10 Songs. Spontaneous. Creation: Temple of the Dog

Wanna show you something like the joy inside my heart
Seems I've been living in the temple of the dog
Where would I live, if I were a man of golden words?
Or would I live at all?

Man of Golden Words, Mother Love Bone

On March 19th, 1990, the Seattle music scene reeled at the death of fabulously glam singer Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone and singer and bassist for the band Malfunkshun. His roommate and dear friend Chris Cornell said his goodbyes before life support was turned off from the 24 old. He had turned his life around but the streets held root in him. Andy's death stunned his bandmates and friends. Sadly, many do not know the importance of this moment in time or even who Andy was. While many know of their song Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns from The Singles soundtrack, the band never took hold in the mainstream and the loss of Wood proved its demise. Mother Love Bone was not grunge. They were a modicum at the time that brought a little of members Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard's Green River rock sound to Andy's glam influence and magnetic persona. Yet the band had signed with Polygram Records in 1988 and that in itself was a pretty monumental deal for a Seattle Band. 

Cornell began writing songs about his friend as well as honing some songs he had been working on and encouraging the band members to do the same. Approaching Andy's bandmates who, without their true north, all liked the idea of recording some songs in memory of their friend. The members had stopped playing music for some time. It got them playing at a time where music was likely the best therapy while they searched for their next step.

The line-up included Stone Gossard on rhythm guitar, Jeff Ament on bass guitar (both ex-members of Mother Love Bone), Mike McCready on lead guitar, and Matt Cameron on drums. They had played around with the idea of releasing some singles, but the idea was scrapped for recording an album and releasing it at that. In 15 days, they recorded 10 songs that encompassed their feelings of Andrew as well as the state of the world. 

At the same time of the recording, the band members of Mother Love Bone were rehearsing with their new singer for  their new band, Mookie Blaylock. Needing another vocalist to help fill in with the song Hunger Strike, Eddie Vedder sang with Chris Cornell on the song that would make the rounds of MTV, everyone collectively asking "who is that guy?" On the 2011 documentary Pearl Jam Twenty, Vedder stated, That was the first time I heard myself on a real record. It could be one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever been on — or the most meaningful.

While the album would not gain much traction on the charts, Rolling Stone's David Fricke wrote in 2000 that the album, retrospectively, deserves immortality. The songs are complex, blending not only Cornell's range and vocal talent, but also the birthing of the sound from the ashes of their beloved lead singer's death.

Let's break down each track.

Say Hello 2 Heaven

Right after Andy died, we [Soundgarden] went to Europe, and it was horrible, because I couldn't talk about it, and there was no one who had loved him around. I wrote two songs, "Reach Down" and "Say Hello 2 Heaven". That was pretty much how I dealt with it. ~Chris Cornell

The opening track is not only perfect, it's a summation of the feelings felt and the story of Andy himself. It's an emotional and fitting tribute to the Man Golden Words. 

I never wanted
To write these words down for you
With the pages of phrases
Of all the things we'll never do
So I blow out the candle and
I put you to bed
Since you can't say to me now
How the dogs broke your bone
There's just one thing left to be said

Say hello to heaven

Reach Down

You can visualize the story this song tells. You can also feel the positive energy that Andrew Wood had on Chris's life. The song is a highlight on the album as you can hear the Pearl Jam sound begin to evolve out of Mother Love Bone. 

Love, yes love was my drug, but that's not
What I died of, so don't think of me
Crying louder than some billion dollar baby

Hunger Strike

The most well known song off the album, that could have gone so differently if Eddie Vedder had not been rehearsing with his new band. The song is a good indicator of the social voice that Pearl Jam would lead with through their songs. 

I don't mind stealing bread
From the mouths of decadence
But I can't feed on the powerless
When my cup's already overfilled

Pushing Forward Back

"'Pushin Forward Back' is good shovin' built from the black thunder of Led Zeppelin and the twin-guitar lightning of the original Alice Cooper band ...When Vedder joins Cornell in the chorus of 'Pushin Forward Back', their harmonies virtually bleed with need." David Fricke of Rolling Stone (12-2000)

Baby brother clinging to her hair
Gracious, pleading not another
Soul to bare, he started pushin'
All my kings have fallen down
I started pushin'

Call Me a Dog

It's a beautiful and sad song about relationships and unreciprocated love. This one stems from Chris's own failed relationship at the time. 

You call me a dog
Well that's fair enough
It doesn't bother me as long as you know
Bad luck will follow you
If you keep me on a leash and
You drag me along

Time of Trouble

Gorgeous but sad song about the struggle of addition. Chris knew well of Andy's attempt to get clean and the challenges he faced. 

I saw you swinging
Swinging your mother's sword
I know you're playing but
Sometimes the rules get hard
But if somebody left you out on a ledge
If somebody pushed you over the edge
If somebody loved you and left you for dead
You got to hold on to your time till you break
Through these times of trouble

Wooden Jesus

A questions asked many a time, "can you buy your way into Heaven?"

 

Porcelain Mary her majesties pure
Looking for virgin territory
Coat hanger halos don't come cheap
From television shepherds with living room sheep,
And I pray.

Your Savior

Coincidentally after Wooden Jesus, Your Savior is directed at those who push their idols and gods upon others, with promises of pearly gates and eternal happiness. 

People like you, I know myself
Walk in the shoes of somebody else
Whisper to me, my tragic fate
Whisper to me, my tragic end
But don't give me your savior

Four Walled World

It could be a song about a mental prison, but likely a song about the prison of addiction. 

And now the sun is low
And these walls try to break my soul
And now the moon is full
And I won't see nothing tonight
But the tears in her eyes and
My four walled world

All Night Thing

Again, it could be about lovers and it could be about drugs. 

-This was the last song I heard live from Chris Cornell - 

And we fall like a tear falling
To the ground
I'll never come around
And you'll never hear a word from me
If it's an all night thing