" (live) – 4:52
    • Recorded live on August 16, 1993 at Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan.
CD (Australia)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
  2. "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" (Cornell, Thayil) – 4:07
Jukebox 7" Vinyl (US)
  1. "Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
  2. "My Wave" (Cornell, Thayil) – 5:12

Chart positions

Chart (1994) Position
US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay[6] 54
US Mainstream Rock Tracks[7] 4
US Modern Rock Tracks[7] 13
Canadian RPM Singles Chart[8] 66
Chart (1995) Position
Irish Singles Chart[9] 14
UK Singles Chart[10] 24
Dutch Singles Chart[11] 45

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
The Movement New Zealand "The 77 Best Singles of the 90s"[12] 2004 52

References

  1. ↑ "REVIEW: Soundgarden at Red Rocks, July 18". Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Rotondi, James. "Alone in the Superunknown." Guitar Player. June 1994.
  3. ↑ True, Everett. "Journey into the Superunknown". Melody Maker. March 19, 1994.
  4. ↑ Gaar, Gillian G. "Radio Free Vedder". Rolling Stone. February 23, 1995.
  5. 1 2 "Soundgarden music videos". Music Video Database. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  6. ↑ "Billboard.com / Soundgarden / Longplay". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  7. 1 2 "Soundgarden Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  8. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 60, No. 13, October 17, 1994". RPM. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  9. ↑ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  10. ↑ "EveryHit.com". Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  11. ↑ "Dutch Single/Album Chart / Soundgarden / Longplay". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  12. ↑ "The 77 Best Singles of the 90s". The Movement. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
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