This is an environmental song written by guitarist Kim Thayil (music) and lead singer Chris Cornell (lyric). It's about the abuse of mother nature (blanketing the ocean with oil, the clear cutting of old growth forests). Then the lyrics go on to say, "Put your hands away, your gonna kill your mother," meaning the Earth. In 1989, Thayil and Cornell did an interview on MTV's Headbangers Ball with host Ricki Rachman (Ricki's first day on HB) and those were some of the things they mentioned. The video featured a girl personifying Mother Earth.
Kim Thayil plays some very complex guitar parts on many Soundgarden tracks, but on this one he kept it simple - just one riff and one chord, with lots of variation in the dynamics.
The music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, finds the band performing in a factory and throwing around equipment. Thayil and Cornell spoke about the clip on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. Thayil thought it was one of the worst videos ever made, while Cornell joked it was dangerous for their health, saying: "Making this video was fun because we were in a steel foundry. And there was like a black cancer dust all over everything. We're all gonna get cancer from it and die. So I hope you enjoy it. This will be the video that killed Soundgarden."
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