Jesus Christ Pose - Remastered

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.

This is one of the few Soundgarden songs with writing credits going to all four band members. Their guitarist Kim Thayil told us that whoever brings in the main riff typically gets a credit along with the lyricist (usually Cornell), but they have no set system for distributing the credits.

Directed by Eric Zimmerman, the band made a controversial video for this song where the band demonstrated the "Jesus Christ Pose," intercut with shots of a girl on a cross. MTV didn't play it during their regular programming, but they did air it on both their Metal show Headbanger's Ball and their Alternative music showcase 120 Minutes. This crossover showed that the band had wide appeal over the various rock formats that were burgeoning, and they soon caught on in the grunge genre as well. The band set out to reach a wide audience, and this song proved that they were on their way to achieving that goal.