I got into Soundgarden around the age of 15. In the 20-something years since, I still don’t know what’s going on in the breakdown after the first chorus. The guitars play a riff that can be counted in 5, the bass is playing a 6 beat phrase, and the drums are hitting accents that link up the two meters.
However, Soundgarden’s guitarist Kim Thayil is on record as saying that they never considered time signatures when writing songs, so we shouldn’t worry ourselves about it. It does make writing out the transcription a bit of a puzzle, but other than that, it’s just a vibe!
Transcription available below:
C4 patch for the wah available on Neuro Community.
Tone breakdown and isolated bass available for Patreon members.