So, today is the 20th anniversary of the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind. I’m not going to wax eloquent about how this album changed the music world on its head, or spoke to a generation, or any of that. To be honest, there is enough out there on Nirvana’s impact by people far more smarter than I am in the industry. I will tell you when I bought Nevermind though.
I went to high school at South Grenville, in Prescott. It was my last year of high school, the now defunct Grade 13, or OAC year as we called it. Our history class headed to Ottawa (all 13 of us) for a day of going through the old war museum (when it was on Sussex), the parliament building, and finally lunch and a wander around the Rideau Centre. I had heard of a band called Nirvana from a friend who still lived in Toronto (a mixed tape had held a song – Floyd The Barber), and so I thought I would go and see if the Rideau Centre HMV had a copy of this as Brockville had not. They did, and after dallying around the mall with friend Valarie, we headed to the bus, and I took the plastic off the cassette cover (yup – cassette!), and put it into the big honking yellow Sony walkman I had. To say my breath was taken away would be an understatement. The rest, as they would say, is history. And my ears and mind and heart had it’s first taste of a band that I would connect with to this day.
As I said, I didn’t want to go on about how Nevermind changed the music world on its head, or spoke to a generation, or any of that. But how many records do you remember buying and listening to with such clarity, as if it happened just yesterday?
Now on to the sharing part of the list. Here is my Top 10 Nirvana songs – my virtual mixed tape of songs that have, to this day, been my favourites to listen to.
10. Pennyroyal Tea – My favourite song off of their last album, In Uetero – and also the song that a very scratchy demo version had leaked prior to the release, causing critics and music people to wonder if Nirvana had fallen into the abyss for some reason.
9. Polly – The first slow song from Nirvana I ever heard, and slightly shocking (the opening line of Polly wants a cracker/I think I should get off her first is quite the image for a 17 year old!).
8. Blew – This is their first song and their first album, and one that the studio version just doesn’t do justice to. This version, taped in Amsterdam, just plain rocks!
7. Aneurysm – It builds, it falls, it whispers and screams. I’ve always thought this to be one of those songs that define Nirvana’s ‘sound’…
6. Floyd The Barber – The first Nirvana song I ever heard (the infamous mixed tape from a friend that also had Fugazi on it).
5. Talk To Me – a not so known live song that a studio version was finally released on the box set. I heard it off a bootleg conert CD I had and loved it.
4. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Yes, the infamous song is number four on my list. Get over it.
3. I Hate Myself And Want To Die – yes, this was on the Beavis and Butthead soundtrack. Remember them? Heard this song when I didn’t particularly like myself that much either. Title + song stuck with me.
2. Verse Chorus Verse (also known as Sappy) – besides the opening line serving as the title to this post, it also sticks out as one of their stronger songs.
1. All Apologies – The song I see as Cobain’s personal letter to us all. Haunting, beautiful, painful and true. Summarizes his life and his thoughts (In the sun we are as one, I’m married….buried)
Happy Anniversary, Nevermind.