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.

"Fell on Black Days"
Single by Soundgarden
from the album Superunknown
B-side"Kyle Petty, Son of Richard"
"Girl U Want"
"Motorcycle Loop"
Released1994
Recorded1993 at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle
Genre
Length4:42
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Chris Cornell
Producer(s)Michael Beinhorn, Soundgarden
Soundgarden singles chronology
"My Wave"
(1994)		 "Fell on Black Days"
(1994)		 "Pretty Noose"
(1996)
Music video
"Fell on Black Days" on YouTube

Composition

"Fell on Black Days" is a grunge[1] and psychedelia song,[2] and was written by frontman Chris Cornell. The time signature of the song is in 6/4.[3] 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."[3] 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."[3]

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![4]

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.[5] 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,[6] and in 2021, Kerrang! ranked the song number three on their list of the 20 greatest Soundgarden songs.[7]

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".[8] 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.[8] 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" (demo) (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 (1994–1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[9] 52
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[10] 66
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 10
Ireland (IRMA)[12] 14
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 45
UK Singles (OCC)[14] 24
US Radio Songs (Billboard)[15] 54
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[16] 4
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[17] 13
Chart (2017) Peak
position
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[18] 14
US Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[19]6

Accolades
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
The Movement New Zealand "The 77 Best Singles of the 90s"[20] 2004 52

References
  1. Iversen, Taylor D. (July 19, 2011). "REVIEW: Soundgarden at Red Rocks, July 18". Boulder Weekly. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  2. "50 Greatest Grunge Albums". Rolling Stone. April 1, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  3. Rotondi, James. "Alone in the Superunknown." Guitar Player. June 1994.
  4. True, Everett (March 19, 1994). "Journey into the Superunknown". Melody Maker – via stargate.net.
  5. Gaar, Gillian G. "Radio Free Vedder". Rolling Stone. February 23, 1995.
  6. Unterberger, Andrew (May 18, 2017). "The 15 Greatest Soundgarden Songs: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  7. Law, Sam (May 10, 2021). "The 20 greatest Soundgarden songs – ranked". Kerrang!. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  8. "Soundgarden music videos". Music Video Database. Archived from the original on June 2, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2008.
  9. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 26 Mar 1995". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  10. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2627." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  11. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  12. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Fell on Black Days". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  13. "Soundgarden – Fell on Black Days" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  14. "Soundgarden: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  15. "Soundgarden Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  16. "Soundgarden Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  17. "Soundgarden Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  18. "Soundgarden Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  19. "Soundgarden – Chart history – Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales". Billboard. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  20. "The 77 Best Singles of the 90s". The Movement. Archived from the original on May 2, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2008.
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