Interviewer: 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: 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.
From a 1994 interview with chris cornell
Interviewer: 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: 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.