Reflecting on the Passing of Chris Cornell

The loss of Chris Cornell has hit me harder than the passing of most musicians. He was a member of the Seattle core five for me. Kurt, Eddie, Chris, Scott and Layne. Sure there were other key band members, but those were the guys that gravitated to the front of the line. Now, Eddie is the only one that remains.

But what was it about Chris Cornell that made him special? Lots of things actually. Sure the four octave voice was a unique talent. But from what I've gathered, he was a caring husband and father first. Sure there were demons. Don't we all have some? No one is perfect.

Chris was shy but wore his heart on his sleeve lyrically. The way he wrote and sang his words made it so we didn't have to process those emotions on our own. He made them easier to digest and in turn made the teen angst more manageable. Cranking "Outshined" on your Sony Walkman over your headphones made things ok for a while.

I read an interesting article that talked about how Gen X was taking this pretty hard. In the '90s before social media, music and radio was our social media. Connecting with fellow fans whether it be in message boards or in the parking lot at a show, that's what you did.

Bottom line, this one hurts. Not everyone will understand that pain. But you do, and that's ok.