Synopsis

Set around Seattle's Discovery Park, the video presents Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder, and the other members of Temple of the Dog performing amid forests, tall grass, rocky shoreline, and the waterside West Point Lighthouse. Images of a bonfire, changing daylight, and solitary figures give the clip a solemn, cinematic atmosphere. Rather than follow a conventional narrative, it combines band performance with stark Pacific Northwest landscapes, creating a mournful visual tribute connected to the memory of Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed at Seattle's Discovery Park, whose varied locations supplied the forest, waterfront, open grassland, old structures, and lighthouse imagery seen throughout the clip.

• West Point Lighthouse, also known as the Discovery Park Lighthouse, is one of the video's most recognizable visual landmarks.

• There are two edits of the video. After Pearl Jam broke through commercially, A&M had the clip re-edited in 1992, increasing the emphasis on Eddie Vedder and the members who would soon be widely known as Pearl Jam.

• The original production was made on a limited budget. The first edit was partly assembled by the production team itself, with the later version receiving a more polished editorial treatment.

• The clip initially received only modest attention. Its profile increased dramatically after Pearl Jam's success, when the video entered MTV's Buzz Bin and moved into heavy rotation.

• "Hunger Strike" was Temple of the Dog's most successful song and became Eddie Vedder's first prominent recorded vocal appearance.

• The song and video were created in the aftermath of Andrew Wood's death. Cornell had formed Temple of the Dog as a tribute to his late friend, while Wood had also been a bandmate of future Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament.