Ah, Nirvana; One of the most influential grunge rock bands of this past century. I’ve personally been a fan ever since I played Guitar Hero 3: World Tour with my dad and my brother during my youth, so I’d say I’m pretty much an expert on the subject.

**DISCLAIMER: All information provided within this article is a direct product of the heavy analysis and research I’ve ensued (for fun) over the past couple of years as a hardcore Nirvana lover. You can fact check me all you want, but I’m pretty sure I’m right…

Here’s a little background for those who may not know much about the group:

Nirvana was a band formed in the late 80s that consisted of Krist Novoselic (bass) and Kurt Cobain (guitar, lead singer), and then eventually their drummer, Dave Grohl. I love Dave Grohl. He’s a rockstar with a minivan, literally. He’s so cute. Throughout their time together, the group acted as the classic teenage angst band for the generation growing up during their peak. For the longest time, Cobain and Novoselic lived in a van and traveled to gigs in that very van (#humble. Jk, they were broke). Even once they gained mainstream success and the money started flowing in, the band still remained the same as in their very beginnings: a little dirty, a little angsty, and down to earth. Kurt Cobain is considered today to be a music idol. Cobain was so self aware and was not afraid to write about whatever he wanted, some topics being activism, feminism, mental illness awareness, etc. Nirvana’s goal was to fight the system and do what other bands don’t, and I’d say they succeeded. With mainstream popularity giving them a platform via television, they used their fame to expose some of the lies within the music industry. Nirvana was invited to do a performance for “Top of the Pop,” their first live TV performance. They were told they were to lip sync to their music and pretend to play their instruments in order to match the prerecorded tune, but Cobain refused to comply; he deemed it to be offensive and pointless. He believed the people wanted to tune in to see their favorite band perform, not to hear a recording they’ve already heard on the radio. So, you may be wondering, how does Kurt Cobain react? Well Nirvana rolls up, gets ready to “comply” with the established guidelines, and completely botches the performance by making it obvious how fake the media was attempting to portray its artists. This program is proof of all of Nirvana’s background ideals; speak your truth, live your life, and expose the wrongness of the world.

Writing Nevermind

Nevermind was the first album to have been recorded with iconic drummer and current frontman of the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl. Many different music elements were implemented; Kurt gained inspiration from larger bands at the time. The album was created purely out of rock and pure grunge angst, but genre themes within the album range from pop to heavy metal. Kurt was an avid believer that “the music comes first, the lyrics come second”. Many believe that Kurt is not the best lyricist or guitarist, “many” meaning my dad and this kid I used to date in middle school, but I beg to differ: this album is the epitome of musical talent. To be able to write something with so much meaning that goes beyond surface level seems hard enough, but for it to resonate with an entire new subgenre of teenagers is extremely difficult. For example, “Polly” means something more than what the surface may reveal. In the song, Kurt focuses on a scenario where (TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING!!!!!!!) a woman is taken and sexually abused by her kidnapper. Kurt tells the tale of how horrible women in these situations are treated through an allusion to the common phrase “Polly wants a cracker” that repeats throughout the course of the song. Kurt doesn’t care about the content of the song; if he had an idea about how things should be, he wrote about it. Kurt uses rhetoric in order to emphasize issues in the real world. The song “In Bloom” is literally Kurt Cobain making fun of his “fans” who are sexist, racist, etc and saying that they listen to Nirvana without realizing what the songs they listen to are actually about. In the beginning, he states utter nonsense. He then says “he’s the one who likes all our pretty songs and he likes to sing along, and he likes to shoot his gun, but he don’t know what it means”, which is the underlying theme of the entire song. On top of that, Kurt further proves this idea through it being an absolute headbanger. I could honestly go on and on about the different aspects of Kurt Cobain’s writings and his musical style, but I’ll spare you all…

With riffs and lyrics that have rocked and will continue to rock the entire world, Nirvana’s Nevermind is one that should be listened to by all music enthusiasts.

The Songs

In order, from beginning to end of the tracklist:

Smells Like Teen Spirit-

Ahhhhh the classic, “everybody knows it” song from the 90s. I think it’s safe to say that this song is one that defined the grunge era of music. Kurt said he wanted to write the ultimate pop song, one that matched “Where is My Mind” by the Pixies, and boy did he succeed. The inspiration for the entire plot of the song was from when Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna wrote “Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit” on his wall above where he was slumped. With SLTS forcing Nirvana into mainstream attention, this song is the turning point for their entire career together.

In Bloom-

As mentioned before, this song is the ultimate diss-track against a whole group of people Kurt did not accept as his “fans”. In the In Bloom music video, you can find Kurt, Krist, and Dave dressed in skirts, dresses, pearls, etc. to shove it to the man he’s singing about. Personally, In Bloom has always been so funny to me and I love to bump it when I get mad<3

Come As You Are-

Yeah,,,I know this original bass riff by heart. I’m kind of a big deal…

Just kidding, of course. But this song is such a different tone from the previous songs. To give the song a little more justice other than its easily recognizable riff, I’m going to provide a little fun fact for you all!

Kurt Cobain was born and raised in Aberdeen, Washington. Ever since his passing in 1994 and the mainstream success of Come As You Are, Aberdeen put “Welcome to Aberdeen, Come as you are” on their city welcome sign. Isn’t that the cutest way to memorialize a musician?

Breed-

A classic, quick paced rock song with reminiscent tones of Motörhead from the mid 70s. Rockstar status if you ask me. It’s very catchy.

Lithium-

One of my all time favorite Nirvana songs, and that says a lot. It reminds me of being angsty in 2016. Did I have any reason to be so angsty? Not really. Did I still scream this song and force my mom to play it in the car? That’s for me to know and for no one to find out.

Polly-

As I previously stated, this song is deeper than its simple chord progression may reveal. It’s a perfect song to break up the angst and anger.

Territorial Pissings-

I’m listening to this song right now, and I can definitely see how it would scare probably all listeners, but I love it. A rockin’ scream-0 tune for sure, one you want to slam your door and yell to…not that I’ve done that before or anything…It alludes to “Get Together” by the Youngbloods in the first couple seconds of the song. He mocks the lyrics “Come on, people now! Smile on your brother. Everybody get together, try to love one another right now”. You may be thinking, “Oh Taryn, why do you like this song?? Aren’t you supposed to be “peace” and “love” and all that?”, and to that I respond by saying Kurt had it right. Sometimes a gal’s gotta scream.

Drain You-

Now, Nirvana is the furthest thing from a pop rock group, but this song is so catchy that the chorus reminds me of something by the Pixies that came out around the same time. Cobain did say in an interview that he was inspired by the success of the Pixies. Crazy stuff, right? Anyways, my favorite aspect of Drain You is the bridge. Once you think the first verse is more pop rock mainstream esque (for the time, of course), it completely switches up in the bridge.

Lounge Act-

This song has more headbangin’ than angsty “no one understands me” energy. I specifically remember angry running to this song during my 7th grade emo phase…oh what a time to be alive. Black skinny jeans, band tee shirts, and the same black converse you can still see me sporting to this very day. #Memories

Stay Away-

Also another banger. Dave Grohl’s drumming really shines here in my very much correct opinion. I don’t care what anyone says, other than Rick Allen of Def Leppard, Dave Grohl is one of the most talented drummers I’ve ever heard. I was reading an article that said Cobain also was also inspired by Black Sabbath, and boy do I hear it in this song. Another great song to scream to when you’re alone. Scream yo truth.

On A Plain-

Upon first listen, On A Plain seems like a filler song. I mean, I thought it was. But upon further observation and analysis, On A Plain is so much more. I love the riff in this song and it reminds me of how badly I want to be able to play it on a guitar or something.

Something In The Way-

This isn’t my most favorite song on the album, but it has its charm. The cello in this song is so beautiful and graceful while the song is slow and kind of dark. As the track before Endless, Nameless, I guess it kind of has to be the way it is. I mean, it’s the only order that makes sense. Just think about how weird it would be if Something In The Way was placed as the final track…

I know most of you don’t care about this minute detail of a very large picture, but the order of a tracklist matters. It’s almost like telling a story.

Endless, Nameless-

By far my favorite song off of this album. I know I’ve already discussed my adoration for Endless, Nameless in one of my articles here on the Talon, but I feel like it won’t get the recognition it deserves until I shout the song from the top of a tall building or something. Sad fact, but also a true fact.

I’ve said it before and I’ll definitely say it again on the Talon: Nevermind has no bad songs. Even though people (by “people” I mean my dad) say that Nirvana lyrics make absolutely no sense and have no correlation to anything, I believe that Nevermind is nothing of the sort. The diversity, the production, the meaningful lyrics that have inspired so many artists after them. There’s a reason Nirvana has the same popularity it once had in the early 90s and has only aged better and better over time.

After the Nevermind Storm

Originally released in 1991, Nirvana’s second studio album Nevermind has been loved by millions all over the globe, many believing it to be the album that set up success for other underground grunge groups. When songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “In Bloom” gaining huge mainstream success in the early 90s, Nirvana’s popularity began to skyrocket. They were quickly projected into the media without a clue of how the industry wanted them to act as a popular band, resulting in huge bursts of media attention from the group due to their non compliance with nearly every set they performed. It seemed as though Nirvana was not sure what to do with themselves; they were met with a complete culture shock.

It is no secret that Nirvana shows were different from most concerts: Kurt made the show. Although I have plenty of love in my heart for all three members, it is clear that Kurt Cobain was the factor to make Nirvana, along with the Nevermind album as a whole, one of the most successful alternative rock groups of this past century. Cobain didn’t care what others thought of him; he did and said whatever was on his mind and he was not afraid to speak HIS truth (as you can tell, his no-nuance attitude has inspired me as well). He broke thousands of dollars worth of instruments and equipment during live shows, leading to fun for attendees and obviously, Kurt himself. He turned down huge opportunities for Nirvana to grow as a band to stick up for their main principles and morals as a band. For instance, Cobain turned down a tour with Guns N Roses, a huge rock hair-band from the 80s, because he didn’t agree or really even like Axl Rose because of his controversial actions and words. Axl eventually got kicked out of the band…so you decide if Kurt made the right choice or not. I’d say that’s king behavior.

I mean, Krist Novoselic did and still does play the accordion (**View from their hall of fame induction performance and MTV Unplugged). That man sure does love that accordion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this might as well be my IRR for Seminar. This deep dive into the inner workings of Nevermind has exposed you all to the stories and depth behind the band and the music itself. Of course, this is one of the most popular albums of all time (no, I did not feel like going in and checking any statistics to support this), so I don’t expect you all to be blown away. What I do hope, however, is that you found this article informative, insightful, and silly and that you may have a new respect or admiration for this album. Although Kurt lived a traumatic and pretty wild life, he related to so many others during the time and touched their hearts.