I've often wondered...do artistic people who dwell on a whole different astral plane have an unconscious awareness of when it's time to  move on?  And is it even a choice?  Jimi Hendrix seemed to know his fate when he wrote and recorded, "The Ballad of Jimi".  Lines like "Many things he would try / For he knew soon he'd die," "Now Jimi's gone, he's not alone / His memory still lives on" and "Five years, this he said / He's not gone, he's just dead" weirdly predict the legend's death and legacy five years later.

Last night Chris performed with Soundgarden in Detroit, Michigan.  Before taking his final walk off stage, Soundgarden worked in a little bit of Led Zeppelin's 1975 epic, "In My Time of Dying" while performing the closing notes of Badmotorfinger's "Slaves & Bulldozers".  The video below shows this final footage.

Chris Cornell - Final Footage

 

I could sit here and write down all of the memories I have that are linked to every single Soundgarden and Audioslave song.  But I won't.

I will simply salute a man who personally held the hand and ushered in an era of music that made an ethereal footprint in our music's landscape.  Thank you, Chris....for leaving us with "The Promise".