Jesus Christ Pose

"Jesus Christ Pose" has lyrics by Chris Cornell and music credited to Cornell, Cameron, Shepherd and Thayil, produced by Terry Date and the band and recorded in spring 1991. The single is 5:51 and the album listing 5:50, in D minor in drop D at about 134 beats per minute. It was the first single from Badmotorfinger in the US in September 1991, with a UK 12-inch on April 6, 1992 that reached 30; it reached 30 on the US mainstream rock chart. The B-sides were a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Stray Cat Blues", "Into the Void (Sealth)", "Somewhere" and "Drawing Flies".

A Louder interview, which we saw only as a search summary, has it beginning as a rehearsal jam: Shepherd's bass part was the main riff, Cameron began drumming over it, Thayil devised the odd guitar line, and Cornell took a tape home and later wrote the bridge and the turnaround. The lyrics criticize public figures who use religious imagery, especially Jesus, to present themselves as superior or martyrs; Cornell told Spin in 1992, it's not that I would ever be offended by what someone would do with that symbol. One account says the title came from a photo of Perry Farrell lying with his arms outstretched, which we could not confirm.

Eric Zimmerman directed the video in October 1991, with a desert, crosses, cyborgs, a crucified girl and vegetables; MTV banned it and has not aired it in full since, and some viewers saw it as anti-Christian, with the band reportedly receiving death threats on a UK tour. Thayil said it was one of the few videos the band were satisfied with. AllMusic's Greg Prato praised its breakneck guitar riffs, and Kerrang! ranked it second in its 2004 list of 666 songs you must own in grunge. A live version is on Telephantasm (7:13) and was a B-side of the 1994 "Black Hole Sun" single; the venue is not given. Loudwire reports, via a summary, that it is their second most played song after "Rusty Cage" and was played at the final show, which we could not check on setlist.fm.