Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell has taken the blame for spending years unhappy about the title of his 1999 solo album Euphoria Morning.
He’d originally named it Euphoria Mourning, but was convinced to change it – and spent years regretting the move before correcting the title ahead of its re-release in August.
Cornell tells Rolling Stone Australia: “Right before the record came out I was doing interviews. If you say ‘Euphoria Mourning’ the listener doesn’t know if it’s ‘mourning’ with a ‘u’ or ‘morning’ without a ‘u.’
“That started to bother me, so I had a conversation with my manager at the time. I said, ‘I really love the title, but do you think it’s confusing?’ He suggested ‘Euphoria Morning’ would probably be a better title. I thought, ‘Maybe that works.’”
He continues: “It wasn’t my manager’s fault. I was a grown man – I could say, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’ And in the back of my mind I didn’t think it was a good idea.”
Cornell says he “wasn’t together enough” to think the issue through, as he struggled with Soundgarden’s split, the collapse of his marriage and a developing drinking problem.
He adds: “So I went with ‘Morning’ – and it’s bothered me ever since. It even showed up in an early review, where someone said the title sounded like a pot pourri scent. When I read that I was just like, ‘Fuck! Fuckin’ bullshit!’”
He describes the original title as “so beautifully poetic, with just the concept of euphoria in mourning” and reflects: “It was a moment I felt inspired, and I let all the air out of it.
“So when we decided to do its first vinyl release I thought, ‘I want to change the fucking title – it’s time to change it!’”
Cornell just released fourth solo album Higher Truth, while Soundgarden recently started work on their seventh record.
