Even if you’re not a Nirvana fan, if you’re a guitarist, it’s worth thinking about whether Kurt Cobain could actually be one of the most underrated players and songwriters of our time. It’s thirty years since his tragic suicide, and I think it’s time to give the guy a bit of credit beyond the obvious. If you can get past the sheer intensity of the music, there’s a lot of songwriting craft to be found, and some incredibly simple but effective guitar work. Songs like ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, ‘All Apologies’ and ‘Come As You Are’ have super simple riffs, but in this case, super simple means super effective.
With this somewhat unfortunate anniversary in mind, I’ve enlisted my friend and bandmate Chris to help choose a few tracks you should check out. Why Chris? Well when Chris first started open miking with us, Nirvana songs were kind of his stock in trade. I'd perform some cheesy cover of something, Chris would play 'Heart Shaped Box'... Neither of us are the greatest Nirvana fans ever, but we do both appreciate a healthy dose of rock, even though he’s the only one of us with a doctorate in it ;-)
So here are Chris’s five choices, and one of mine, for Nirvana tracks you should check out. I’ve interspersed the choices with a few interesting covers I found along the way, so if you’re not up for crashing guitars, there’s something for you too. Give it a chance.
#1. ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’
Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ LP was released in 1991. Kurt disliked it because of its success and he thought it sounded too much like The Pixies. It’s still pretty iconic. The guitar work in the verses is literally two notes, and the solo is perfect despite being unashamedly being nothing more than the vocal line. For those wanting to try that in famous chord riff, it’s F / Bb / G# / C#..
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#2. ‘Something In The Way’
One of Nirvana’s most haunting tracks. It’s just two chords in a ‘drop C’ tuning (tune all the strings down a full step / 2 frets, and then detune the bass ‘E’ string to ‘C’) Marty Schwartz has a lesson on it on YouTube if you’re so inclined. The track was used in the soundtrack for the 2022 remake of ‘Batman’. To change it up a bit, I’ve chosen the Violet Orlandi cover version for you to check out.
#3. ‘Negative Creep’
This is from the ‘Bleach’ album, 1989. One of Nirvana’s heaviest tracks, you can really hear the heavy rock influence of an early Black Sabbath. This is a live take from the Paramount in Seattle, 1991.
#4. ‘Heart Shaped Box’
Taken from the 1993 ‘In Utero’ album, this is Chris’s favourite Nirvana track. The contrast between the relatively refined guitar arpeggios with the climbing and dropping vocal is just great. The guitar solo feels completely off hand and somewhat careless in its execution. This is a live take from ‘Live & Loud’ in Seattle 1993. It’s followed by a cover by Icelandic singer songwriter Asgeir Trausti, who has turned the track into a modern piano ballad.
#5. ‘Serve The Servants’
The opening track of ‘In Utero’, with the opening lines “Teenage angst has paid off well, now I’m bored and old”. It feels even more poignant knowing now that this would be Kurt’s last studio album. I'm not sure if I'm legally obliged to warn you that this video contains strobe effects... I hopefully don't have to warn you that treating your gear this way is not generally advisable...
#6. ‘All Apologies’
This is my ‘bonus’ choice. I just love the riff. The song itself is a kind of sardonic response to his critics, a mock apology for not being everything that everybody expected of him. There’s some conflicting evidence as to when the song was written, and depending on which view you take, you can kind of draw your own interpretation of the lyrics. I think a lot of people try to find one true meaning for most songs, when one possibly doesn’t exist though?
When a song can mean different things to different people at different times, that’s the mark of a really good songwriter. And you thought Nirvana was all just yelling and screaming...
I'd like to thank Chris for joining in with this. If this has whetted your appetite for a bit more Nirvana backstory, the BBC will be airing a new documentary commemorating the anniversary of Kurt's death. You can read a little more about it here from the NME...
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