I wrote a post a while ago about Soundgarden’s Down on the Upside explaining why I thought it was so great and how it deserved to be appreciated just as much the albums that came before in Badmotorfinger and Superunknown. I may have been suffering from a bout of depression during that time. Upside was the soundtrack album to that period of time. Three and a bit years on and in a better state, I feel the same way about it – still my favourite Soundgarden record. I think I made something of a deal on how the songs co-written by Chris Cornell and Ben Shepherd were some my personal highlights on there. Here I am to talk about one of them.

‘Never Named’ is the eighth track on the album. Comes slap bang in the middle of the hour and five minutes it runs on for. Coming after what could be argued to be the two best songs of ‘Blow Up the Outside World’ and ‘Burden in My Hand’ with its irregular time changes and punk-like approach, ‘Never Named’ may seem like a bit of a “wtf” moment in the album’s running. Maybe its placement hinders its accessibility a bit, just a theory. Though as a track by itself, there’s certainly a thrill you can get out of it. Once you get those time changes down and get a feel of how drummer Matt Cameron pulls the track along with his fills, it all falls into place. There a lot of melodic guitar lines that catch your ear and lots of riffage to chew onto, all with Chris Cornell’s trademark vocals in between. Can’t be beat.

And what’s Cornell singing about here? Well, he starts with his old dog in the first verse. When he was young, his dog loved him like a God. But now he’s a big man in this successful rock music group yet he feels small and insignificant, like an insect or a small spot on the ground. That’s really the main message of the song. Being a full grown person, but still feeling like a small child inside. And Cornell takes it further in the choruses by referring to being a baby who looks like a boy. He sings it all very well. As to why it’s called ‘Never Named’, I’m not sure. I want to say the band couldn’t think of a proper name for the track, but instead of calling it ‘Untitled’ they put another spin on it. Probably wrong though, just my thought.