Hunger Strike (song)
4186072
225166954
2008-07-12T06:42:14Z
-5-
933783
/* Release and reception */
{{Infobox Single
| Name = Hunger Strike
| Cover = Temple of the Dog Hunger Strike.JPG
| Artist = [[Temple of the Dog]]
| from Album = [[Temple of the Dog (album)|Temple of the Dog]]
| B-side = "Your Saviour" / "All Night Thing"
| Released = 1991
| Format = [[CD single]], [[Compact Cassette|Cassette]], [[Gramophone record|Vinyl]]
| Recorded = November 1990 – December 1990
| Genre = [[Grunge music|Grunge]]
| Length = 4:03
| Label = [[A&M Records|A&M]]
| Producer = [[Rick Parashar]], Temple of the Dog
| Writer = [[Chris Cornell]]
| Last single =
| This single = "'''Hunger Strike'''"<br />(1991)
| Next single = "[[Say Hello 2 Heaven]]"<br/>(1991)
{{Extra tracklisting
| Album = [[Temple of the Dog (album)|Temple of the Dog]]
| Type = studio
| prev_track = "Reach Down"
| prev_no = Track 2
| this_track = "'''Hunger Strike'''"
| track_no = Track 3
| next_track = "[[Pushin Forward Back]]"
| next_no = Track 4
}}
{{Audiosample
| Upper caption = Audio sample
| Audio file = HungerStrike.OGG
}}
}}
"'''Hunger Strike'''" is a song by [[Temple of the Dog]] from the band's 1991 [[Temple of the Dog (album)|self-titled debut album]]. It was Temple of the Dog's most popular song. The song peaked at number four on the ''[[Billboard]]'' [[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks|Mainstream Rock Tracks]] chart. It appears on the 2007 [[Chris Cornell]] compilation ''[[The Roads We Choose - A Retrospective]]''.
==Origin and recording==
The song was written by [[Chris Cornell]]. It features a duet between Cornell and vocalist [[Eddie Vedder]]. Cornell was having trouble with the vocals at practice, when Vedder stepped in. Cornell later said that "he sang half of that song not even knowing that I'd wanted the part to be there and he sang it exactly the way I was thinking about doing it, just instinctively."<ref name="Fivehorizons.com - KISW 99.9 FM: Seattle, Radio Interview by Damon Stewart in The New Music Hour with Chris Cornell, Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard">{{cite web|title=KISW 99.9 FM: Seattle, Radio Interview by Damon Stewart in The New Music Hour with Chris Cornell, Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard|author=Nicholls, Justin|publisher=Fivehorizons.com|url=http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/radio041491.shtml|accessdate=2007-10-03|date=[[1991-04-14]]}}</ref>
Chris Cornell on the song:
<blockquote>When we started rehearsing the songs, I had pulled out "Hunger Strike" and I had this feeling it was just kind of gonna be filler, it didn't feel like a real song. Eddie was sitting there kind of waiting for a [[Mookie_Blaylock#In_Popular_Culture|[Mookie Blaylock]]] rehearsal and I was singing parts, and he kind of humbly—but with some balls—walked up to the mic and started singing the low parts for me because he saw it was kind of hard. We got through a couple choruses of him doing that and suddenly the light bulb came on in my head, this guy's voice is amazing for these low parts. History wrote itself after that, that became the single.<ref name="tenpast">Weisbard, Eric, et al. "Ten Past Ten". ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''. August 2001.</ref></blockquote>
Guitarist Mike McCready on the song:
<blockquote>I remember thinking that this was a really beautiful song when I heard it. Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) showed me the riff. I had a '62 reissue Strat and I wanted to use the fourth-position tone setting - between the bridge and middle pickups - for the beginning of the song because I like that softer sound. Then I kicked it to the front pickup for the heavier part of the song. This is one of many amazing songs written by Chris.<ref>Gilbert, Jeff. [http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/gs0595.shtml "Prime Cuts: Mike McCready - The Best of Pearl Jam!"]. ''Guitar School''. May 1995.</ref></blockquote>
==Release and reception==
Although the album had been out for a year by 1992, A&M Records realized what they had in their catalog was essentially a collaboration between Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, who had both risen to mainstream attention in the months since the album's release. A&M decided to re-issue the album and promote "Hunger Strike" as a single. "Hunger Strike" became the most successful song from ''Temple of the Dog'' on the rock charts. The song peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' [[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks|Mainstream Rock Tracks]] chart and number seven on the ''Billboard'' [[Hot Modern Rock Tracks|Modern Rock Tracks]] chart. Jim Guerinot, A&M's senior VP of marketing at the time, said, "I don't think that anyone would have paid attention if 'Hunger Strike' wasn't a great song."<ref>[http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,311271,00.html "In the Temple of Pearlgarden"]. ''Entertainment Weekly''. [[July 31]], [[1992]].</ref> It still receives regular radio play on many [[hard rock]] radio stations.
Outside of the United States, the single was released in [[Australia]], [[Canada]], [[Germany]], and the [[United Kingdom]]. In Canada, the song reached the top 50 on the Canadian [[RPM (magazine)|Singles Chart]]. "Hunger Strike" reached the top 60 in the UK.
[[David Fricke]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' said, "Cornell and Vedder...turn its four minutes into a veritable opera of rock-star guilt...Cornell turns on the [[Robert Plant]]-style napalm full blast, but it is Vedder's scorched introspection that brings the conscience in the song to a full boil. "Hunger Strike" was his first starring vocal on record; it is still one of his best."<ref>Fricke, David. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/templeofthedog/albums/album/301499/review/5944099/temple_of_the_dog "Temple of the Dog: ''Temple of the Dog''"]. ''Rolling Stone''. [[December 14]], [[2000]].</ref>
==Music video==
[[Image:HungerStrike.jpg|left|150px]]A&M decided to re-issue the album and promote "Hunger Strike" as a single, with an accompanying [[music video]] directed by [[Paul Rachman]]. It features the band performing the song on a beach and in a forest. The video was filmed at [[Discovery Park (Seattle)|Discovery Park]] in [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]], [[Washington]]. The [[West Point Light|West Point Lighthouse]] is featured in the video. There are two different versions of the video for the track.
==Live performances==
The song was first performed live in [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]] at the Off Ramp Café on [[November 13]], [[1990]].<ref name="Fivehorizons.com - Pearl Jam: 1990/1991 Concert Chronology">{{cite web|url=http://www.fivehorizons.com/tour/cc/t199091.shtml|title=Pearl Jam: 1990/1991 Concert Chronology|accessdate=2007-10-03|publisher=Fivehorizons.com}}</ref> In the time since the album's release, the band reformed for short live performances on four occasions where both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam were performing. They performed "Hunger Strike" on [[October 3]], [[1991]] at the Foundations Forum in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]]<ref name="Fivehorizons.com - Pearl Jam: 1990/1991 Concert Chronology"/>; [[October 6]], [[1991]] at The Hollywood Palladium for the ''Rip Magazine'' 5th anniversary party<ref name="rocklistmusic.co.uk">{{citeweb|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/kerrang_p2.htm|title=Kerrang! 100 greatest gigs of all time}}</ref>; [[August 14]], [[1992]] in [[Reston, Virginia|Reston]], [[Virginia]]; and [[September 13]], [[1992]] in [[Irvine, California|Irvine]], [[California]] (both shows were part of the [[Lollapalooza]] festival series in 1992).<ref name="Fivehorizons.com - Pearl Jam: 1992 Concert Chronology part 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.fivehorizons.com/tour/cc/t1992p2.shtml|title=Pearl Jam: 1992 Concert Chronology part 2|accessdate=2007-10-03|publisher=Fivehorizons.com}}</ref>
[[Chris Cornell]] and [[Eddie Vedder]] reunited to sing the song during a Pearl Jam show in 2003, and [[Eddie Vedder]] and [[Corin Tucker]] of [[Sleater-Kinney]] performed a rendition of "Hunger Strike" that is viewable as an easter egg on disc 1 of the Pearl Jam ''[[Live at the Garden]]'' DVD. [[Pearl Jam]] also performed the song in [[Antwerp]] and [[Barcelona]] in 2006 with [[Andrew Stockdale]] of [[Wolfmother]] singing [[Chris Cornell]]'s parts. Chris Cornell added "Hunger Strike" to his solo live set in 2007.
==Track listing==
{{col-start}}{{col-2}}
;7" Single (Germany and UK), 7" Promotional Single (UK), CD (Australia), and Cassette (UK)
#"Hunger Strike" ([[Chris Cornell]]) – 4:03
#"All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
;12" Single (UK), 12" Promotional Single (UK), CD (UK and Germany), and Promotional CD (UK)
#"Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
#"Your Saviour" (Cornell) – 4:02
#"All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
{{col-2}}
;Promotional CD (Canada) and Promotional CD (US)
#"Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
;Promotional Cassette (US)
#"Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
#"[[Say Hello 2 Heaven]]" (excerpt) (Cornell)
#"Pushin Forward Back" (excerpt) ([[Jeff Ament]], [[Stone Gossard]], Cornell)
#"Reach Down" (excerpt) (Cornell)
{{col-end}}
==Chart positions==
Information taken from various sources.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=22528&model.vnuAlbumId=16826 | title=Temple of the Dog Chart History: Singles| publisher=''[[Billboard]]''| accessdate=2008-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=6629
| title = UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive - Temple of the Dog
| accessdate = 2007-12-08
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.1930&volume=56&issue=11&issue_dt=September%2012%201992&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=lhaled67omcph7v3aq7fbveid1
| title=Canadian Charts - Hunger Strike
| publisher=''[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]''
| accessdate=2008-03-07}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
! Year
! Chart
! Position
|-
| rowspan="4"|1992
| US [[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks|Mainstream Rock Tracks]]
|align="center"| 4
|-
| US [[Hot Modern Rock Tracks|Modern Rock Tracks]]
|align="center"| 7
|-
| [[RPM (magazine)|Canadian Singles Chart]]
|align="center"| 50
|-
| [[UK Singles Chart]]
|align="center"| 51
|}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:1991 singles]]
[[Category:1991 songs]]
[[Category:Temple of the Dog songs]]
[[Category:Vocal duets]]
{{rock-song-stub}}