what is the song hunger strike about

“Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog is mainly about moral conflict and refusing to benefit from a system built on inequality and exploitation.

Core meaning in plain terms

At its heart, the song is a protest against decadence at the top of society while others suffer with nothing. The singer is torn between the idea of “stealing bread from the mouths of decadence” (taking from the very rich) and a refusal to “feed on the powerless” when his “cup’s already overfilled.” In other words: it’s ok to push back against excess privilege, but not to hurt people who are already struggling.

The repeated line “I’m going hungry” is less about literal starvation and more about choosing not to participate in an unjust system, even if that means going without.

Themes the song explores

• Social inequality and class divide: The lyrics contrast those who live in excess with those who barely survive.

• Refusal to exploit the weak: “I can’t feed on the powerless” is a clear moral line about not stepping on people below you to get ahead.

• Moral responsibility: The narrator recognizes his own relative comfort (“cup’s already overfilled”) and feels a duty not to add to others’ suffering.

• Silent protest: The “hunger strike” is a symbolic stance—choosing deprivation over complicity in exploitation.

Chris Cornell also described the lyrics as “something like a socialist political statement” about stealing bread to give to the poor and standing in solidarity with them through a hunger strike after seeing food distribution injustice.

How the duet fits the message

The song is a duet between Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder, and their two voices feel like a shared conscience. The back-and-forth and harmonies make it sound less like one person’s complaint and more like a collective stand against injustice and greed.

Why it still hits today

Even though it came out in the early ’90s, the song still resonates because the issues it tackles—wealth gaps, exploitation, and the question “How much is enough?”—are still very current. Many listeners now read it as a broader call to examine our own privilege and decide where we draw the line between surviving, thriving, and exploiting others.

TL;DR: “Hunger Strike” is about rejecting greed and refusing to exploit powerless people in an unequal society, even if that means “going hungry” rather than being part of the problem.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.