Fell On Black Days

"Fell on Black Days" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "Fell on Black Days" was released 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 disc version and the video version on the Deluxe Edition.

Composition

"Fell on Black Days" is a grunge and psychedelia song, and was written by frontman Chris Cornell. The time signature of the song is in 6/4.Rotondi, James. "Alone in the Superunknown." ''Guitar Player''. June 1994. 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." 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."

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''!

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", "Motorcycle Loop" and "Fell on Black Days (demo)". The "demo" version is in fact a completely different song, featuring different lyrics (with only the chorus containing similarities to "Fell on Black Days") and different music, with considerably heavier Drop DGDGBE guitar tuning. Soundgarden performed the "demo" 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 which was available to any radio stations that wanted to carry it. The "demo" version was retitled "Black Days III" for the Superunknown 20th Anniversary reissues and appeared on the Deluxe/Super Deluxe editions.

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.

In 2017, ''Billboard'' ranked the song number one on their list of the 15 greatest Soundgarden songs, and in 2021, ''Kerrang!'' ranked the song number three on their list of the 20 greatest Soundgarden songs.

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 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". 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. 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)
#"Fell on Black Days" (radio edit)

;Promotional CD (US)
#"Fell on Black Days" (alternate mix)
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42

;CD (UK)
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
#"Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" (Cornell, Kim Thayil) – 4:06
#"Fell on Black Days" (video version) – 5:26

;CD (UK)
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
#"Girl U Want" (Gerald Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh) – 3:29
#"Fell on Black Days" (demo) – 4:01

;CD (Europe)
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
#"Motorcycle Loop" (short version) (Thayil) – 1:32
#"Girl U Want" (Casale, Mothersbaugh) – 3:29
#"Fell on Black Days" (demo) – 4:03

;CD (Europe)
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
#"Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" (Cornell, Thayil) – 4:06
#"Birth Ritual" (demo) (Cornell, Matt Cameron, Thayil) – 5:51
#"Fell on Black Days" (live) – 4:52
#*Recorded live on August 16, 1993 at Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan.

;CD (Europe)
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
#"My Wave" (live) (Cornell, Thayil) – 4:34
#*Recorded live on August 20, 1993 at Jones Beach Amphitheater in Wantagh, New York.

;7" Vinyl (Europe and UK)
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
#"Motorcycle Loop" (Thayil)
#"Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" (Cornell, Thayil) – 4:07

;CD (Australia)
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
#"Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" (Cornell, Thayil) – 4:07
#"Fell on Black Days" (demo) – 4:04
#"Motorcycle Loop" (short version) (Thayil) – 1:34
#"Fell on Black Days" (live) – 4:52
#*Recorded live on August 16, 1993 at Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan.

;CD (Australia)
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
#"Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" (Cornell, Thayil) – 4:07

;Jukebox 7" Vinyl (US)
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
#"My Wave" (Cornell, Thayil) – 5:12

Chart positions

Accolades

References

External links

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1994 singles
Soundgarden songs
Song recordings produced by Chris Cornell
Song recordings produced by Matt Cameron
Songs written by Chris Cornell
Song recordings produced by Michael Beinhorn
Music videos directed by Jake Scott (director)
1994 songs