Let’s just get this out of the way, “Nevermind” is iconic, and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is everything. It’s the angsty Gen-X anthem of the 90s, soaked in teen spirit and dripping with plaid-shirted perfection. But, Nirvana’s catalog goes way deeper than that polished, world-dominating masterpiece. For the real ones, the best Nirvana songs aren’t necessarily the ones that got 10,000 spins on MTV, they’re the gritty, growling deep cuts and emotional gut-punches found off the beaten track. Before we crank up the volume on those overlooked gems, here’s a quick, crash-course history of Nirvana, because context is everything, babe.
Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and (eventually) Dave Grohl didn’t set out to change the world, but change it they did. According to Louder Sound, the band was born in the rainy cradle of Aberdeen, Washington, in the late ’80s. Their early sound was rough, raw and loud, grunge in its purest, garage-rock form. Their debut album, “Bleach,” dropped in 1989 and made barely a splash, but it planted the seeds. Then came “Nevermind” in 1991 and BOOM, Nirvana went nuclear. Suddenly, flannel was fashionable and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was blasting in every high school hallway across America.
But fame was a double-edged guitar pick and the ride wasn’t smooth. As Encyclopaedia Britannica explains, the pressures of stardom weighed heavily on Cobain. The band followed “Nevermind” with 1993’s “In Utero,” a rawer, more personal work that pushed back against the glossy production of its predecessor. Tragically, Cobain’s struggles with addiction and mental health ended in his death in April 1994, at just 27 years old. It was the end of Nirvana, but not the end of their impact.
Now that we’ve set the stage, let’s take a tour of three of the best Nirvana songs that weren’t on “Nevermind.” These tracks don’t always get the love they deserve, but trust, they are pure grunge gold.
“Blew” — “Bleach” (1989)
If “Nevermind” was Nirvana’s Cinderella moment, then “Bleach” was their midnight hour.“Blew” is the first track on Nirvana’s first studio album, and it kicks the door down in true grunge fashion. Krist Novoselic’s bass comes in like a dark, brooding thunderstorm, and Cobain’s voice is all raw nerve and snarl. It’s the musical equivalent of stomping through puddles in combat boots while smoking a Marlboro Light and feeling all your feelings at once.
There’s also some fun music nerd drama behind the scenes. The band was experimenting with “Drop-C” tuning, a deeper, gloomier cousin of the beloved “Drop-D” that grunge bands couldn’t get enough of. According to Novoselic in an interview with Seattle Weekly, “Blew” is the only track that survived that doomed experiment. “We came back the next day and decided the idea wasn’t so hot,” he said. “In fact, ‘Blew,’ with that growly bass, is the only survivor of that experiment.”
Survivor indeed. This track doesn’t just growl, it howls. It’s heavy, hypnotic and makes you want to angrily journal in the margins of your geometry homework.
“Serve the Servants” — “In Utero” (1993)
Let’s talk about “In Utero,” shall we? It was Nirvana’s messy, moody, magnificent response to the “Nevermind” frenzy and the opener, “Serve the Servants,” sets the tone with an eye-roll and a smirk. The song starts with a line that deserves to be embroidered on a throw pillow: “Teenage angst has paid off well, now I’m bored and old.” If “Nevermind” was the party, “In Utero” is the painful hangover and “Serve the Servants” is Cobain’s brutally honest confessional.
Sonically, it’s scrappy and satisfying. There’s a Beatles-esque sensibility buried beneath the distortion (Kurt adored the Fab Four, yes really), and a deceptively catchy structure that wouldn’t feel out of place on a twisted pop record. Lyrically, it’s personal in a way that’s almost uncomfortable. Cobain lays it all bare, his relationship with Courtney Love, his feelings about fame, and especially his fraught relationship with his father.
“I tried hard to have a father but instead I had a dad, I just want you to know that I don’t hate you anymore,” he sings, half-snarl, half-sigh. It’s therapy set to power chords, and honestly? We should all be so brave.
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” — “MTV Unplugged in New York” (1994)
Let’s slow things down, shall we? Grab a flannel, light a candle, and prepare to be emotionally wrecked. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” isn’t technically a Nirvana original, it’s a haunting old American folk song, popularized by Lead Belly in the 1940s. But when Nirvana performed it during their “MTV Unplugged in New York” set, they turned it into something utterly, devastatingly their own.
Stripped of electric guitars and studio gloss, this version is raw, fragile and chilling. Cobain’s voice is subdued at first, almost reverent, but by the final verse, he is pouring everything he has into it. His voice cracks, his eyes widen and for a brief, terrifying second, it feels like we’re watching a man fall apart in real time.
Even Neil Young was shook. He later described Cobain’s final howl as “unearthly, like a werewolf, unbelievable,” says NME. This performance has been mythologized in the years since Cobain’s death, but hype aside, it is a moment. A sacred, eerie, unforgettable moment that proves Nirvana could do just as much damage with an acoustic guitar as they could with a wall of amps.
So, What Did We Learn About Nirvana?
Nirvana wasn’t just the band that gave us “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and made grunge cool (though, bless them for that). They were a force, capable of tenderness, rage, vulnerability and straight-up musical genius. And some of their best, most beautiful work lives outside the glittery spotlight of “Nevermind.”
So next time you feel like diving into the flannel-clad waters of grunge, do yourself a favor. Go deeper. Get weird. Listen to “Blew.” Cry to “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” Scream along to “Serve the Servants” while deep conditioning your hair and contemplating existence.
Kurt might have said it best: “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” But these songs? They haven’t faded one bit. Oh, and do yourself a favor and check out Audio Ink Radio’s tally of some underrated Nirvana songs, too.
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