Soundgarden's third single from their third album, Badmotorfinger, "Outshined" was the band's first to chart, reaching 45 on the Mainstream Rock list in 1991.

One of the more famous lyrics on the song comes in the song's second verse when singer Chris Cornell sings "I'm looking California/and feelin' Minnesota." I was nine when this song came out and I have always wondered what the meaning behind it was.

Cornell told "Rock Power" (via Wikipedia) that he had 'never really been biographical in his lyrics,' and said the 'I'm looking California/and feeling Minnesota' line 'felt refreshing.'

In a 1996 interview with Details Magazine (via Wikipedia), Cornell explained the line in the song:

One of the first times I remember writing something personal was on tour. I was feeling really freaky and down, and I looked in the mirror and I was wearing a red T-shirt and some baggy tennis shorts. I remember thinking that as bummed as I felt, I looked like some beach kid. And then I came up with that line—'I'm looking California / And feeling Minnesota,' from the song 'Outshined'—and as soon as I wrote it down, I thought it was the dumbest thing. But after the record came out and we went on tour, everybody would be screaming along with that particular line when it came up in the song. That was a shock. How could anyone know that that was one of the most personally specific things I had ever written? It was just a tiny line. But somehow, maybe because it was personal, it just pushed that button.

Someone on YouTube posted a video of another explanation given by Cornell as well:

I put on every stitch of clothing I had with me, you know, five shirts, two coats, four pairs of pants, two pairs of boots… you can actually do it… and I went out like this (puts arms to the side) but it was so cold that I couldn’t even breathe.

 

So, it’s sort of like, looking California is looking silly and feeling Minnesota is feeling… bad.

 

Lollapalooza 2003 in Irvine, California
Chris Cornell passed away in 2017 PHOTO: Getty Images
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There you have it, mystery solved. To feel 'Minnesota' is to feel... bad. I just need some time to process this information.

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