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Soundgarden’s ‘Spoonman’ Isn’t As Illicit As Most of Us Thought in 1994

Soundgarden’s 1994 song ‘Spoonman’ is actually about a spoon-playing street performer, and not about drugs.

By Stephen Andrew Galiher

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Soundgarden’s 1994 track “Spoonman” is one of the band’s biggest and most recognizable songs. In addition to being a top 10 hit, it won the band a Grammy for Best Metal Performance. Over the years, rumors have swirled that the song was about drugs, specifically heroin, due to the whole “spoon” thing.

Turns out, as Loudwire pointed out, we’ve been wrong the whole time. The song “Spoonman” was actually inspired by a real guy named Artis. He was a Seattle street performer most well-known for playing the spoons. Thus, he was dubbed “Artis the Spoonman.”

Speaking........

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