"Fell on Black Days" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Soundgarden | ||||
from the album Superunknown | ||||
B-side | "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" "Girl U Want" "Motorcycle Loop" | |||
Released | January 1995 (UK)[1] | |||
Recorded | 1993 at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:42 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Songwriter(s) | Chris Cornell | |||
Producer(s) | Michael Beinhorn, Soundgarden | |||
Soundgarden singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Fell on Black Days" on YouTube |
"Fell on Black Days" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden, released in 1994 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. 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.
The song was written by frontman Chris Cornell. The time signature of the song is in 6/4.[2]
Cornell on the song:
"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 realise 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 realise one day that everything in your life is FUCKED![3]
It was released as a single in many different versions, each with different B-sides. Several of the singles 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 Self-Pollution radio broadcast in early 1995.
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 of the United States, the single was released 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.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Clear Channel included the song on its list of possibly inappropriate songs.
Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Movement | New Zealand | "The 77 Best Singles of the 90s"[4] | 2004 | 52 |
In the music video, the band was filmed performing the song in-studio, with Brendan O'Brien producing the recording. The video was directed by Jake Scott. 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 and Songs from the Superunknown.
A live version of the song appears on the "Black Hole Sun" and "Fell on Black Days" singles.
In 2005, when Audioslave toured with Seether, Cornell sang "Fell on Black Days" with Shaun Morgan, Seether's lead vocalist.
In 2006, Classic Case did a cover of "Fell on Black Days" on the band's Black Unicorn Split EP with "He is Legend".
Year | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|
1994 | Dutch Singles Chart[6] | 45 |
US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay[7] | 54 | |
US Mainstream Rock Tracks[8] | 4 | |
US Modern Rock Tracks[8] | 13 | |
Canadian Singles Chart[9] | 66 | |
1995 | Irish Singles Chart[10] | 14 |
UK Singles Chart[11] | 24 |
Studio albums | |
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Extended plays | |
Compilations | |
Videos | |
Singles |
"Hunted Down" · "Flower" · "Loud Love" · "Hands All Over" · "Room a Thousand Years Wide" · "Jesus Christ Pose" · "Outshined" · "Rusty Cage" · "Spoonman" · "The Day I Tried to Live" · "Black Hole Sun" · "My Wave" · "Fell on Black Days" · "Pretty Noose" · "Burden in My Hand" · "Blow Up the Outside World" · "Ty Cobb" · "Bleed Together" · "Black Rain" · "The Telephantasm" · "Live to Rise" · "Been Away Too Long" |
Related articles |
Discography · Band members · Awards · Grunge music · Skin Yard · Temple of the Dog · Pearl Jam · Singles · Hater · Wellwater Conspiracy · Audioslave |