Cochise is a song by Audioslave, released as the lead single from their self-titled debut studio album Audioslave on September 25, 2002. The song is named after Cochise, an Apache Indian chief “who declared war on the Southeast and drove out thousands of settlers.” Despite this, the song’s lyrics are generally unrelated to Cochise, and instead feature a number of religious references.
The song reached number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the top ten of both the Mainstream Rock and Alternative Songs charts. Cochise was originally available for online streaming on Launchcast from September 25, 2002. It was sent to radio stations on October 1, 2002. The track made its live debut as the opening song of the debut performance, by the band, in New York City for the Late Show with David Letterman on November 25, 2002, and was subsequently performed as the closing song at most shows on the album’s promotional concert tour.
The song later appeared in a number of outside press releases, including as a playable track in the 2005 music video game Guitar Hero, in the 2006 comedy film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, as a playable track. track in the Guitar Hero TV mode of the 2015 music video game Guitar Hero Live, and in the trailer for the 2015 WWE 2K16 wrestling video game. The song reached number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the top ten of both the Mainstream Rock and Alternative Songs charts.
CD single
- Cochise
- We Got the Whip
Maxi single
- Cochise
- We Got the Whip
- Gasoline (live from Letterman)
Enhanced CD single
- Cochise
- We Got the Whip
- Gasoline (live from Letterman)
- Cochise (music video)
The music video for “Cochise” was directed by Mark Romanek and features an elaborate fireworks-based light show by lighting and special effects designer Andrew Elias. “Cochise” was filmed near the Sepulveda Dam in Los Angeles, California on September 25 and 26, 2002. The video begins with the band members pulling up to a construction platform in a pickup truck, while Chris Cornell waits alone on top. of the platform.
The band members take the elevator to the top of the platform, where, after joining Cornell, they play the song as a barrage of fireworks explodes behind them. After the song, the fireworks stop and the band members hug.
Cornell left rehab in a car that took him to the set to shoot the video. Due to the large amount of pyrotechnics used in the video, local residents believed that the explosions were caused by terrorists. The extreme use of pyrotechnics and fireworks in the shoot also marked “Cochise” as a very expensive music video.
A trailer for the video was released in mid-October, before the full video was made available for digital download later in the month. It was later included on the band’s first video album, Audioslave, released in July 2003. The video was included in MTV2 Headbangers Ball’s “Best Metal Videos of the New Millennium” list in 2004.
Audioslave
Chris Cornell: vocals
Tim Commerford: bass, backing vocals
Brad Wilk: drums
Tom Morello: guitars
Chris Cornell (July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017)
