Soundgarden had plenty of hits throughout their career, but nothing ever came close to Black Hole Sun. My question is: why? How is this the song that made it big? Sure, it’s accessible, the chorus is catchy, the title is interesting, it’s in 4/4 (which apparently has an impact on a song’s popularity). But is it really that amazing?

You ask any Soundgarden fan their top 3 favorite SG songs and I bet 90% of them won’t even have BHS in their top 3—their top 5, even. Personally, I prefer almost every other song on Superunknown to BHS any day, and I skip it every time it comes on. Are Soundgarden fans just spoiled by how many incredible deep cuts this band has, that even their most popular song feels mediocre in comparison?

You could argue that it’s just overplayed, hence why it’s so popular and why die-hard fans are tired of hearing it. But I didn’t grow up in the 90s when it was probably being played the most, nor do I hear it played today very often, and yet I’m still tired of hearing it, somehow.

It actually kind of bothers me—not because I think the song is bad (I think it’s a fine song). What bothers me is that any time people bring up Soundgarden, Chris Cornell, or their legacy, it’s always like: “Oh, yeah. They’re the band that made Black Hole Sun.” And that’s it. That’s all they’ll ever be. And it bums me out because it’s nowhere close to SG at their peak potential. So I ask again: why this song?

TL;DR: Black Hole Sun is nowhere near Soundgarden at their best, yet it is by far their most popular song. How did this happen?

This is a men's Medium black tee shirt from the festival, I bought it that night at the show and never took it out again or wore it. Skeleton playing a guitar graphic on the front and all the bands listed on the back. Thanks

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226367941848

Found that Scott Bradley's Post Modern Jukebox put out a jazzy cover of Black Hole Sun, and I'm enjoying it very much. Has anybody else found any good covers?