Rusty Cage

Album: Badmotorfinger (1991)
Charted: 41
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This Chris Cornell-penned song was released as the third single from Soundgarden's third studio album, Badmotorfinger. The song peaked at #41 in the UK and also gained considerable airtime on American alternative rock radio stations.
  • Time spent in a claustrophobic tour bus provided inspiration for this song. Speaking with Spin, Chris Cornell said that he came up with the idea for this song while the band was on tour in Europe. "I have a vivid memory of staring out the window, looking at the countryside, and feeling pent-up," he explained. "I never wrote any of the words down, but I somehow remembered them. When we finished the tour and Soundgarden returned home to Seattle, I picked up a guitar and tried to come up with music that I felt matched the essence of that song. I wanted to create this hillbilly Black Sabbath crossover that I'd never heard before. I thought that would be cool and possible. I thought, 'If anyone can do it, Soundgarden can do it.' I was listening to a lot of Tom Waits at the time, and I wondered how Soundgarden could approach similar imagery and I wondered what the music would sound like. 'Rusty Cage' is what I came up with."
  • Guitarist Kim Thayil said in Guitar School, May 1994: "The tuning on that song was pretty nutty. It's recorded with a wah wah in the low position used as a filter. That was the first time we did anything like that. It was Chris's idea; he wanted to get that weird tone that you can't really dial in on an amp. But if you use the wah wah as a filter, it gets an incredibly weird sound. And if you listen to that riff, especially if you've heard the original demos of it, it almost sounds backward."
  • The song was covered by Johnny Cash on his 1996 album, Unchained, which won a Grammy Award for Best Country Album. Asked by The Irish Times why he thought Cash covered the song, bassist Ben Shepherd replied: "Probably because they're bad-ass, truthful, lyrics. Chris is a great writer and Johnny could probably relate to that. Johnny always talked about, if you read his books, how a singer has to sound like they're telling the truth. It's all about the truth. If you mean it then it sounds right. If you don't mean it it's a schlock thing (and) you tell it a mile away."

Comments: 2

  • Rocky from Fort Smith, Ar20 Feb 2014: I'm a longtime fan of Soundgarden (from the early 90s) & their music. I heard "Rusty Cage" on our alternative rock radio station here & it brought back good memories. Oh yeah, I had the "Badmotorfinger" CD back in '91 in their early days. Good times; good music.
  • Elmer H from Westville, OkYeah I remember "Rusty Cage" from the "Badmotorfinger" album/CD of '91. I loved the whole CD because of the power & talent conveyed by Soundgarden. Loved Chris Cornell's voice. Man, what a voice! Here it is 2013 and I still love their music even though they split for a while. Tonight I just heard that they're starting a tour in 2014, after they reunited. Great! I still have my "Badmotorfinger" CD & it brings back good memories of 1991 and the several years before I started college. Rock on, Soundgarden!!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Frankie Valli

Frankie ValliSong Writing

An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.

Alice Cooper

Alice CooperFact or Fiction

How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?

Sam Phillips

Sam PhillipsSongwriter Interviews

Collaborating with T Bone Burnett, Leslie Phillips changed her name and left her Christian label behind - Robert Plant, who recorded one of her songs on Raising Sand, is a fan.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

In The Cards

In The CardsSong Writing

Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.