Outshined

"Outshined" is a song by American rock band Soundgarden. Written by the band's frontman Chris Cornell, the song was released as the second^[1][2][3] single from their third studio album, Badmotorfinger (1991). It became the band's first single to reach Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart, where it peaked at number 45. It was included on Soundgarden's 1997 greatest hits album, A-Sides, the 2010 compilation album, Telephantasm and the live album Live on I-5.

"Outshined" is a grunge^[4][5] and hard rock song,^[5] written in D major by frontman Chris Cornell and is performed in drop D tuning. The verses are in ⁷₄ time, an unorthodox meter which the band would also later use in "Spoonman".^[6] Guitarist Kim Thayil has said that Soundgarden usually did not consider the time signature of a song until after the band had written it, and said that the use of odd meters was "a total accident."^[7]

In an interview, Cornell said, "I've never really been biographical in my lyrics, so when I wrote a line like 'I'm looking California and feeling Minnesota' from 'Outshined', it just felt refreshing."^[8] Cornell on the song:

I don't know how everyone else feels ... but I definitely go through periods of extreme self-confidence, feeling like I can do anything. Perhaps a fan will sense that, like in a performance, and the hero image creeps out. But then someone will say something, however insignificant, or I'll get something in my head and, all of a sudden, I'm plummeting in the opposite direction, I'm a piece of shit, and I really can't do anything about it. That's where "Outshined" comes from, and why I'll never consider myself a hero.^[9]

Cornell explained the song's most famous lines: "I'm looking California/And feeling Minnesota", in an interview with Details magazine in 1996:

One of the first times I remember writing something personal was on tour. I was feeling really freaky and down, and I looked in the mirror and I was wearing a red T-shirt and some baggy tennis shorts. I remember thinking that as bummed as I felt, I looked like some beach kid. And then I came up with that line—'I'm looking California / And feeling Minnesota,' from the song 'Outshined'—and as soon as I wrote it down, I thought it was the dumbest thing. But after the record came out and we went on tour, everybody would be screaming along with that particular line when it came up in the song. That was a shock. How could anyone know that that was one of the most personally specific things I had ever written? It was just a tiny line. But somehow, maybe because it was personal, it just pushed that button.^[10]

A film called ""Feeling Minnesota" was released in 1996.

"Outshined" was released as a single in 1991 in various versions with the previously unreleased B-sides "Cold Bitch", "I Can't Give You Anything", "Girl U Want", "Show Me", "I Don't Care About You", "Can You See Me", and "Homicidal Suicidal". Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

"Outshined" became an instant hit and a fan favorite, and gained considerable airtime on alternative rock radio stations. "Outshined" features one of the most memorable Soundgarden lyrics, "I'm looking California, and feeling Minnesota". The lyric inspired the title for the 1996 film, Feeling Minnesota, although Soundgarden is not featured on the soundtrack. The lyric "feeling Minnesota" has also been used by ESPN anchor Stuart Scott in reference to Kevin Garnett, who spent the first 11 years of his career as a player for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Steve Huey de AllMusic describió la canción como un "rockero que avanza sigilosamente con un riff principal que recuerda mucho a la densa oscuridad de los mejores Black Sabbath ". Añadió: "Es una poderosa reinterpretación de lo que el sonido Sabbath puede representar, y la forma en que la canción encapsula la angustia y la falta de rumbo de principios de los 90 la convierte en uno de los himnos grunge definitivos". ^{[ 11 ]} Tanto Billboard como Kerrang! nombraron a "Outshined" como la segunda mejor canción de Soundgarden, después de " Fell on Black Days " y " Black Hole Sun ", respectivamente. ^{[ 12 ] [ 13 ]}

Existen dos versiones del vídeo: una versión estadounidense/internacional y una versión canadiense.

Una interpretación de "Outshined" se puede encontrar en el lanzamiento en vídeo doméstico de Motorvision .

En el festival Lollapalooza de 1992 en Bremerton, Washington , Eddie Vedder , líder de Pearl Jam , se unió a la banda e hizo los coros para la canción.

Todas las canciones fueron escritas por Chris Cornell, salvo que se indique lo contrario.

CD (Alemania)

1. "Outshined" (edición)  – 4:07
2. "Outshined"  – 5:11
3. " La chica que quieres " ( Gerald Casale , Mark Mothersbaugh )  – 3:29
4. "Muéstrame" (Pastor)  – 2:47
5. " Into the Void (Sealth)" ( Chief Sealth , Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , Bill Ward )  – 6:37

Vinilo de 7 pulgadas (Reino Unido)

1. "Outshined"  – 5:11
2. "No puedo darte nada" ( Dee Dee Ramone )  – 2:16

CD (Países Bajos)

1. "Outshined" (edición)  – 4:07
2. "No me importas" ( Miedo )  – 1:55
3. "Can You See Me" ( Jimi Hendrix )  – 2:40
4. "Outshined"  – 5:11

CD (Australasia)

1. "Outshined" (edición)  – 4:07
2. "Perra fría"  – 5:01

• Chris Cornell – voz, guitarra rítmica
• Kim Thayil – guitarra solista
• Ben Shepherd – bajo
• Matt Cameron – batería

• "Outshined" (Audio oficial) en YouTube
• Reseña de "Outshined" en AllMusic