Written by the band's frontman Chris Cornell, the song was released as the third single from their third studio album, Badmotorfinger (1991).
"Outshined" was written in D major by frontman Chris Cornell and is performed in drop D tuning.
[3] Guitarist Kim Thayil has said that Soundgarden usually did not consider the time signature of a song until after the band had written it, and said that the use of odd meters was "a total accident.
"[4] In an interview, Cornell said, "I've never really been biographical in my lyrics, so when I wrote a line like 'I'm looking California and feeling Minnesota' from 'Outshined', it just felt refreshing.
But then someone will say something, however insignificant, or I'll get something in my head and, all of a sudden, I'm plummeting in the opposite direction, I'm a piece of shit, and I really can't do anything about it.
[6]Cornell explained the song's most famous lines: "I'm looking California/And feeling Minnesota", in an interview with Details magazine in 1996: One of the first times I remember writing something personal was on tour.
I was feeling really freaky and down, and I looked in the mirror and I was wearing a red T-shirt and some baggy tennis shorts.
And then I came up with that line—'I'm looking California / And feeling Minnesota,' from the song 'Outshined'—and as soon as I wrote it down, I thought it was the dumbest thing.
"Outshined" became an instant hit and a fan favorite, and gained considerable airtime on alternative rock radio stations.
Steve Huey of AllMusic called the song a "steadily creeping rocker with a main riff that strongly recalled the heavy murk of prime Black Sabbath".
He added, "It's a powerful re-imagining of what the Sabbath sound can represent, and the song's encapsulation of early-'90s angst and directionlessness helps make it one of the definitive grunge anthems.
[17] It is a fan favorite and gained considerable airtime on MTV, yet the band members themselves disliked it.
[20] At the 1992 Lollapalooza in Bremerton, Washington, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder joined the band and did backing vocals for the song.