Why This Song Matters: ‘The Day I Tried To Live’ by Soundgarden

Soundgarden’s Superunkown album was a massive success, both critically and commercially, and it continued the band’s run of excellence in the wake of 1991’s Badmotorfinger. The album is a gold mine of innovation, expression, and artistic excellence. Today, we will take a look at ‘The Day I Tried To Live’. 

This song does an excellent job of portraying the internal conflict that many can encounter when they are struggling. Struggles and negotiating through those struggles are a consistent subject for Soundgarden lyrics, and this song gives a pointed explanation of what that may be like. This song is about hoping against hope that one can finally instill change in themselves. Kim Thayil’s descending guitar riffs, as well as Ben Shepherd’s and Matt Cameron’s contributions on bass guitar and drums respectively all contribute to painting the picture of this omnipresent battle. 

“I woke the same as any other day,
Except a voice was in my head.
It said, ‘seize the day, pull the trigger, drop the blade,
And watch the rolling heads’.”

Whatever struggles this individual is faced with, they are driven to go out and to try and make a change in their situation nonetheless. The chorus stands as a rebuttal of this hope, as can often happen when facing difficult situations.

“The day I tried to live,
I stole a thousand beggar's change,
And gave it to the rich.
The day I tried to win,
I dangled from the power lines,
And let the martyrs stretch.”

The protagonist then goes on to pine that “one more time around might do it”, speaking to what seems like the inclination that living organisms have of continuing the fight, and time and time again, vowing to give it one more chance. The thinking that tomorrow may be better. This instinctive drive to give it one more time around is at odds with the headspace that the protagonist is in, and the conflict brews.

“Words you say never seem
to live up to the ones
inside your head.
The lives we make
never seem to ever get us anywhere
but dead.”

This song serves as a poignant commentary on the effect continual defeat can have on an individual. Chris Cornell was always able to perfectly illustrate the wars waged within our own heads, and here, he shows what it looks like when the proactive and positive side begins to lose the fight. These hopeful attempts to change and improve eventually come with less and less conviction, and the downtrodden line of thought can eventually take over. We see this conviction slowly slipping away, as the protagonist slowly loses it, exclaiming, “I woke the same as any other day, you know I should have stayed in bed.” They are seemingly exclaiming that they’d be better off if they didn’t even try.

The song ends in a very desolate fashion, with the protagonist seemingly surrendering after one more attempt.

“The day I tried to live,
I wallowed in the blood and mud with
all the other pigs.
And I learned that I was a liar…
…just like you.”

They learn that they are a liar, in this sense, learning that their initial calls to “seize the day” were fruitless, and thus, they were lies. This individual is unable to change themselves this time. However, as this song shows, it often isn’t long until another attempt is made, and it is important to continue the fight. Sometimes, the internal battles that are waged in our heads are long campaigns of attrition, and few songs portray that as accurately and as vividly as ‘The Day I Tried To Live’.

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