Superunknown - Composition

Composition

The songs on Superunknown captured the metal influences of the band's previous works while showcasing the group's newly evolving style. Steve Huey of Allmusic said that the band's "earlier punk influences are rarely detectable, replaced by surprisingly effective appropriations of pop and psychedelia." Cornell labeled the album as more "challenging" and "versatile" than the band's previous releases. The songs on the album are more experimental and diverse than the band's previous recordings, with some songs having a Middle-Eastern or Indian flavor (for example "Half", sung by Shepherd). Some songs also show a Beatles influence, such as "Head Down" and "Black Hole Sun". In a 1994 interview with Guitar World, Thayil explained, "We looked deep down inside the very core of our souls and there was a little Ringo sitting there. Oh sure, we like telling people it's John Lennon or George Harrison; but when you really look deep inside of Soundgarden, there's a little Ringo wanting to get out." Drummer Matt Cameron said that the experimentation on the album was "just a matter of refinement."

Soundgarden utilized alternative tunings and odd time signatures on several of the album's songs. "Spoonman", "Black Hole Sun" and "Let Me Drown" were performed in drop D tuning while "Mailman" and "Limo Wreck" employed CGDGBE tuning. Some songs used more unorthodox tunings: "My Wave" and "The Day I Tried to Live" are both in a E-E-B-B-B-B tuning. "Head Down" used CGCGGC tuning and "Like Suicide" is performed in CBGDGD tuning. Soundgarden's use of odd time signatures was varied as well; "My Wave" uses 5/4, "Fell On Black Days" is in 6/4, "Limo Wreck" is played in 15/8, "The Day I Tried To Live" and "Spoonman" both alternate between 7/4 and 4/4 sections, and "Black Hole Sun" is in 4/4 and 9/8. Thayil has said that Soundgarden usually did not consider the time signature of a song until after the band had written it, and said that the use of odd meters was "a total accident."

Lyrically, the album is quite dark and mysterious, as much of it is often interpreted to be dealing with issues such as substance abuse, suicide, and depression, with running themes of revenge, annihilation, seclusion, fear, loss, death, and discovery. Cornell was inspired by the writings of Sylvia Plath at the time. Commenting on the album's lyrics, Thayil said that "a lot of Superunknown seems to me to be about life, not death. Maybe not affirming it, but rejoicing—like the Druids : 'Life is good, but death's gonna be even better!" Cameron said that the lyrics on the album are "a big fuck-you to the world, a plea to 'leave us alone.'" Cornell stated that "Let Me Drown" is about "crawling back to the womb to die," "Fell on Black Days" is about realizing "you're unhappy in the extreme," "Black Hole Sun" is about a "surreal dreamscape," "Limo Wreck" is a "'shame-on-decadence' song," "The Day I Tried to Live" is about "trying to step out of being patterned and closed off and reclusive," and "4th of July" is about using LSD. Cornell talked about "Mailman" at a concert saying, "This next one is about killing your boss. It's about coming to work early one morning cause you have a special agenda and you're going to shoot him in the fucking head." Conversely, "Like Suicide" was literal, written by Cornell after a bird flew into a window of his house. He found the severely injured animal and killed it, hitting it with a brick to end its suffering.

The song "Spoonman" is notable for featuring a performance by Artis the Spoonman, a street entertainer in Seattle. The title of the song is credited to bassist Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam. While on the set of the movie Singles, Ament produced a list of song titles for the fictional band featured in the movie. Cornell took it as a challenge to write songs for the film using those titles, and "Spoonman" was one of them. An acoustic demo version of the song appears in the movie. Cornell said that the song is about "the paradox of who is and what people perceive him as."