I arrived a little late on the music scene this year to hear “Doesn’t Remind Me,” by Audioslave. It was nominated for “Best Hard Rock Performance” at this year’s Grammy Awards.
The song can be best characterized by the singer’s answer to depression. Chris Cornell vocalizes his need to do things that don’t remind him of past regrets, whatever they might be…
The list is seemingly random…from the religious (speaking in tongues and gospel music), to downright dangerous (driving backwards in the fog), to obvious (breaking guitars).
Cornell suffered from depression in his teenage years, possibly brought on by his parents divorce. He stated before in past interviews that for an entire year he didn’t leave the house.
The song’s video shows a boy training to be a boxer. In between the boxing scenes we see (apparently) his father’s plane being shot down in war. So in a sense, the boy uses boxing to overcome the difficulties of dealing with his father’s death.
From boxing to a young boy, to gospel music to a grunge rocker…these combinations don’t go together. Hence they must help those trying to overcome loss or regret to forget about the past and move on with their lives.