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More than words: Soundgarden and the Spoonman
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Soundgarden (c: wangdangle.com)
Have you ever loved a song to the point of ridiculousness but no matter how hard you try, you just can’t understand the lyrics? What was the artist thinking when writing your favorite tune? More Than Words, a weekly column, will help to delve a little deeper…
Spoonman, Soundgarden (Superunknown, 1994)
The reference to spoons in the breakout hit for Seattle grunge legends Soundgarden, has lead many to interpret “Spoonman” as a reference to heroin use.
“Heroin is heated with a lighter in a spoon before injected. I’m fairly sure that’s what he’s talking about "Spoonman, come together with your hands, save me". Songfacts.
Yet despite the disheveled, grungy look of flannel shirts and Doc Martens donned by the band in their early days, drugs did not play a role in the development of the song and “Spoonman” was inspired by just that….a spoonman named Artis. Artis was a street performer from Santa Cruz California , who eventually moved to Seattle and caught the attention of Jeff Ament, bass player for Pearl Jam.
“While Cameron Crowe was filming the 1991 Seattle-based movie, Singles, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament made up a list of song titles for the fictional band in the movie, Citizen Dick. One song was “Spoonman”. The song title came from the name of a Seattle street performer, ‘Artis the Spoonman,’ who would bang out complex patterns using spoons and other metallic objects rather than conventional percussion. When Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell (who along with Ament, had a brief role in Singles) spotted the list of song titles, he went ahead and penned real songs to fit each title.” AllMusic.com
Soundgarden lead singer and “Spoonman” songwriter Chris Cornell, has gone further to explain the true sentiment behind the song. Cornell suggests that whilst Artis was the inspiration, the song also touches on ‘judgement and perception’.
Request Magazine 1994: Getting back to Superunknown, the first single was "Spoonman”. The song is superficially about Artis the Spoonman, but the underlying sentiment is that rhythm and music have healing properties.
Chris Cornell: It's more about the paradox of who he is and what people perceive him as. He's a street musician, but when he's playing on the street, he is given a value and judged completely wrong by someone else. They think he's a street person, or he's doing this because he can't hold down a regular job. They put him a few pegs down on the social ladder because of how they perceive someone who dresses differently. The lyrics express the sentiment that I much more easily identify with someone like Artis than I would watch him play.
The final, electric version of “Spoonman” included a solo by Artis who played his spoons as part of the song’s instrumental. Matt Cameron, who after Soundgarden’s disbandment in 1997 became the drummer for Pearl Jam, plays pots and pans on the track. Wikipedia.
According to the Urban Dictionary, Artis has played with various other big names in music such as Frank Zappa. He was also featured in the video for "Spoonman" and has been called "Seattle's best kept secret" by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.
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