Badmotorfinger
in 1991. It caused some controversy and was banned from MTV due to complaints from viewers that the song and video was anti-Christian. They actually received death threats in the UK.
In an interview with
Spin
magazine
in 1992, Chris Cornell explained the term “Jesus Christ Pose”:
“You just see it a lot with really beautiful people, or famous people, exploiting that symbol as to imply that they’re either a deity or persecuted somehow by their public. So it’s pretty much a song that is nonreligious but expressing being irritated by seeing that. It’s not that I would ever be offended by what someone would do with that symbol.”
This is not a religious song, but it expresses irritation at celebrities who abuse and exploit the image of Jesus Christ on the cross, known as the Jesus Christ Pose (outstretched arms, head back).
The pose can be seen in any number of Creed videos featuring a wind-swept
Scott Stapp
, but for Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell, it was Jane’s Addiction lead singer Perry Farrell, whose antics and onstage demeanor he always found to be pretentious, who inspired this song.
It wasn’t just Farrell, though. Flipping through magazines, Cornell would see models striking the pose, sometimes complete with a crown of thorns. These folks likening themselves and their troubles to those of Jesus was too much for Cornell, and he let them have it here.
Cornell attended Catholic school until seventh grade, when his free thinking, rebellious personality became too much of a problem and his mom pulled him out (along with his sister). His inquisitive nature served him well as a lyricist; songs like this one show his disdain for ignorance and a false sense of persecution.
