“But ‘Hunger Strike’ came about because of an existential crisis that Soundgarden faced at that moment. We were sort of the first band [from Seattle – Ed] that had attention from labels in a meaningful way. There was a bidding war, which was unusual for any band from Seattle. We were living our dream, but there was also this mistrust over what that meant. Does this make us a commercial rock band? Does it change our motivation when we’re writing a song and making a record? “Hunger Strike” is a statement that I’m staying true to what I’m doing regardless of what comes of it, but I will never change what I’m doing for the purposes of success or money.”Chris Cornell (1062)

“I don’t really remember doing much else after the funeral other than just being swept up in the grief of the moment, but after a couple of weeks I wrote two songs [‘Say Hello 2 Heaven and ‘Reach Down – Ed] for Andy [Wood, Mother Love Bone singer – Ed]. I don’t remember recording the demos, but I remember the ideas and writing the lyrics because they were really different and they involved a real person. That wasn’t something I’d normally do. I’d normally write a character that was part me and part a fictional character. But these lyrics specifically reflected Andy and my feelings about him. … I didn’t let anything else in. It was precious.”Chris Cornell (1062)