Music shouldn't feel like a math equation. Yet, when you listen to The Day I Tried to Live, that’s exactly what’s happening under the hood. It’s heavy. It’s jagged. It feels like a panic attack that somehow found a groove.
In 1994, the world was obsessed with Superunknown. Most people remember "Black Hole Sun" for its melting-face music video, but the real heart of that album—the raw, bleeding pulse of it—is track 10. Kim Thayil’s guitar sounds like it’s being dragged through gravel. Chris Cornell’s voice hits notes that shouldn’t be physically possible for a human being.
Honestly, the song is a bit of a trick.
It starts with this weird, spindly guitar lick that feels off-balance. That's because it is. While most rock songs live in a comfortable 4/4 time signature, Soundgarden was never about being comfortable. They played with odd meters like they were toys. For this track, they leaned into a $7/4$ time signature for the verses, which is why it feels like the song is constantly tripping over its own feet before catching itself in the chorus. It’s brilliant. It’s frustrating. It’s perfect.
The Story Behind the Lyrics
People often mistake this song for a suicide note. It isn't.
Chris Cornell was actually pretty vocal about what he meant when he wrote those lines. He once told Rolling Stone that it was actually about trying to break out of a self-imposed shell. We all have those days. You wake up, you’ve been depressed or isolated for weeks, and you decide, "Today is the day I actually engage with the world."
You try to live.
But the song acknowledges the dark irony of that effort. Usually, when you finally open up, you realize the world is just as messy as the room you were hiding in. "One more time around might do it," Cornell sings. It’s hopeful, but it’s the kind of hope that’s been kicked around a few times.
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It’s about failure.
It's about the grit required to realize that "trying to live" often results in realizing you’re just like everyone else—flawed, struggling, and slightly out of sync. There’s a specific kind of freedom in that realization. You aren't special in your misery. You’re just part of the noise.
Why the Tuning Drives Guitarists Crazy
If you’ve ever tried to cover The Day I Tried to Live on guitar, you probably gave up after five minutes or ended up breaking a string.
Soundgarden was famous for "un-tunings." For this track, they used a custom setup: EEBBBB. Yes, you read that right. Four of the strings are tuned to B. It creates this massive, chorused, droning sound that you just can't replicate with standard E-A-D-G-B-E tuning.
- It creates a massive wall of sound.
- The dissonance is intentional.
- It allows for those "chiming" open notes that cut through the distortion.
Kim Thayil once explained that this tuning helped them achieve a "Middle Eastern" vibe without using traditional scales. It sounds ancient. It sounds like something being pulled out of the earth. When you hit a chord in that tuning, the frequencies clash in a way that feels like physical pressure on your chest.
The Production Magic of Michael Beinhorn
We have to talk about the sound. Michael Beinhorn produced Superunknown, and he was notoriously difficult to work with. He wanted perfection. He wanted the drums to sound like they were recorded in a cathedral. Matt Cameron’s drumming on this track is a masterclass in restraint and power.
Think about the snare hit.
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It’s crisp. It’s loud. It anchors the entire $7/4$ mess so you don't get lost. Beinhorn pushed Cornell to his absolute limit. You can hear the strain in the bridge. That "I learned that I was a liar" line? That isn't studio magic. That's a man pushing his vocal cords to the point of structural failure.
The recording sessions at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle were intense. The band was firing on all cylinders, but they were also dealing with the weight of being the "next big thing" in a post-Nevermind world. They didn't want to be a pop-grunge act. They wanted to be Black Sabbath for the 90s, but smarter.
Misconceptions and the Music Video
The video is a trip. Directed by Kevin Kerslake, it features the band playing in a dreamlike, high-contrast environment. It’s gritty. It’s very "1994."
Some fans at the time thought the "living" part of the title referred to some kind of hedonism. But if you watch the band's body language, it’s the opposite. It’s about the labor of existing. Cornell looks exhausted. Thayil looks focused. Ben Shepherd plays the bass like he's trying to snap the neck of the instrument.
What People Get Wrong
- The Tempo: It feels fast, but the BPM is actually quite moderate. The "speed" comes from the subdivisions and the shifting meter.
- The Meaning: It’s not a "dark" song in the way people think. It’s a song about the effort of being okay.
- The Genre: Is it Grunge? Heavy Metal? Psychedelia? It’s all of them. Soundgarden was the most "musical" of the Big Four Seattle bands.
The Legacy of the Track
When Chris Cornell passed in 2017, The Day I Tried to Live took on a new, heavier meaning for fans. It’s hard to hear "One more time around might do it" without feeling a knot in your stomach.
But we shouldn't let the tragedy rewrite the song’s history.
In 1994, this was an anthem for the losers who were trying to win for just one afternoon. It was a top 20 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock tracks for a reason. It spoke to a specific kind of suburban malaise. It wasn't about the "glamour" of the Seattle scene; it was about the dirt.
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How to Appreciate the Song Today
If you want to actually "hear" this song for the first time again, put on a pair of high-quality headphones. Skip the compressed Spotify version if you can and find a high-res master.
Listen to the bass.
Ben Shepherd is the secret weapon here. While the guitars are doing that weird, shimmering drone, Shepherd is holding down the low end with a dirty, overdriven tone that keeps the song from floating away. He plays "around" the beat, filling the gaps that the $7/4$ timing leaves open.
Actionable Insights for Musicians and Fans
If you're a songwriter, study the transition between the verse and the chorus. The way the song opens up from that cramped, odd-meter verse into a wide-open, soaring chorus is a lesson in tension and release.
For the casual listener, pay attention to the lyrics in the final minute. The repetition of "The day I tried to live" becomes a mantra. It stops being a statement and starts being an observation.
Next Steps for Deep Diving:
- Listen to the 1994 rehearsal tapes: You can find bootlegs where the band is still figuring out the timing. It’s messy and fascinating.
- Check out the cover by Between the Buried and Me: It’s a prog-metal take that highlights just how complex the original composition actually was.
- Read the liner notes of the 20th Anniversary Edition: There are insights into the specific gear used, including the various Gretsch and Guild guitars that created that signature "Superunknown" wall of sound.
- Analyze the frequency spectrum: If you’re a nerd, run the track through an analyzer. You’ll see how much "air" is in the recording despite how heavy it feels.
The song remains a staple of rock radio not because it's catchy—though it is—but because it's honest. It doesn't promise that "living" will be easy or even successful. It just suggests that it's worth a shot. One more time around. Just in case.