In my eyes, indisposed
In disguises no one knows
Hides the face, lies the snake
In the sun, in my disgrace
Boiling heat, summer stench
'Neath the black the sky looks dead
Call my name through the cream
And I'll hear you scream again
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come (won't you come)
Stuttering, cold and damp
Steal the warm wind, tired friend
Times are gone for honest men
And sometimes far too long for snakes
In my shoes, a walking sleep
And my youth, I pray to keep
Heaven sent hell away
No one sings like you anymore
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Hang my head, drown my fear
'Til you all just disappear
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come
Won't you come
In disguises no one knows
Hides the face, lies the snake
In the sun, in my disgrace
Boiling heat, summer stench
'Neath the black the sky looks dead
Call my name through the cream
And I'll hear you scream again
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come (won't you come)
Stuttering, cold and damp
Steal the warm wind, tired friend
Times are gone for honest men
And sometimes far too long for snakes
In my shoes, a walking sleep
And my youth, I pray to keep
Heaven sent hell away
No one sings like you anymore
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Hang my head, drown my fear
'Til you all just disappear
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come (black hole sun, black hole sun)
Won't you come
Won't you come
Lyrics submitted by jt, edited by DarthSailr
Black Hole Sun Lyrics as written by Christopher J. Cornell
Lyrics © HIPGNOSIS SONGS GROUP, Peermusic Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
I pulled this from an article, "Regarding "Black Hole Sun", Cornell stated, "It's just sort of a surreal dreamscape, a weird, play-with-the-title kind of song."[5] He also said that "lyrically it's probably the closest to me just playing with words for words' sake, of anything I've written. I guess it worked for a lot of people who heard it, but I have no idea how you'd begin to take that one literally."[6] In another interview he elaborated further, stating, "It's funny because hits are usually sort of congruent, sort of an identifiable lyric idea, and that song pretty much had none. The chorus lyric is kind of beautiful and easy to remember. Other than that, I sure didn't have an understanding of it after I wrote it. I was just sucked in by the music and I was painting a picture with the lyrics. There was no real idea to get across."[4] Commenting upon how the song was misinterpreted as being positive, Cornell said, "No one seems to get this, but "Black Hole Sun" is sad. But because the melody is really pretty, everyone thinks it's almost chipper, which is ridiculous."[7] When asked about the line, "Times are gone for honest men," Cornell said:
It's really difficult for a person to create their own life and their own freedom. It's going to become more and more difficult, and it's going to create more and more disillusioned people who become dishonest and angry and are willing to fuck the next guy to get what they want. There's so much stepping on the backs of other people in our profession. We've been so lucky that we've never had to do that. Part of it was because of our own tenacity, and part of it was because we were lucky.[8]
BLACK HOLE SUN: The external opening of the rectum
SNAKE: A Willy (Man sexual organ)
Once you know that the rest is easy to understand. ;)
All the best and hope this is not a shock to many.
PD. Limp Bizkit has similar a song called Chocolate StarFish.
I think artists prefer to keep a songs true meaning up to the Interpreter. Art means different things to different people.
There is a legend of the black sun said to be underneath the earth. It resides in the underworld where there is no war or suffering.
Reading about it made me think of the song of course, though the internet was in it's infancy so I'm not sure Chris fully grasps the coincidence of the song. Coincidentally or not, he was inspired by the legend, if not subconsciously.
Black hole = point of a needle when viewed head on.
Sun = the high from heroin.
Snake = syringe (obvious metaphor) note that it gets mentioned twice the first time it's in his eyes (like a proper hardcore junkie, shooting into his eye) that's why it's the black hole sun. Second time it gets mentioned, he's talking about withdrawal (time is far too long for snakes = too long between hits)
The high from heroin washes away the rain, heroin takes his emotional pain away.
Research other Chris Cornell songs on this site, heroin comes up far too often to be ignored. He grew up in a heroin epidemic, he lost friends to it (all my friends are skeletons, spoonman)..
Accept it..
But it doesn't mean the song is awesome..
It is truly an amazing piece of art..
The first lines describe how the character hides his sadness. His eyes are indisposed, and the snake (his depression or sadness) is in disguise. It hides behind his eyes, but is omnipresent in his mind. He's always depressed, but no one knows but him.
Now onto the chorus. "Black Hole Sun"... I've always thought that a Black Hole Sun was referring to the way a gun barrel looks when it goes off. When a gun goes off, there is a black hole in the middle of a ring of fire, which is exactly what a "Black holed Sun" would look like. "Won't you come and wash away the rain." I've always thought that Cornell was asking the Black Hole Sun to come and wash away his sadness, meaning that he wanted to shoot himself to end his pain.
I dont know. It's late at night and I can't sleep so i thought i'd present this theory. I'm a huge Soundgarden fan, and this is one of my favorites. I'd never seen this take on this song before, so these are my thoughts.
WOA~! Now that's one deep interpretation.
I never really heard it like that myself, as I only half-listened and thought it was somehow the feeling of 'being with a woman' and 'her' dark-hole-sun washing away my loneliness'.
But WOW! Yours was way deep - I pictured that shotgun blast in my mind - your thoughts about the lyrics and yes it definitely fits well with the words.
I have a theory when it comes to how people interpret song lrics in particular.
That most of us simply hear what it is that we're feeling and hearing in our heads you know?
Like I've been more of a lonely/missing someone, so for me..
the "black-hole-sun" was about wanting 'her' - wanting her to want me, and being 'with her' - to enter into 'her' black hole sun (so-to-speak) and for her rain to wash me clean of my lonely misery. (i really hope that made some bit of sense!)
But were I in a depressed suicidal type of mood or even thinking about someone I had loved who left this world by way or a gun then I have little doubt Your Interpretation would be very much hae been mine as well. For especially songs with imagery, imagery that isn't clearly one thing or another.., we tend to fill in those with our own unspoken or deeply felt feelings of the time.
if i may ask then...
Was the case with you? - or someone close to you?
Or did you come up with your lyrical view and meaning simply because that's what you heard in it - despite having no personal experiences with such deep depression
- The later might single-handedly blow that whole theory of mine to crap! But I'd rather know if for the most part whether we all tend to do this.. if it's something most of us all do.. or mostly just me.
thanks.
Peace.
/ \
\ /
------
Highly doubt you know the "truth."
The narrator is so tired of humanity that they're longing and hoping for the world to end. Pretty similar to "Aenema" by Tool.
"Times are gone for honest men
And sometimes far too long for snakes"
The 70s, 80s, and 90s are the age when, at least in the United States, capitalism and corporations began to have an influence on every aspect of our daily lives. The good came with the bad, as people stepped all over each other just to get their piece of the pie. Things like honesty and integrity went out the window and the opportunists took over. "Nice guys finish last" became a mantra for many people.
"In my shoes, a walking sleep
And my youth I pray to keep
Heaven sent hell away
No one sings like you anymore"
The narrator would rather die young than see society and humanity head in the direction that it's going. "Heaven sent hell away" refers to nature ending society on Earth. "No one sings like you anymore" seems to refer to how all of the old moral tenets – such a honesty, substance, and compassion – aren't really celebrated anymore.
"Hang my head, drown my fear
Till you all just disappear"
The narrator will wait in despair until the annihilation of the human race.
Seems pretty screwed up, but misanthropy is common in a lot of Cornell's writing. He writes a lot of songs about the apocalypse ("New Damage," "4th of July") but also how he's looking forward to it. "Limo Wreck" is pretty much about the same thing. Also, "The Day I Tried To Live" seems to continue the whole theme of being an outsider and not feeling like a part of society.
The real question is whether or not there ever was a "Time for honest men," unfortunately. History doesn't seem to indicate that there ever was. You always get the good with the bad.
wash away the rain
It's only Chris voice with his acoustic guitar. It really kick asses !!!
The whole cd is filled of classic Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave songs.
All acoustic !!!
and you miss the good stuff that made you smile though they arent gone, u just don't see 'em at that moment.
and what could be better at that moment then a black hole in the sky to wash all that shit away, but there is none.
I can't really interpetate every phrase but that's what I feel the song is about.
and hey, sometimes when writing the words just fit in with no explenation