An Ode to Chris Cornell
One of my routines every morning is to psych myself up by listing to music that makes me want to dance or sing along. Lately, I have been in the mood for Rage Against the Machine. I've been struck by the song "Bulls on Parade" and it triggered a memory. The Jimmy Kimmel show would have concerts on the street off of Hollywood & Highland. I was lucky enough to attend one of these concerts that featured Audioslave. Audioslave is made up of members of other bands that have broken up, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine. At the time, they were performing songs from Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine in their sets. So I was so excited to find out they would be performing a concert for the Jimmy Kimmel Show.
I went to Hollywood & Highland a little bit early to have dinner and to stake out a good location to watch the show. I found a spot on the second level that would be looking down on the stage. The band came on the stage and the feeling was electric. When I heard the opening chords for "Killing in the Name of" I got all excited. I was ready to bounce around and throw my fist in the air. To hear Chris Cornell sing lines from this song is so embedded in my brain. I have never seen Rage live and have only heard the song on the radio. It's one of those that I bop too anytime I hear the opening chords. It was such an amazing feeling to be singing along with others above and below, "And you do what they told you" along with Cornell. Another memorable moment was singing and dancing to "Show Me How to Live". It's probably one of my all times faves. My favorite line, "Nail in my head, from my creator. You gave me life now show me how to live."
This memory also saddens me as it was the last time I got to see Chris Cornell perform live. He committed suicide in 2017 and I still feel his loss. His legacy and voice will live on both on recordings and in our memories. Sometimes we may feel with everything going on in the world that we can't go on. How can it get better? That's the one great thing about music. You can disappear into it. You can just close your eyes and be in that moment. Feeling the lyrics, the bass or the drum beat. Concerts are even better because you're not alone. You're part of a community rocking out and living in the moment.
I went to Hollywood & Highland a little bit early to have dinner and to stake out a good location to watch the show. I found a spot on the second level that would be looking down on the stage. The band came on the stage and the feeling was electric. When I heard the opening chords for "Killing in the Name of" I got all excited. I was ready to bounce around and throw my fist in the air. To hear Chris Cornell sing lines from this song is so embedded in my brain. I have never seen Rage live and have only heard the song on the radio. It's one of those that I bop too anytime I hear the opening chords. It was such an amazing feeling to be singing along with others above and below, "And you do what they told you" along with Cornell. Another memorable moment was singing and dancing to "Show Me How to Live". It's probably one of my all times faves. My favorite line, "Nail in my head, from my creator. You gave me life now show me how to live."
This memory also saddens me as it was the last time I got to see Chris Cornell perform live. He committed suicide in 2017 and I still feel his loss. His legacy and voice will live on both on recordings and in our memories. Sometimes we may feel with everything going on in the world that we can't go on. How can it get better? That's the one great thing about music. You can disappear into it. You can just close your eyes and be in that moment. Feeling the lyrics, the bass or the drum beat. Concerts are even better because you're not alone. You're part of a community rocking out and living in the moment.
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