Maximum Performance

Soundgarden’s New Song! Check Out ‘Non-State Actor’ And Our Exclusive Interview

By | Maximum Performance – Wed, Oct 31, 2012 12:25 PM EDT

Ladies and gentlemen, the United States of Sound is holding court as judge, jury and executioner of rock. We've got the exclusive on Soundgarden's next single off their first album since 1996's Down on the Upside! Check out our interview with lead man Chris Cornell and drummer Matt Cameron to hear what we can expect from their upcoming album and what they've been up to the past 16 years.

A song for rock purists, "Non-State Actor" shows a tight, refreshed Soundgarden well-evolved from the previous millennium's incarnation, and just heavy enough to satisfy hardcore fans. But it's just a taste of what sonic acquisitions band members have gleaned over the many years since breaking up.

Lyrically, the track couldn't be more timely with the presidential elections coming next week. Cornell sings, "We're not elected / But we will speak / We're not the chosen / But we believe / And we settle for / A little bit more than everything." After 16 years of silence, the band isn't wasting a word, touching upon themes of poverty, war and a power greater than the government elect. Is that what a non-state actor could be?

After announcing their return in 2010, Soundgarden-heads have only (officially) heard the band's power-heavy recording "Live To Rise" for the 2012 film The Avengers, and the appropriately-titled single "Been Away Too Long" off their upcoming album. Surely with a very long-awaited reunion, fans can only hope to get "a little bit more than everything."

King Animal drops November 13. Bask in the glory of more new Soundgarden below!

For you lyrics freaks out there, here's the full lyric set for "Non-State Actor":

Coin in every pocket

More mouths to fill

So weak in the land

Strong in the will (need)

I'll be your beast of burden

I'll be the seed

I bring you the healer

Feel your disease

I bring dirty water

And make it clean (young)

And you are the cure

I am the drug

And we settle for

A little bit more than everything

We're not elected

But we will speak

We're not the chosen

But we believe

And we settle for a little bit more

Than everything

Bullets, guns and missiles

A stone and a sling

A motherless country

Of thee I sing   (song)

You are the tank and rockets

I am the bomb

I teach you a lesson

Sword for a pen

Reading turn the pages

A history of man   (look)

You are tabula rasa

I am the book

And we settle for a little bit more than everything

We're not elected

But we will speak

We're not the chosen

But we believe

And we settle for

A little bit more than everything

I'm a non-state actor

I'm a non-state actor

I'm a non-state

I'm a non-state actor

And we settle for a little bit more than everything

We're not elected but we will speak

We're not the chosen but we believe

And we settle for a little bit more than everything

A little bit more

A little bit more

A little bit more

Follow Tiffany on Twitter:

Follow "YahooMusic" on Instagram

News for You

  • NYers furious over photos taken through windows

    NEW YORK (AP) — In one photo, a woman is on all fours, presumably picking something up, her posterior pressed against a glass window. Another photo shows a couple in bathrobes, their feet touching beneath a table. And there is one of a man, in jeans and a T-shirt, lying on his side as he takes a nap.

  • Denmark favorite to win Eurovision Song Contest

    MALMO, Sweden (AP) — An ethno-inspired flute and drum tune from Denmark is the bookmakers' favorite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, which also features a bizarre opera pop number from Romania and an Armenian rock song written by the guitarist of Black Sabbath.

  • Denmark's de Forest wins Eurovision song contest

    MALMO, Sweden (AP) — Denmark's Emmelie de Forest has won this year's Eurovision Song Contest with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune "Only Teardrops," despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

  • Native American actress proud to walk Cannes red carpet

    By Belinda Goldsmith CANNES (Reuters) - Native American actress Misty Upham never dreamt she would be walking the red carpet at Cannes to showcase a film shot on her reservation. Upham features in "Jimmy P. Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian", focused on the relationship between World War Two veteran Jimmy Picard, a Native American Blackfoot, and Georges Devereux, his psychoanalyst. Upham said like Picard, played by Puerto Rican actor Benicio Del Toro, she is Blackfeet, the largest tribe in Montana state. ...

  • NYC artist's secret photos raise privacy issues

    NEW YORK (AP) — In one photo, a woman is on all fours, presumably picking something up, her posterior pressed against a glass window. Another photo shows a couple in bathrobes, their feet touching beneath a table. And there is one of a man, in jeans and a T-shirt, lying on his side as he takes a nap.

  • 'American Idol' finale draws record low ratings

    NEW YORK (AP) — Ratings for the "American Idol" finale plunged to a record low for the 12-year-old show.

Show More