Thirty-one years ago today – September 24, 1991 – Seattle’s Nirvana released their groundbreaking, sophomore LP, Nevermind… can’t believe that was more than three decades ago!
Damn that is one great record. To me Nevermind still feels raw and emotional; its as funny in places, as it is dark in others. I’ve often found an odd comfort in the dance of beauty & pain witnessed through Kurt Cobain’s play with words, and still discover facets of myself within his many of his lyrics and themes.
I put that record on and right of the bat “Smells Like Teen Spirit” assaultes my ears – even my body – daring me to feel. And it doesn’t stop there. It goads me to give voice to what I feel; even scream when I need to. Definitely toward the top of my list of greatest songs of all time.
For a Mennonite kid growing up in the prairies of Canada, drowning in the smug “rightness” of conservative evangelism, who didn’t always feel at home in my own life, this recording let me know that I wasn’t as alone I sometimes feared I might be. Granted, I had already moved away from “home,” was married, and was trying to find my way when this record was released; in fact a teenager in the youth group where I was pastoring introduced me to Nirvana… and while I didn’t understand it immediately, I grew to need Nirvana and love this recording.
At the top of this post I linked to Nirvana’s opening track – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – below I have a link to the whole album, but here is each track. I’ve included the lyrics to “Something in the Way” as it has been especially vital for me during certain seasons.
- “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
- “In Bloom”
- “Come as You Are”
- “Breed”
- “Lithium”
- “Polly”
- “Territorial Pissings”
- “Drain You”
- “Lounge Act”
- “Stay Away”
- “On a Plain”
- “Something in the Way”
- “Endless, Nameless” (hidden track on later pressings)
Something in the Way
by Nirvana
Underneath the bridge
Tarp has sprung a leak
And the animals I've trapped
Have all become my pets
And I'm living off of grass
And the drippings from my ceiling
It's okay to eat fish
Cause they don't have any feelings
Something in the way
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way, yeah
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way, yeah
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way, yeah
Mmm-mmm
Underneath the bridge
Tarp has sprung a leak
And the animals I've trapped
Have all become my pets
And I'm living off of grass
And the drippings from the ceiling
It's okay to eat fish
Cause they don't have any feelings
Something in the way
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way, yeah
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way, yeah
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way, yeah
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way
Mmm-mmm
Something in the way, yeah
Mmm-mmm
My heart still breaks over the death of Kurt Cobain… and I long to bless him, and all who knew & loved him with peace, rest, and healing. While I never knew him, he seems to have known something about me, cause he invited – and still invites – me feel slightly less alone, and for that I am eternally grateful. Rest in peace Kurt… I hope there is nothing in your way any longer.
Happy Birthday… Nevermind.
Peace, dwight
