Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "The Day I Tried to Live" was released in April 1994 as the second single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown (1994).

[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.

Especially the lines "One more time around/Might do it", which is basically saying, 'I tried today to understand and belong and get along with other people, and I failed, but I'll probably try again tomorrow.'

"The Day I Tried to Live" was released as a single in 1994, but was rather underpromoted when compared to "Spoonman" or "Black Hole Sun" from the same album.

[6] The video features a man apparently dressed as a hospital patient floating around a bedroom and appearing alone and dazed in various city scenes.