SUPERUNKNOWN









Superunknown was recorded in 1994 at Bear Creek Studios, Woodinville, WA...




Chris Cornell - vocals, guitar
Kim Thayil - lead guitar
Ben Shepherd - bass, vocals
Matt Cameron - drums, percussion




Songs


Let Me Drown
My Wave
Fell on Black Days
Mailman
Superunknown
Head Down
Black Hole Sun
Spoonman
Limo Wreck
The Day I Tried to Live
Kickstand
Fresh Tendrils
4th of July
Half
Like Suicide
She Likes Surprises




LYRICS


LET ME DROWN 

    Stretch the bones over my skin
    Stretch the skin over my head
    I'm going to the holy land
    Stretch the marks over my eyes
    Burn the candles deep inside
    Yeah you know where I'm coming from

    Give up to greed, you don't have to feed me
    Give up to fate, you don't have to need me
    So let it go, let it go, let it go, won't you let it
    Drown me in you, drown me in you, drown me in you

    Slip down the darkness to the mouth
    Damn the water burn the wine
    I'm going home for the very last time

    So throw it away, you don't have to take me
    Make no mistakes I'm what you make me
    So let it go, let it go, let it go, won't you let it
    Drown me in you, drown me in you, drown me in you

    I see you turn around and burning down
    The feeling starts to sink
    I feel the hurt surround me
    Please dissolve me
    She's resolved to be

    Heal my wounds without a trace
    Seal my tomb without my face
    I'm going to the lonely place

    Give up to greed, you don't have to feed me
    Give up to fate, you don't have to need me
    So let it go, let it go, let it go, won't you let it
    Drown me in you, drown me in you, drown me in you

    (Music/Lyrics: Cornell)

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MY WAVE 

    Take, if you want a slice
    If you want a piece
    If it feels alright

    Break, if you like the sound
    If it gets you up
    If it brings you down

    Share, if it makes you sleep
    If it sets you free
    If it helps you breathe

    Don't come over here
    And piss on my gate
    Save it just keep it
    Off my wave

    Cry, if you want to cry
    If it helps you see
    If it clears your eyes

    Hate, if you want to hate
    If it keeps you safe
    If it makes you brave

    Pray, if you want to pray
    If you like to kneel
    If you like to lay

    Don't come over here
    And piss on my gate
    Save it just keep it
    Off my wave

    Keep it off my wave
    Keep it off my wave
    Keep it off my wave

    My wave

    Cry, if you want to cry
    If it helps you see
    If it clears your eyes

    Hate, if you want to hate
    If it keeps you safe
    If it makes you brave

    Take, if you want a slice
    If you want a piece
    If it feels alright

    Don't come over here
    And piss on my gate
    Save it just keep it
    Off my wave

    Keep it off my wave
    Keep it off my wave

    My wave

    (Music: Cornell,Thayil; Lyrics: Cornell)

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FELL ON BLACK DAYS 

    Whatsoever I've feared has
    Come to life
    Whatsoever I've fought off
    Became my life
    Just when everyday
    Seemed to greet
    Me with a smile
    Sunspots have faded
    And now I'm doing time
    Cause I fell on
    Black days

    Whomsoever I've cured
    I've sickened now
    Whomsoever I've cradled
    I've put you down
    I'm a search light soul
    They say but I can't
    See it in the night
    I'm only faking
    When I get it right
    Cause I fell on
    Black days
    How would I know
    That this could be
    My fate

    So what you wanted to
    See good has made you blind
    And what you wanted to
    Be yours has made it
    Mine
    So don't you lock up
    Something that you
    Wanted to see fly
    hands are for shaking

    I sure don't
    Mind a change
    But I fell on black
    Days
    How would I know
    That this could be
    My fate

    (Music/Lyrics: Cornell)

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MAILMAN 

    Hello don't you know me
    I'm the dirt beneath your feet
    The most important fool you forgot to see
    I've seen how you give it
    Now I want to receive
    I know that you
    Would do the same for me

    I know I'm headed for the bottom
    But I'm riding you all the way

    For all of your kisses turned
    To spit in my face
    For all that reminds me
    Which is my place
    For all of the times when
    You made me disappear
    This time I'm sure you will
    Know that I'm here

    I know I'm headed for the bottom
    But I'm riding you all the way

    My place was beneath you
    But now I'm above
    And now I send you a message
    Of love
    A simple reminder of what
    You won't see
    A future so holy without me

    I know I'm headed for the bottom
    But I'm riding you all the way

    (Music: Cameron; Lyrics: Cornell)

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SUPERUNKNOWN 

    If this isn't what you see
    It doesn't make you blind
    If this doesn't make you feel
    It doesn't mean you've died
    Where the river's high
    Where the river's high

    If you don't want to be seen
    You don't have to hide
    If you don't want to believe
    You don't have to try
    To feel alive

    Alive in the superunknown
    First it steals your mind
    And then it steals your soul

    If this doesn't make you free
    It doesn't mean you're tied
    If this doesn't take you down
    It doesn't mean you're high
    If this doesn't make you smile
    You don't have to cry
    If this isn't making sense
    It doesn't make it lies

    Alive in the superunknown
    First it steals your mind
    And then it steals your soul

    Get yourself afraid
    Get yourself alone
    Get yourself contained
    Get yourself control

    Alive in the superunknown

    First it steals your mind
    And then it steals your...soul

    (Music: Thayil,Cornell; Lyrics: Cornell)

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HEAD DOWN 

    We see you laugh
    We see you dance
    We take that away
    Every day

    We see you cry
    We turn your hear
    Then we slap your face

    We see you try
    We see you fail
    Some things never change

    We hear you cry
    We hear you wail
    We steal that smile from your face

    Bow down to live
    Your Life

    Head down, hide that smile
    Head high got to smile

    Head high like a song you like

    (Music/Lyrics: Shepherd)

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BLACK HOLE SUN 

    In my eyes
    Indisposed
    In disguise
    As no one knows
    Hides the face
    Lies the snake
    The sun
    In my disgrace
    Boiling heat
    Summer stanch
    'Neath the black
    The sky looks dead
    Call my name
    Through the cream
    And I'll hear you
    Scream again

    Black hole sun
    Won't you come
    And wash away the rain
    Black hole sun
    Won't you come
    Won't you come

    Stuttering
    Cold and damp
    Steal the warm wind
    Tired friend
    Times are gone
    For honest men
    And sometimes Far too long
    For snakes
    In my shoes
    A walking sleep
    And my youth
    I pray to keep
    Heaven send
    Hell away
    No one sings
    Like you
    Anymore

    Hang my head
    Drown my fear
    Till you all just
    Disappear

    (Music/Lyrics: Cornell)

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SPOONMAN 

    Feel the rhythm with your hands
    Steal the rhythm while you can, Spoonman
    Speak the rhythm on your own
    Speak the rhythm all alone, Spoonman

    Spoonman, come together with your hands
    Save me, I'm together with your plan
    Save me

    All my friends are Indians
    All my friends are brown and red, Spoonman
    All my friends are skeletons
    They beat the rhythm with their bones,
    Spoonman

    Feel the rhythm with your hands
    Steal the rhythm while you can, Spoonman

    Thank you, good night people

    (Music/Lyrics: Cornell)

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LIMO WRECK 

    Tears of the feeble
    Hands of the slaves
    Skin of the mothers
    Mouths of the babes
    Building the towers
    Belongs to the sky
    When the whole thing
    Comes crashing down
    Don't ask me why

    Under the shelf
    The shelf of the sky
    Two eyes, two suns
    Too heavenly blinds
    Swallowing rivers
    Belongs to the sea
    When the whole thing washes away
    Don't run to me

    I'll be going down
    For the rest of the slide
    While the rest of you
    Harvest the gold

    And the wreck of you
    Is the death of you all
    And the wreck of you
    Is the break
    And the fall
    I'm the wreck of you
    I'm the death of you all
    I'm the wreck of you
    I'm the break and the fall

    Under the red
    Break of the lights
    Heroes in stretches
    Inch to the site
    Blowing the pieces
    Belong to the wind
    When the whole thing
    Blows away
    I won't pretend

    I'll be going down
    For the rest of the slide
    While the rest of you
    Harvest the souls

    And the wreck of you
    Is the death of you all
    And the wreck of you
    Is the break
    And the fall
    I'm the wreck of you
    I'm the death of you all
    I'm the wreck of you
    I'm the break and the fall

    Behind the blood red break of the
    Lights
    Lies the wreck of you for the rest
    Of your life

    And the wreck of you
    Is the death of you all
    And the wreck of you
    Is the break
    And the fall
    I'm the wreck of you
    I'm the death of you all
    I'm the wreck of you
    I'm the break and the fall

    (Music: Cameron,Thayil; Lyrics: Cornell)

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THE DAY I TRIED TO LIVE 

    I woke the same as any other day
    Except a voice was in my head
    It said seize the day, pull the trigger,
    Drop the blade
    And watch the rolling heads

    The day I tried to live
    I stole a thousand beggar's change
    And gave it to the rich

    The day I tried to win
    I dangled from the power lines
    And let the martyrs stretch
    Singing

    One more time around
    Might do it
    One more time around
    Might make it
    One more time around
    Might do it
    One more time around
    The day I tried to live

    Words you say never seem
    To live up to the ones
    Inside your head
    The lives we make
    Never seem to ever get us anywhere
    But dead

    The day I tried to live
    I wallowed in the blood and mud with
    All the other pigs

    I woke the same as any other day you know
    I should have stayed in bed

    The day I tried to win
    I wallowed in the blood and mud with
    All the other pigs

    And I learned that I was a liar
    Just like you

    (Music/Lyrics: Cornell)

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KICKSTAND 

    Kickstand, you got loose and I threw up
    Kickstand, you got the juice to fill my cup
    My mother says that it's alright
    My mother says that's the only life

    So do it right
    Do it right
    Come stand me up
    Come stand me up

    Kickstand, I got saddle made of leather
    Kickstand, I got the words to come together
    I got the urge to ride your trike
    My mother says that's the only life

    (Music: Thayil; Lyrics: Cornell)

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FRESH TENDRILS 

    Long time coming
    It seemed to take me through
    Long time coming
    Many served the few
    And long to taste the shame
    That bows down before you

    Long time coming
    It seemed to get me by
    Long time coming
    It seemed to satisfy
    You longed to taste the shame
    That everybody tries

    Shame shame
    Throw yourself away
    Give me little bits of
    More than I can take
    If it sits upon your tongue
    Or naked in your eyes
    Give me little bits of
    More than I can try

    Long time coming
    It seemed to take me through
    Long time coming
    Many served the few
    And long to taste the shame
    That bows down before you

    Shame shame
    Throw yourself away
    Give me little bits of
    More than I can take
    If it sits upon your tongue
    Or naked in your eyes
    Give me little bits of
    More than I can try

    (Music: Cameron; Lyrics: Cornell,Cameron)

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4TH OF JULY 

    Shower in the dark day
    Clean sparks diving down
    Cool in the waterway
    Where the baptized drown
    Naked in the cold sun
    Breathing life like fire
    Thought I was the only one
    But that was just a lie

    Cause I heard it in the wind
    And I saw it in the sky
    And I thought it was the end
    And I thought it was the 4th of July

    Pale in the flare light
    The scared light cracks & disappears
    And leads the scorched ones here
    And everywhere no one cares
    The fire is spreading
    And no one wants to speak about it
    Down in the hole
    Jesus tries to crack a smile
    Beneath another shovel load

    And I heard it in the wind
    And I saw it in the sky
    And I thought it was the end
    And I thought it was the 4th of July

    Now I'm in control
    Now I'm in the fall out
    Once asleep but now I stand
    And I still remember
    Your sweet everything
    Light a Roman candle
    And hold it in your hand

    Cause I heard it in the wind
    And I saw it in the sky
    And I thought it was the end
    And I thought it was the 4th of July

    (Music/Lyrics: Cornell)

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HALF 

    When I hand my love in
    I'll be done
    A handed glove
    Hides the door

    Half a chance
    Half a chance
    We still
    Have a chance

    Mr. Full, Mr. Have
    Kills Mr. Empty Hand

    Half a chance
    Half a chance
    We still
    Have a chance

    (Music/Lyrics: Shepherd)

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LIKE SUICIDE 

    Heard it from another room
    Eyes were waking up just to fall asleep
    Love's like suicide
    Dazed out in a garden bed
    With a broken neck lays my broken gift
    Just like suicide

    And my last ditch
    Was my last brick
    Lent to finish her
    Finish her

    Bit down on the bullet now
    I had a taste so sour
    I had to think of something sweet
    Love's like suicide
    Safe outside my gilded cage
    With an ounce of pain
    I wield a ton of rage
    Just like suicide

    With eyes of blood
    And bitter blue
    How I feel for you
    I feel for you

    She lived like a murder
    How she'd fly so sweetly
    She lived like a murder
    But she dies
    Just like suicide

    (Music/Lyrics: Cornell)

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SHE LIKES SURPRISES 

    _____ dress and making her best
    She makes up her hair for the 90's
    Dirty shoes and hiding her blues
    She's dying to lose what she's finding

    So easy to leave it or take it in stride
    So easy to read when she's faking her smile
    She likes surprises, she likes surprises
    Anything in colorful disguises

    Lips and thighs abused by our eyes
    Acting surprised that she likes it
    Chocolate cream, an amphetamine
    Torn at the seams, she's crying

    So easy to leave it or take it in stride
    So easy to read when she's faking her smile
    She likes surprises, she likes surprises
    Anyting in colorful disguises

    She gets a little I guess
    She gets it more or less
    She likes surprises
    Anything in colorful disguises

    So easy to leave it or take it in stride
    So easy to read when she's faking her smile
    She like surprises, she likes surprises
    Anything in colorful disguises