For those who are seasoned enough to have been around in the 1990s, maybe you’re missing that time, whether it’s for personal reasons or because the music was so good. Even those who weren’t around in the ’90s likely have to listen to the music of that era and wish they were a part of it.
Grunge music, of course, ruled the 1990s. So, those who are big fans of hair metal don’t really like the fact that Nirvana and their album “Nevermind” changed music in 1991, pushing interests to the Seattle sound over glam metal and rock. But, there’s no denying that the 1990s was filled with songs that changed the course of popular music and pop culture.
Even the fashion changed. “Seattle gave the world a whole new sound in the 1990s and the world listened,” notes Vogue in a 2024 feature on the fashion and lifestyle of the 1990s. “The worn-in thrifted fashions (flannel shirts over vintage tees, baggy aged jeans, sneakers, day-old hair) worn by bands Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam were less shocking than the Punk fashions of the 1970s and, therefore, more widely adopted.”
They add that “by the 1990s, the ‘grunge’ look had infiltrated the wardrobes of teenagers the world over, and eventually, it made its way onto the catwalk in a then-rare trickle-up progression.” So, this look even leaked into the high-fashion world.
But, enough about the fashion of the 1990s. Let’s highlight three emotive grunge classics for anyone missing or feeling nostalgic for the ’90s.
3 Grunge Classics
Nirvana, “Something in the Way”
Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” is an emotional song and it shows a different side of Nirvana. According to Songfacts, “Kurt Cobain wrote ‘Something In The Way’ about his life. He talks about living under a bridge, which he claimed happened when he got kicked out of the house and had to live under a nearby bridge.” They add that Cobain “expresses his feelings and emotions by saying ‘something in the way’ – he thought everything was in the way every time he tried to feel better.”
In a 2011 feature for NPR, Lars Gotrich notes, “‘Something in the Way’ tells a story about a lost soul who lives under a bridge, pondering the feelings of fish. Somewhere in that song is the self — dig it out.” This song is the kind of track that “just gets inside you.”
Soundgarden, “Black Hole Sun”
There was no escaping Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” in the 1990s, and it’s still all over radio today. It’s simply a monster of a song.
According to a 2023 feature in Given to Rock, “Chris Cornell once said that the lyrics to ‘Black Hole Sun’ are ‘stream-of-consciousness’ — they sound profound and ominous, but aren’t meant to tell a straightforward story. Instead, the song feels like a dream or hallucination: mysterious, symbolic, and deeply unsettling.”
The Saxon Cross on Substack added that, “On its surface, the song has an eerie aura. Many of the commenters on YouTube mention how the song used to creep them out as kids, and many comment that they have no idea what the song is supposed to be about. Well, immediately upon hearing it I could tell you that the song is not creepy for no reason. It is certainly not a song about nothing.”
Pearl Jam, “Yellow Ledbetter”
Pearl Jam’s classic “Yellow Ledbetter” is a super emotional song that will have anyone tearing up. That’s especially true if you are nostalgic about grunge music.
In a 2015 piece for Medium, Joseph Busch talks about the emotion in the guitars of “Yellow Ledbetter.” He notes, “Along with the lyrics and timing of this song, the band has another method of conveying their feeling to the audience: the music. The opening guitar riff and long solo in the middle are admittedly an ode to Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing.’ Jimi Hendrix was openly anti-war during his time as a famous musician, and it sounds like Pearl Jam is heading in that direction even in the first few notes.”
According to SongFacts, “The story is about a young grunger kid, all dressed up in his flannels with the long greasy hair. His brother goes off to fight in the war and gets killed. He gets a letter that comes in one of those yellow army envelopes and learns of his brother’s death. So, all upset, he decides to go out and walk it off.”
SongFacts adds, “On his walk he passes by a neat, middle-aged or elderly couple sitting on their front porch having some tea, and he sees that they have an American flag out. He gives a wave because he feels like he relates: ‘The flag, my brother, you know…’ But they don’t know, of course. They don’t know what’s underneath the grunge and the long hair. All they see are the outward appearances, and they don’t wave back.”
So, there are some very popular and emotional grunge songs from the ’90s. Also find some great underrated grunge songs from the 1990s in this Audio Ink Radio feature.
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