“As seasons roll on by…”

An audio version of this post can be found here.

Before I travel too far into the superunknown of this blog, I want to take a minute today, May 18^th, to remember Chris Cornell.

Without being overly dramatic about it, Chris Cornell’s death still makes me emotional.  I remember driving home from work the day he died, and I played “Seasons” from the Singles soundtrack, and I just started sobbing uncontrollably in my car.  And those tears didn’t stop streaming down my face for the rest of the night.

I don’t know…his death just hit me so hard.  It’s not like I even knew Chris Cornell, but his talents simply left me in awe of him.

He wasn’t supposed to leave us so soon.  Not like that.

I feel fortunate to have so many fond memories of Chris Cornell in concert.  He was an absolute showman, not only with his voice but also with his engaging personality.  He was at his most charismatic during his solo shows—chatting up the crowd, welcoming requests like “Birth Ritual” and joking, “Are you the guy who requests that song at every show?”  I remember someone requesting “Sweet Euphoria” at a show in October, 2013, at the O’Shaughnessy Theatre in St. Paul.  He stopped, mulled it over for a bit, then said, “Let me see if I remember that one.”  I waited with bated breath for him to dig into his memory, hoping he’d pull together my favorite song from his first solo album.

And then there it was, sweetly euphoric and so very beautiful.

“Touched and broken are the things you love…”

I was lucky enough to see Chris Cornell in every incarnation: just him with an acoustic guitar on stage at a small theatre; performing songs from his solo albums with his traveling band; fronting both Audioslave and Soundgarden.  Hell, I even saw him at a surprise Temple of the Dog mini-reunion during PJ20.

The last time I saw him perform was with Soundgarden just five days before he died.  That night, his voice soared into the night sky at Northern Invasion in Somerset, WI.  Again, I stood in awe of this man and his voice that could power a locomotive through a mountain pass.

But then, just like that, he was fucking gone, and I still can’t wrap my head around it, and it still brings me to tears when I think about it.

Brandon and I always looked forward to every Chris Cornell show with such giddy excitement, so I’m heartbroken that we’ll never have those moments together again.  Chris Cornell was the one concert when he would say to me, “You have to get your own ticket because I’m taking Courtney.”  We were all in love with him.

For my money, there was just no one better.  He was beautiful sounding and beautiful looking, and I fucking miss him.

Good night, Chris.  Travel well.

Today’s title is taken from Chris Cornell’s “Seasons” from the Singles soundtrack, released in 1992.  

Got a Chris Cornell story of your own?  Comment below! 

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