Track 7 - “Be Yourself” by Audioslave (2005)

From the album Out of Exile

Music & Lyrics by Tim Commerford, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello & Brad Wilk

Performed by:

Chris Cornell – lead vocals

Tom Morello – guitar

Tim Commerford – bass

Brad Wilk - drums

US Billboard Hot 100 - #32; US Billboard Mainstream Rock - #1; US Billboard Adult Alternative - #1

Someone finds salvation in everyone

Another only pain

Someone tried to hide themselves

Down inside himself he prays

Someone swears their true love

Until the end of time

Another runs away

Separate or united?

Healthy or insane?

Do you remember when you were a kid and being asked what you wanted to be when you grew up? Maybe it came up while you were sitting around the dinner table with your family. Or maybe it was in school, during a group discussion when you pushed your desks into a circle. Remember those cutouts of different jobs, or “occupations” that were tacked up all around the classroom? No matter what job was being depicted, they were all smiling: the doctor, the nurse, the police officer, the teacher, the firefighter, the astronaut, and my favorite, “the businessman”, happily donning a fedora and necktie, and swinging his briefcase. What kind of “business” was he up to?? And they were all gender specific. Male nurses and female firefighters need not apply, so settle into your gender roles, boys and girls. Yes, it seemed from the moment we could articulate a complete thought, everyone wanted to know what we were going to “do” when we grew up. And as we got older, and guidance counselors and college admissions officers started asking those questions and the stakes seemed higher, some of us struggled with those questions. At this moment, if you’re still in the career you chose all those years ago, I tip my hat to you; you’re one of the few lucky ones and it means you probably know who you are and you’re probably great at what you do. But for me, it took a lot of starts and stops and a reinvention of myself to figure out what I was good at and what I wanted to “do.” I can’t remember what I told my parents or my teachers back then what I wanted to be when I grew up; I still don’t think I know!! But when I finally got over all the fears and anxieties I had about reinventing myself and just did it, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made; it literally changed my entire life. And once again, as he had done with his band Soundgarden in 1994, the best rock singer of my generation and his new band had just the right words of encouragement and support in 2005 when I began to doubt myself and what I was doing.

Chris Cornell was born Christopher John Boyle, in Seattle on July 20, 1964. He and his five siblings would adopt their mother’s maiden name, Cornell, as their own after their parents’ divorce, when Chris was a teenager. When he was eight years old, he stumbled on a collection of Beatles’ albums in his friend’s basement after a rainstorm nearly destroyed them. After drying them out, he began to listen non-stop, and was fascinated with the words and melodies emanating from his record player. Chris was never a fan of school and formal education, but he found himself gravitating towards music class, and later to the piano in his basement, where he would stumble through the chords and make his first attempts at songwriting. When he was in sixth grade, he sang for the first time in front of an audience, but it was when he sat behind a drumkit that he fully realized he wanted to be a musician. Yes, one of the greatest rock singers of all time started out as a drummer. He was a natural on drums, and the freedom of not having to memorize notes and scales was liberating, and he spent hours playing. The first few bands he played in he sang and played drums, but when he helped form Soundgarden in 1984, with guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Hiro Yamamoto, he quickly realized all the power and influence was at the front of the stage, and that the best way to showcase his powerful voice was by coming out from behind the drumkit. After hearing drummer Matt Cameron play at a local club, the band recruited him to play in Soundgarden, and Cornell officially became the band’s lead singer. In 1990, Ben Shepherd was brought in as the band’s new bassist, and in 1991 Soundgarden released their breakthrough album, Badmotorfinger. Soundgarden was on their way to becoming one of the biggest (and best) bands in the world, and one of the pioneers of grunge music, and Chris Cornell with his thunderous four-octave voice would become one of the most influential musicians of all-time.

Meanwhile, 1,100 miles south of Seattle, in Los Angeles, 27-year-old guitarist Tom Morello was looking for new musicians to play with, after his band Lockup split. At the urging of a friend, bassist Tim Commerford and singer Zack de la Rocha began to jam with Morello, and after asking drummer Brad Wilk to join, their lineup was complete; they called themselves Rage Against the Machine. The band would release their debut in 1992, Rage Against the Machine, anchored by the crushing track, “Killing in the Name.” (In case you’re keeping score, the word “fuck” is uttered 17 times in that song). Rage Against the Machine combined elements of hard rock and metal, but also funk, rap, punk and thrash, and featured Zack de la Rocha’s relentless lyrical criticism of authority, big business, and government over-reach. In a word, I thought they were awesome. The music was angry, but had a certain groove to it that I could not get enough of in the mid 90’s. Unfortunately though, after only four albums and a lot of band in-fighting, de la Rocha announced he was leaving the band in October of 2000. The remaining three members decided to stay together and look for a new vocalist. Producer Rick Rubin urged them to reach out to Chris Cornell, who recently split from Soundgarden. Cornell agreed, and the chemistry between the four musicians was immediate. They called themselves Audioslave and released their self-titled debut album in November of 2002.

Back on Long Island, in 2004, I was having a career crisis. I was at my fourth accounting job in as many years, and I hated it. Funny enough, it was an organization I had always wanted to work for, but now that I was there, I couldn’t wait to leave. My second child was also born in April of that year, and of course I was happy to have another son, but I also knew I couldn’t just keep changing jobs and offering my young family no stability. So, the night after Dylan was born, with him and his mom safely at the hospital, and older brother Dan having a sleepover with his grandparents, I treated myself to a couple of beers at a local bar, and it was then I decided I would pivot careers and make a change I had been thinking about for a long time. I had many friends in the recruiting and staffing industry and had always been curious about doing that type of work. I switched jobs so often that the recruiters knew who I was, and I began to reach out to them to research the industry and see if they would be open to taking a chance on hiring me. A lot of doors were slammed in my face, and most of these recruiting firms tried to talk me out of it. I didn’t get it at first, but then I realized that this was a sales job; I was completely in the wrong mindset, and if I didn’t adjust quickly, I would never be hired. But finally, the firm I wanted to end up at took a chance on me, and with a lot of persistence, I was hired in January 2005. I was nervous, and if I’m being honest, a lot of people told me I was crazy; they said taking a pay cut with two young kids and taking this huge risk was a mistake. It was a commission-based job with no guaranteed income. But I knew I had to do this. If I put my head down, worked hard and listened to the more experienced people around me, I knew I would succeed. Plus, how could I tell my boys to take risks and overcome their own fears one day if I couldn’t take risks of my own? I quickly realized this new career was about relationships and getting people to want to work with me and trust me. The internal relationships were just as important; I had to convince the partners on my team they could make money with me. I also had to get job candidates to trust me with their job search and potential clients to trust me with their open jobs. It wasn’t easy and I heard “NO” a lot. One of the guys on my team, Chris, sensed some of my frustration early on and he suggested going to the office on a Saturday morning that March, when it was quiet so he could show me some recruiting techniques, and more importantly, grab some new job-seeking candidates on a weekend day instead of waiting until Monday morning. This was way before remote work, so we literally drove the 50 minutes to the office, logged in and got right to it. We had a radio near our pod of desks, so Chris tuned it in to 92.3 K-Rock in NYC, and we had a soundtrack as we worked. After a couple of hours, a song came on I hadn’t heard before; Chris asked me if I had heard it, “the new Audioslave,” as he called it. Now, I was obsessed with the first Audioslave album. I was a huge fan of both Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine, so when Chris Cornell joined the remaining members of RATM, I was really looking forward to hearing the music. I could not get enough of “Like A Stone”, and “I Am the Highway” from that first album, and the CD was on constantly in my car and at home. When the DJ announced the title, “Be Yourself”, something about that title just resonated with me. “Be yourself”; wasn’t that what I was doing? The Saturday session at the office was productive, and Chris and I continued to go in on Saturday mornings, the radio on non-stop in the background, and “Be Yourself” increasing in airplay week to week. When the new album, Out of Exile, came out in May, I bought it immediately, and put both Audioslave albums on my new iPod (along with A LOT of other music; boy did I love that thing.) As the months went by, I found success in this new job and discovered I really loved it, and most important, I was pretty good at it. And “Be Yourself” became my personal anthem; once again, Chris Cornell’s lyrics helped me find some confidence when I started to doubt myself and what I was doing. The words really spoke to me: “Don’t lose any sleep tonight, I’m sure everything will end up alright…You may win or lose, but to be yourself is all that you can do…” Maybe it’s corny, but it worked for me at the time. Changing jobs changed my life. I made friends with people I am still friends with today and learned a great deal from every single person I’ve worked with. I met amazing candidates and clients, some of whom I still stay in touch with. I learned more about how businesses run and how to talk to business leaders. I also met the person who would change my life in other ways (more on that another time.) And I learned to love hearing job candidates tell me their stories, and I still do; it’s the best part of what I do for a living. Everyone has a story, and every day people trust me with theirs. It’s really a privilege. Did “Be Yourself” help me be successful? It certainly helped a little! I also owe a lot to the people around me at the time and to my own hard work. But I’m glad Chris, Tom, Tim and Brad were there to provide the soundtrack…have a listen. 😊

Thanks for continuing to stop by…if you’re reading and enjoying this tell your friends and sign up for new posts when they come out!

Next time…a song off the first album I ever received becomes the reason I love music.

P.S.

 Audioslave would release one more album, Revelations, in 2006. Chris Cornell would leave the band in February 2007, citing “musical differences” and to focus on his solo career. In January of 2017, they reunited for one show, and while there was talk of further reunion performances, Cornell’s untimely death in May 2017 would end that dream for Audioslave fans. I still listen to all three Audioslave albums all the time, often just putting them all on shuffle; as much as I love Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine, I think the music of Audioslave is a bit more accessible. I’ve read about Audioslave, especially Chris Cornell’s lyrics, taking jabs from critics, but I don’t agree. All those songs, and the lyrics especially, really speak to me. I think those three albums are perfect.

2005 was also a great year for other music as well; Green Day, U2, The Killers and Foo Fighters, among others, all had big releases around that time. Here’s a Spotify playlist with some of the songs I remember being on in the background while I was adjusting to a new career.

As for my recruiting career, I left the staffing industry in 2010, but I’ve had the privilege of doing what I do at some of best organizations in the world through the years and working with amazing professionals. As I mentioned, I’ve learned something from everyone I’ve had the chance to work with; but it’s working with the candidates that keeps me going. And I still like what I do, which I’m grateful for after 18 years.

As often happens with work friendships, Chris and I had a falling out and we have not spoken in years. It’s unfortunate; Chris was gregarious, fun and extremely helpful my first year in the recruiting business, and he was a good friend. I miss him and I hope he’s doing OK.

You might be asking yourself why I mentioned that Chris Cornell’s lyrics have gotten me through two challenging times in my life; spoiler, we’re going to revisit him and Soundgarden down the road. I know we left that Soundgarden story abruptly, but there’s more to come about the band, Cornell’s legacy and the Seattle music scene in general. I will hold off posting any additional links for books, documentaries, etc. until then. But I’ll leave you with another Audioslave video 😊

See you next time…

JS

4/16/2022