Imagine

I didn’t think I cared about Chris Cornell. He turned me off when he worked with Timbaland. When you start doing anything for a hit, when you start getting desperate, we abandon you. Works that way in relationships, works that way in music.

As for the Soundgarden reunion…what else were they gonna do? Same deal with Black Sabbath. If Ozzy Osbourne could still go on the road and sell out arenas, he would. But his live career has taken a dive, and he’s not about to go out and play theatres, he’s still got most of the money he made, it would be too demeaning.

I don’t expect much from the new Sabbath album, nor do I expect much from the new Soundgarden collection. The motivation is wrong. None of these reunion albums satisfy. And usually the band breaks up shortly thereafter.

But "Louder Than Love" did register with me. And then Soundgarden had a great run with "Badmotorfinger" and "Superunknown" and I love playing "Black Hole Sun" on Rock Band, but Chris Cornell burned out his welcome.

But then I saw him in the Pearl Jam movie. He was a secondary character. In Seattle. Support to Andrew Wood. A guy as good-looking as Chris we expect to be a prima donna.

And Howard starts asking Chris about his upbringing. His dad came home every night, poured a bourbon on rocks and said not a word. Blue collar work kills. Souls if not bodies.

And then when it turned out Chris is one of six, Howard asked why someone who hated kids would have so many.

Chris responded that it was about being Irish Catholic. The whole thing reminded me of Springsteen’s "The River".

And Chris no longer talks to his dad. Nor do his brothers.

And the family pooh-poohed his going into music. Which Chris understood, because the odds of making it are miniscule. And if you don’t, you play to twenty people in a bar at night while you perform manual labor during the day. But Chris was willing to make that deal.

But not only did he become successful, he got hooked on drugs. He went to rehab for Oxycontin. They told him there not to get back together with his wife. Who’d stolen his guitars. This was after the girlfriend who stabbed him in the hand. Chris wasn’t boasting like Gene Simmons or laughing like David Lee Roth, Howard was pulling these facts out of him. Suddenly, Chris Cornell became three-dimensional.

And then Howard told him to pick up the guitar.

This was after discussing covers, asking Chris why he played "Billie Jean".

And it turned out Chris was going to play "Imagine". Chris said the Beatles were his beacon, John Lennon was the greatest songwriter of his generation, that you learned from him.

Howard said he wrote a paper in high school how Lennon was a prophet, how he truly was bigger than Jesus.

And then Chris started to strum…

And I’m not a big fan of "Imagine". Its heart is in the right place, but it’s just too damn obvious. Usually Lennon was a bit more twisted, he had a wink in his eye and a crazy streak.

And Chris’s performance is serviceable, but then he raises his voice and goes into that patented wail and I was TRANSFIXED!

Chris truly made "Imagine" his own. He took it to another place. He added new meaning.

A caller claimed it was the best music on Stern since Lady Gaga. I’d agree.

P.S. The judges on "American Idol" would find something to criticize about Chris’s performance, that’s what they do, build you up to tear you down to illustrate that you’re just a pawn in their game. But great art exists outside the sphere of criticism, it stands on its own. And not only can Chris sing, he can write. The incredible voice is a bonus.

P.P.S. In the U.K., a studio take of "Imagine" could be the Christmas number one. But in the U.S., no format, no song gets that kind of mindshare. Our country is in chaos. The media could adopt Chris Cornell’s heartfelt rendition of "Imagine" and it could become a rallying cry. Then again, the media doesn’t want to get on the side of the protesters. We’re not in it together in America, we’re all busy protecting our own turf. Not only do we not intersect monetarily, we don’t culturally either.