Have been listening to the reissue of Superunknown a lot for the past couple of days. It’s taken me back to the place I was at when it first came out. I had just finished my first year in university. It was not a happy time as I had fallen out with the majority of the lads I lived with in student accommodation; at the birthday celebration of a friend, they had wanted to strip him naked, tie him to a lamppost, shave his eyebrows… basically humiliating him in the name of humour. I had already promised my friend that I wouldn’t let anything happen to him (as he had got wind of the plans a few days before the party). When he was paralytic drunk, I knew I had to get him back home safe, but as I took him outside the pub, the twelve lads were waiting.

It was me against them in a piss poor Mexican standoff.

Twenty years ago, I was so different to who I am now. I didn’t back down from trouble. I was ready to take on the world. I was an aggressive asshole. Fortunately those attributes that had been passed on to me from my father are now long gone.

The odds were heavily stacked in their favour. I dared them to make the first move.

Noone did.

I got my friend back home, propping up all six feet and two inches of him for a couple of miles. I stayed up with him all night to make sure he was going to be okay.

The next day (and for several months) I was shunned by the lads. That didn’t matter though. I promised my friend I would keep him safe. I kept my word.

Superunknown was the soundtrack of a very lonely summer.

What a fucking soundtrack though.

Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun

Whatsoever I’ve feared has come to life
Whatsoever I’ve fought off became my life
Just when everyday seemed to greet me with a smile
Sunspots have faded and now I’m doing time
‘Cause I fell on black days

From 1994’s Superunknown.

Soundgarden – Fell On Black Days