BeforeNirvanaBursting onto the scene in the early '90s, the music scene consisted of nothing more than boy bands, hair metal, Michael Jackson, and the occasional country music. As Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, and Krist Novoselic grew in popularity, so did the subculture they represented. It was almost a brutal slash of whatever was thrown at them.
Today the '90s are known for their filth: Gen X punk kids, cynicism, guitar-heavy sludge. And all thanks to the influence of Nirvana.
Nirvana's historic albumIt doesn't matterjust celebrated its 30th anniversary. In honor of the band's incredible musical legacy and impact on pop culture, we thought we'd roll up our sleeves and get down to business.Nirvana Top 10 Jams List!
We don't know why we haven't honored the Aberdeen band sooner, but with Dave Grohl's continued success with Foo Fighters and the recent release of the BBC documentary.When Nirvana came to the UK, we believe that it is better to be late than not to make a list. Nirvana have only been together for a few years and have only released three albums, but their impact on modern rock culture will last forever.
Without further ado, here are Live365's Nirvana Picks!
We find it ironic that the kind of rock fans Cobain embarrassingly describes in this song are the same fans who were drawn to "In Bloom." The song actually became one of Nirvana's best live anthems. It's all thanks to the commercial success of "In Bloom," which can be attributed to a catchy, singable chorus.
Structurally, “In Bloom” is full of power chords and sounds joyous on the outside but very teasing on the inside. According to Cobain, it is a slaughter of "rednecks and machos" who would not understand the intellectual art of the band. Quoted by Krist NovoselicRolling Stone"It sounded like a Bad Brains song. One day Kurt called me up and started singing. It was 'In Bloom' fromIt doesn't matter, more of a pop thing."
Who would have thought that Nirvana could make such an amazing two chord song with only 14 words? “School” is a fantastic example of a track that says more than it says. Part of Nirvana's debut albumwhitening, talks about Cobain's experience of becoming a janitor at his high school shortly after leaving school. Elegantly simple, it features a hard-hitting riff with a distinctive intro.
Kurt Cobain would describe the song as representative of the Seattle grunge scene and would find parallels between them and high school "cliques". Towards the end of the band's 1989 European tour, Cobain "had to look out into the audience and all he could see was the kind of people who used to beat him up in school". This led to future tracks aimed at this fanbase, including the aforementioned "In Bloom".
Ah, the terrible pain of a relationship on the Fritz. No song captures that frustrating feeling better than Nirvana's "About a Girl," also from their debut album.whitening. The band hasn't gotten that close to pop yet. According to Chad Channing (the Nirvana drummer before Dave Grohl), Cobain didn't have a title for the song when he first put it in the studio. When asked what it is about, Cobain said, "It's about a girl."
More specifically, the girl was Tracy Marander: Cobain's then-girlfriend, with whom he was living at the time. The track delves into the couple's broken relationship, sparked by Cobain's refusal to get a job or share cleaning duties in his apartment (where many of his pets lived). When Marander asked why Cobain never wrote a song about her, he replied "About a Girl." Oh.
To be fair, Cobain never told Marander that he wrote About a Girl for her. Marander revealed in 1998 that she only found out about it after reading it.Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana.
This title has recently regained popularity thanks to its use in the trailer for the upcoming 2022 blockbuster.ahi batman. "Something In the Way" is a deep, dark acoustic tune about a time of wandering. Inspired by the Young Street Bridge, where Cobain once fished, it's Nirvana's haunting final track.It doesn't matter(without the hidden track "Endless, Nameless").
"Something In the Way" was believed by many to be Cobain's autobiography until he revealed it in the 1993 biopic.come as you areThe concept should be: "As if I lived under the bridge and stuck to AIDS." he would die if he was sick and couldn't move and was a total street person. That was kind of a fantasy."
We especially love Cobain's calm yet vulnerable voice, producer Butch Vig's decision to record the song without a full band, and Kirk Canning's beautiful cello solo.
On "All Apologies," an acoustic fan favorite, Kurt Cobain shamelessly "apologizes" to the audience for his behavior. Cobain dedicated this upbeat track to his wife, Courtney Love, and his daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. "The words don't really fit us... the sentiment fits, but the lyrics don't," Cobain explained in thecome as you areBiography.
Cobain also described the sentiment of "All Apologies" as "peaceful, happy, comforting". Some other notable things about the track are the fascinating use of the cello, the band calling out people who use the word "gay" as a slur (which was pretty bold and progressive stuff in the '90s), and the famous Performance from the album. unplugged - The fan-favorite version of the track, still played today on alternative radio stations.
"Aneurysm" was recorded on BBC Radio 1 on November 9, 1991 with Mark Goodier. The lyrics, "I love you so much it makes me sick," allude to the first time Kurt Cobain dated Bikini Kill's Tobi Vail. They ended up dating, but he was so nervous at first that he threw up. Music analysts also suspect that the lines may refer to heroin disease, specifically, Cobain's heroin addiction.
There's also the line "Come on over, do the twist," which is a nod to Kurt's idols: the Beatles. Another version of "Aneurysm" was previously released in September 1991 as a B-side to "Smells Like Teen Spirit". It's hard to get away with an intro longer than a minute, but Nirvana pulls it off with ease and force.
We know, we know... You probably thought this song would be number 1 on our list, right? If this were a list of Nirvana's most commercially successful songs, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" would easily be No. 1. Non-Nirvana bop fans can easily distinguish it as Nirvana. But because we like to subvert expectations here at Live365, and because we've got more great Nirvana tunes to count, we're keeping this baby in the top 4 rank.
The band's lead singleIt doesn't matter, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" catapulted Nirvana into the public eye in the '90s. Rock history claims that Kathleen Hanna of the riot-grrl band Bikini Kill spray-painted the phrase "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on a wall and Cobain broke the title. In any case, this track contains the same nervousness, cunning and energy that a teenager would possess.
But what is the true meaning of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"? Nobody really knows. Cobain admitted in a1994 Interview withRolling Stonethat he was "just trying to write the ultimate pop song" and that he was heavily inspired by the Pixies. Eventually, Kurt got tired of performing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and cut it out of Nirvana's live set as often as possible. To quote the third verse of the song, "Oh well, whatever, forget it."
"Heart-Shaped Box" was written when Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain were newlyweds, and Love heavily influenced the composition.in the wombSong. While Love has her own take on what the song means (do some research, kids), most people take it as a reference to the literal heart-shaped box Love gave Cobain when he started dating. he.
While the romance between Cobain and Love was the driving force behind this song, the song is anything but romantic. It actually describes the struggle of wills inherent in a budding relationship when one person doesn't feel as strongly about the other person. Many love "Heart-Shaped Box" for its iconic and very bizarre music video, in which a man in a Santa hat hangs from a cross, a woman in a suit with painted human organs and angel wings, and other crazy things. .
"Lithium" is one of the most popular.It doesn't matterMelody often overshadowed by "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and our #1 pick. It's a perfect poetic description of the highs and lows that accompany manic depression. Each line is both happy and sad, and there are even a few lyrics in the mix that mention religious beliefs. After all, this song is about a man who becomes religious after his girlfriend dies.
With the religious lines, Cobain makes it clear: some people need religion in their lives to keep them happy, just as others need lithium to stabilize their moods. The Nirvana frontman later revealed that the song was inspired by his own personal experiences of breakups and bad relationships. He also acknowledged that the song was motivated by time spent with his friend Jesse Reed and his born-again Christian parents. For a slightly upbeat tune, "Lithium" has plenty of depth.
There is no better example of Nirvana's famous "silent-loud" formula than hers.It doesn't matterClick "Come as you are." It's a song to shake your head while pausing at the same time. It's both energetic and relaxed, and it even sounds amazing, thoughslowed down.
"Come As You Are" was supposed to be the lead single.It doesn't matter, but the unprecedented success of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" changed the band's plans. Despite the eclipse, the song was commercially successful, peaking at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 on the UK Singles Chart.
Now, while the gun lyrics of "Come As You Are" are eerily ironic given the nature of Kurt Cobain's suicide, the song is actually about how society views us. Should we be ourselves or safely conform to the standards of others? It's a cycle of confusion, and Cobain points out that you never know who your real friends are while also finding common ground with people who have opposing views.
As for the distinctive guitar riff, it was borrowed heavily from the Killing Joke song."Eighty".The nearly identical part made the band hesitant to release the song as a single. In fact, they expected to be sued for Killing Joke. While the other band had some complaints, they surprisingly never filed a lawsuit.
All in all, we think "Come As You Are" is a perfect anthem for the '90s grunge subculture and we hope this masterpiece will last for many years to come. Rest in peace Kurt Cobain.
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Lead image: A photo of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl on a blue CD of Nirvana's second album, Nevermind. (Stefano ChiachiariniaboveShutterstock.)