Hours before iconic frontman Chris Cornell died in a Detroit hotel room, he and Soundgarden played a gig less than a mile away at the city’s Fox Theatre. For the final song of the evening — and unknowingly, Cornell’s career — the band chose Badmotorfinger cut “Slaves & Bulldozers”. The track has always been an emotional one for the group and its fans, but in the wake of the legendary rocker’s passing, it takes on a greater sense of poignancy.
“So bleed your heart out/ There’s no more rides for free,” Cornell sings in the chorus. “Bleed your heart out/ I said, ‘What’s in it for me? What’s in it for me?'” According to those in the audience, Soundgarden also incorporated lyrics from Led Zeppelin’s “In My Time of Dying” into the performance, something they’ve reportedly done in the past but in retrospect seems hauntingly poetic given what transpired later that night.