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Cover of Down on the Upside by Soundgarden
Cover: Down on the Upside

Song · Soundgarden

“Burden in My Hand” by Soundgarden

From the album Down on the Upside (1996)

“Burden in My Hand” by Soundgarden appears on 55 radio countdowns from 26 stations between 1996 and 2026. It was first released in 1996 on the album Down on the Upside. Its best result is #4 on The End Top 107 Songs of 1996. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #17 alternative song of 1996, #967 alternative song of all time and #177 of the '90s.

55countdowns
26stations
#4best position
0#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
1996–2026years charted

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Soundgarden - Burden In My Hand

Video from YouTube (SoundgardenVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Burden in My Hand" comes from Down on the Upside, Soundgarden's fifth album, and went out as its second single in 1996. Chris Cornell wrote it alone, in open C tuning, and by his own telling the guitar did the steering: the chords called up a picture of a man at the end of his rope, and the words followed.

The picture is grim. The narrator has killed the woman in his life and left her in the desert, and he isn't at peace with it. Kim Thayil called it the "Hey Joe" of the '90s, and it fits: a loping, almost easygoing swing with murder at its heart, Cornell and Thayil's guitars ringing over Ben Shepherd's bass and Matt Cameron's drums. The band produced it with Adam Kasper, and it spent five weeks at number one on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1996 17 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1996 107
1996 38 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1996 91
1996 18 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996 101
1996 22 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996 99
1996 4 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1996 107
1996 19 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of 1996 104
1996 77 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1996 100
1996 12 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 96 Songs of 1996 96
1997 31 WRCX Rock 103.5 Chicago, IL WRCX Top 103 Songs of 1997 103

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1996 863 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1998 274 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 173 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 257 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 843 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 483 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
1999 308 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2001 150 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 429 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2002 772 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2004 319 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 296 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 4 WBCN WBCN Grunge Top 104 (2004) 104
2005 76 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2007 325 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2009 107 CFNY 102.1 The Edge The Top 200 Songs of the 90's According to 102.1 The Edge 200
2009 164 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2010 145 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of the 90's (September 2010) 200
2013 438 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 349 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 138 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2014 176 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2015 438 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 143 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2015 334 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2016 198 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2017 456 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2019 182 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2019 702 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2020 87 DC101 Top DC101 of the 90's 101
2020 426 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 170 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2020 198 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2020 375 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2021 281 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 446 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 191 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 179 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2023 385 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 158 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2023 214 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2024 298 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 279 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2025 282 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 177 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400
2026 273 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Burden In My Hand; Burden in my Hand; Burden in My Hands; Burden In My Hands.

Charting alongside it in 1996

Best songs of 1996 →
  1. 1Down311
  2. 2PepperButthole Surfers
  3. 3Where It's AtBeck
  4. 4SpiderwebsNo Doubt
  5. 5What I GotSublime
  6. 6MachineheadBush

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