Boot Camp by Soundgarden

Boot Camp by Soundgarden

boot camp

n

1. US slang a basic training camp for new recruits to the US Navy or Marine Corps

2. (Sociology) a centre for juvenile offenders, with a strict disciplinary regime, hard physical exercise, and community labour programmes

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

Soundgarden gets the lyrical art treatment this time with their song 'Boot Camp'.


Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by lead singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto.


This is my interpretation of an underrated song I feel is about conformity, longing for change. A society full of rules or social protocol. We long for something else but are still caught in the confines of the system. 


Infant clones/drones stand in line, all with their heads down but one. Head raised and eyes wide open looking upwards towards the sky. A sky it has been told not to look upon. They must all follow the rules, but one dares to dream and question...

Boot Camp detail

The Y label on their foreheads is to show they belong to generation Y also known as 'iGen'. Born after 1981.
Characteristics of the generation vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions. However, it is generally marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies.


I must obey the rules
I must be tame and cool
No staring at the clouds
I must stay on the ground
In clusters of the mice
The smoke is in our eyes
Like babies on display
Like angels in a cage
I must be pure and true
I must contain my views
There must be something else
There must be something good
Far away from here 
And I'll be here for good


Soundgarden was one of the seminal bands in the creation of grunge, a style of alternative rock that developed in Seattle, and was one of a number of grunge bands signed to the record label Sub Pop. Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign to a major label (A&M Records, in 1988), though the band did not achieve commercial success until they popularized "grunge" in the early 1990s with Seattle contemporaries Nirvana, Alice in Chains andPearl Jam.


Listen to the song: