Pretty Noose — песня группы Soundgarden

1996 single by Soundgarden

"Pretty Noose" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by the band's frontman, Chris Cornell, "Pretty Noose" was released in April 1996 as the first single from the band's fifth studio album, Down on the Upside (1996). The song reached number two on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, topped the UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart, and peaked at number 10 in Finland. The song was included on Soundgarden's 1997 greatest hits album, A Sides.

"Pretty Noose" was written by frontman Chris Cornell. Drummer Matt Cameron said of the song,
That song for me was kind of interesting, because we were at the phase where we were just going to demo tunes. So I learned the tune and recorded it, and we ended up using that take. When we recorded that, I had walked to the studio (in Seattle) and my legs were really tired. But to make a long story short, I was trying to get a walking feel on the drum part. So it probably has a little weird shuffle to it probably from that walk that I took to the studio that day.

"Pretty Noose" has a distinctive opening wah wah guitar riff. The song was written in C G C G G E tuning, which the bass guitarist Ben Shepherd first introduced to the band with the song "Head Down" from Superunknown.

According to Cornell, "Pretty Noose" is about "an attractively packaged bad idea  something that seems great at first and then comes back to bite you." Frank Kozik, the director of the song's music video, interpreted the song as "your average bad girlfriend experience", an interpretation which Cornell agreed with.

"Pretty Noose" appeared on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 Airplay chart, reaching the top 40. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It is notable for being the only song by the band to chart higher on the Modern Rock Tracks chart than on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. At the 1997 Grammy Awards, "Pretty Noose" received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the song "updated, muscular prog rock". Kerrang! ranked it at eleventh in their list of "The 20 greatest Soundgarden songs" and stated that the song "remains a benchmark for dark, angsty mid ’90s alt. rock." Outside the United States, the single was released in the United Kingdom. In Canada, the song reached the top 50 on the Canadian Singles Chart, and later it charted on the Alternative Top 30 chart where it reached number one and became Soundgarden's first single to top that chart. "Pretty Noose" also reached number four on the Canadian Year End Alternative Top 50. "Pretty Noose" reached the UK Top 20 and was the last single from the album which charted in the UK Top 20. "Pretty Noose" peaked at number 14 in Australia. It reached the top 20 in New Zealand and was a top ten success in Finland. "Pretty Noose" is available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series as a master track. The song was upgraded and made available to download on July 19, 2011, for use in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both Basic rhythm, and PRO mode which takes advantage of the use of a real guitar / bass guitar, along with standard MIDI compatible electronic drum kits / keyboards in addition to up to three part harmony vocals.

"Pretty Noose" was performed on Saturday Night Live in May 1996 in support of Down on the Upside. A recording of this performance is on the band's 2010 compilation album Telephantasm.

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref. (Reference)United StatesApril 30, 1996Album rock, modern rock, hard rock, metal, college radioA&MUnited KingdomMay 7, 1996CDMay 13, 19967 inch vinyl