Not My Generation, But I Understand

Tweet

Soundgarden is a band I know only in name. I know they were one of the premiere bands from the Seattle grunge scene. They were definitely not my generation. Yet, I feel and understand the pain that the fans of the band are feeling today with the death of Chris Cornell, who committed suicide after last night's show in Detroit. Last year, it seemed that it was "my" generation that lost musical icons left and right: David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey, Maurice White of Earth, Wind, and Fire, Bernie Worrell of P-Funk, Paul Katner of Jefferson Airplane/Starship, Leon Russell, and Leonard Cohen are the Hall of Famers I can think of just off the top of my head who died in 2016. And that doesn't count others like 2/3 of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, bluegrass Hall of Fame member Dr. Ralph Stanley, or three Country Music Hall of Famers (Sonny James, Merle Haggard, Bonnie Brown). So Soundgarden's music wasn't made for "my" generation, but a different, younger generation. Toughsky poopsky. It's not for me to "get" grunge, because it wasn't made for me, anymore than Hank Williams' music is for grunge fans. (Quick aside: you'd be amazed how many punks and grungers like old country music because they see in it a similarity to grung or punk: simplistic authenticity.) But I do understand. The Eagles were my favorite band in the 70s. I got to meet Glenn Frey after I saw him in Philadelphia in 1982. As a result, his death hit me, and hit me hard. And I'll qualify that by saying that, unlike the disenfranchised people who found kindred spirits in the likes of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, and Alice In Chains (coincidentally, all bands who've lost their lead singers at very young ages to intentional or unintentional causes), I do not think the Eagles' music "spoke" for "my generation." (Based on the post-reunion ticket prices, I think the Eagles' music spoke primarily for their bank accounts, not for any "soul searching" or "similar experience" I felt.) Chris Cornell was somebody's Glenn Frey. He was someone's Merle Haggard. I know how bad it hurts to lose someone like that.