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1[[quoteright:298:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nirvana.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:298: The classic line-up of Nirvana. From left to right: Music/KurtCobain, Krist Novoselic, and Music/DaveGrohl.]]
3[floatboxright:
4Influences:
5+ Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheMonkees, Music/{{ABBA}}, Music/BlackSabbath, Music/{{Queen}}, Music/{{Soundgarden}}, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/SexPistols, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Melvins}}, Music/{{Kiss}}, Music/CelticFrost, Music/BlackFlag, Music/{{Tad}}, Music/{{Mudhoney}}, Music/SonicYouth, Music/LeadBelly, Music/TheVaselines, Music/{{Devo}}, Music/TheVelvetUnderground, Music/BigBlack, Music/{{Swans}}, Music/{{Wipers}}, Music/DinosaurJr, Music/ScratchAcid, Music/TheJesusLizard, Music/TheShaggs, Music/{{Aerosmith}}, Music/DanielJohnston, Music/KillingJoke, Music/ShonenKnife, Music/TerryJacks, Music/TheGerms
6]
7->''I'm worse at what I do best,\
8and for this gift, I feel blessed.\
9Our little group has always been,\
10and always will until the end.''
11-->-- '''"Smells Like Teen Spirit"'''
12
13Nirvana was a {{grunge}} band formed in 1987 in Aberdeen, UsefulNotes/{{Washington}} up in the [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest Pacific Northwest]][[note]]'''not''' UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}}, as is commonly assumed, though Seattle is where they first hit it big[[/note]], regularly considered among the upper echelons of modern rock music as a whole for their work in popularizing and influencing the grunge and {{alternative rock}} scenes of TheNineties, most prominently with their smash hit 1991 album ''Music/{{Nevermind|Album}}''.
14
15The trio of guitarist and frontman Music/KurtCobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and a revolving door of drummers (eventually settling on Music/DaveGrohl by the time of ''Nevermind'') would become the face of the '90s grunge movement. The group is most well known for the [[SignatureSong songs]] "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Come as You Are", "Heart-Shaped Box", and "You Know You're Right".
16
17Although they disbanded following Cobain's death in April 1994, the band still remained popular, releasing many compilation and live albums over the years, and Grohl would go on to form Music/FooFighters, one of the most respected and successful bands in modern alt-rock.
18----
19
20!! Principal Members (Founding members in '''bold'''):
21
22* '''Music/KurtCobain''' - Lead vocals, guitar (1987–94, died 1994)
23* '''Krist Novoselic''' - Bass, accordion (1987–94, 2014)
24* Music/DaveGrohl - Drums, backing vocals, guitar (1990–94, 2014)
25* '''Aaron Burckhard''' - Drums (1987–88)
26* Chad Channing - Drums, cymbals (1988–90)
27* [[Music/{{Melvins}} Dale Crover]] - Drums (1988–90)
28* Jason Everman - Guitar (1989)
29* [[Music/TheGerms Pat Smear]] - Guitar (1993-94)
30* Dave Foster - Drums (1988)
31* Dan Peters - Drums (1990)
32----
33
34!! Studio and Live Discography:
35
36[[index]]
37* 1989 - ''Music/{{Bleach|Album}}''
38* 1990 - ''Blew''
39* 1991 - ''Music/{{Nevermind|Album}}''
40* 1992 - ''Music/{{Incesticide}}'' [[note]] Odds and ends compilation released as a stopgap between albums [[/note]]
41* 1992 - ''Hormoaning'' [[note]] EP only released in Australia and Japan [[/note]]
42* 1993 - ''Music/InUtero''
43* 1994 - ''Music/MTVUnpluggedInNewYork''
44* 1996 - ''From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah''
45* 2009 - ''Live at Reading''
46* 2011 - ''Live at the Paramount''
47[[/index]]
48----
49
50!! Smells Like Trope Spirit:
51* AlbumTitleDrop:
52** From "Smells Like Teen Spirit": The line "Oh well, whatever, ''Nevermind''"
53** "Come as You Are", also on ''Nevermind'', actually has the title drop from their ''previous'' album, ''Bleach'':
54---> "Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach. As I want you to be."
55%% * AlternativeRock
56* AntiLoveSong: "About a Girl".
57* AudienceParticipationSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m246v9Lclp8 As seen in this video,]] the audience would supply the shriek in "Milk It" if Kurt missed it.
58* {{Bowdlerise}}: The version of ''In Utero'' sold in UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}} changes the title of "Rape Me" to "Waif Me" and alters the artwork on the back. It's still the same inside, though.
59* BreadEggsMilkSquick: The chorus for "In Bloom""
60-->"He's the one\
61Who likes all the pretty songs\
62And he likes to sing along\
63And he likes to shoot his gun."
64* BrokenRecord: A lot of songs feature repeating lyrics due to the band's focus on melody and energy over what was being sung.
65** From "Sliver": There's "Grandma take me home, grandma take me home..." (It repeats this ''49 times'' to depict an annoyed[=/=]annoying child.)
66** From "Dumb": There's "I think I'm dumb".
67** From "Breed": There's "She said".
68** From "School": There's "You're in high school again", "No recess", and "Won't you believe it; it's just my luck", (in fact, pretty much all the lyrics of this song qualify).
69** From "All Apologies": There's "All in all is all we all are"
70** From "Smells Like Teen Spirit": "A denial" and "Hello, hello, hello, how low?"
71** From "Come As You Are": "Memoria" and "No, I don't have a gun"
72** From "Aneurysm": There's "Beat me outta me".
73** From "Rape Me": There's "I'm not the only one" and "Rape me".
74** From "Heart-Shaped Box": There's "Your advice".
75** From "Serve the Servants": There's "Serve the servants, oh no".
76** From "You Know You're Right": There's, well, "[[TitleDrop You know you're right.]]"
77** The whole of the lyrics of "Stain".
78** From "Negative Creep": There's "Daddy's little girl ain't a girl no more" and "I'm a negative creep, I'm a negative creep, I'm a negative creep and I'm stoned" (as with "School", most of the lyrics from this song qualify).
79* CensoredTitle: On some copies of ''In Utero'', "Rape Me" was titled "Waif Me".
80* ConceptAlbum: While not an outright one, all the songs on ''Nevermind'' tend to follow the general themes of teenage sexuality, loneliness, the madness that results from rejection, or an obsession over a girl.
81** Again while not an outright one, ''In Utero'' is mostly about Cobain's CreatorBreakdown and dealing with his new found fame.
82* CoverVersion:
83** ''Bleach'': "Love Buzz" by Shocking Blue.
84** ''Incesticide'': "Molly's Lips" and "Son of a Gun" by The Vaselines, and "Turn Around" by Music/{{Devo}}.
85** ''MTV Unplugged in New York'': "Jesus Don't Want Me for a Sunbeam" by The Vaselines, "Plateau", "Oh, Me", and "Lake of Fire" by the Music/MeatPuppets; the {{title track}} of ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' by Music/DavidBowie; and the folk song "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" (a.k.a. "In the Pines"), which was famously recorded by Music/{{Leadbelly}}.
86** Besides the ones above, some others were recorded live (or as demos) and have surfaced on compilations, B-sides and [=EPs=] (mostly ''With the Lights Out'') -- "Heartbreaker" and "Moby Dick" by Music/LedZeppelin, "They Hung Him on a Cross", "Grey Goose", and "Ain't It a Shame" by Leadbelly, "Here She Comes Now" by The Music/VelvetUnderground, "D-7" and "Return of the Rat" by The Wipers, "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks, "Do You Love Me?" by Music/{{KISS}}, "The Money Will Roll Right In" by Fang, and "The End" by Music/TheDoors.
87* CymbalBangingMonkey: In the video for "Sliver".
88* DarkerAndEdgier: ''In Utero'', compared to ''Nevermind''.
89* DeadpanSnarker:
90** Kurt has moments of this on ''MTV Unplugged in New York'', crossed with SelfDeprecation. For example: Before playing "The Man Who Sold the World", he says: "I guarantee you I will screw this song up. And I know exactly which part", to which someone in the background (probably Dave) snarks: "Yeah, like he only screws up one part." Then, at the end of the song, "I didn't screw it up, did I? But here's another one I could screw up."
91** Also in the same album, before playing "About a Girl", he states: "This is off our first record; most people don't own it."
92** Even Krist has moments of this. When asked what is his favorite ''Nirvana'' song he replied something along the lines of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", because "it bought my first house."
93** When Krist spends a bit too much time addressing a Brazilian festival crowd, Kurt snarks both: "I think 'oh oh oh' means 'Shut up, Krist.'"
94* DownerEnding: Both ''Nevermind'' and ''In Utero'' end with depressing songs.
95* EverythingIsAnInstrument: The original 45" mix of "Oh the Guilt" uses lighter clicks for rhythmic effect.
96* {{Foreshadowing}}:
97** "You can't fire me / 'cause I quit" ("Scentless Apprentice").
98** "Married, buried" (From "All Apologies" -- Kurt would be both shortly).
99* FourMoreMeasures: "Sifting", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and "Aneurysm".
100** After the second chorus of "Lounge Act", there's a four measure break from the vocals -- probably so that Kurt could prepare for the [[MetalScream glorious final verse.]]
101* GarageBand: They started out this way.
102* TheGirlWhoFitsThisSlipper: "About a Girl" includes the line: "I do... Think you fit this shoe."
103* GratuitousLatin:
104** In the chorus of "Come as You Are", Kurt recites the word "memoria", which means "memory" in Latin and some Romance languages as well.
105** The title of the third album, ''In Utero'', is a phrase borrowed from Latin meaning "in the womb".
106* {{Grunge}}: The poster boys, but are generally considered to have transcended the genre due to their widespread influence in other areas of music.
107* HaveAGayOldTime: Surprisingly for an early '90s band, but it pops up in "All Apologies":
108-->''What else should I say? Everyone is gay.''
109** Though there are suggestions that Kurt ''meant'' to say the modern meaning of the word. Being well-read as he was, it's unlikely that he didn't know the double meaning, so he likely wanted to sneak in a pun here.
110* HiddenTrack:
111** On some copies of ''Nevermind'', "Endless, Nameless".
112** "Verse Chorus Verse" (better known to fans as "Sappy") was originally released as a hidden track on the benefit album ''No Alternative'' -- Nirvana requested that the song go unlisted because they didn't want to overshadow the other artists on the album.
113** The "Sliver" single included an unlisted recording of a short phone conversation, which basically consisted of Creator/SubPop co-founder Jonathan Poneman calling up a very hungover Krist Novoselic.
114* IAmTheBand: Kurt Cobain was the frontman, lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the band. It became a source of tension later on when Kurt wanted the majority of the publishing royalties.
115* IDontKnowMortalKombat: Krist [[http://www.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2008/12/old_songs_on_a_new_screen.php fumbled]] when playing "In Bloom" on ''VideoGame/RockBand 2''.
116* IndecipherableLyrics: "Tourette's". And don't bother looking at the lyric sheet on ''In Utero'' for help, it just says "[[SignificantAnagram Cufk, Tish, Sips]]."
117** SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: Near the end you'll hear "cold heart!" after the incoherent babbling.
118** "Token Eastern Song" is one of several songs that were indecipherable due to being left unfinished. Notably, some early bootlegs labeled the song as "Junkyard" because fans tended to hear the chorus as "born in a junkyard" - it's officially "hold it in your gut".
119* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: "Rape Me", "Moist Vagina", and ''Music/{{Incesticide}}''.
120** They did tone it down for "Rape Me", which they renamed "Waif Me", when big box stores threatened to refuse to stock ''In Utero''; this concession was made only because they didn't want kids to not be able to discover their music, since they were once in that position themselves. Thus, the "censored" version of this album - which didn't actually make any changes to "Rape Me" beyond how it was listed on the back - was born.
121* IntercourseWithYou: "Spank Thru", which is probably about a guy trying to get his girlfriend to do the nasty with him, trying to woo her poetically at first and then getting right to the point.
122* InTheStyleOf:
123** Cobain once stated that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was a deliberate attempt to write a song that sounded like Music/ThePixies.
124** "About a Girl" was his crack at an early era [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]] tune, and more generally, he wanted ''In Utero'' to be his ''Sgt. Pepper's''.
125* LeadSingerPlaysLeadGuitar: Kurt was definitely this in studio, since he was the band's sole guitarist, but played this role live too. Even when the band had another guitarist, like Pat Smear, on stage, Kurt still played the guitar solos and more melodic guitar leads.
126* LoudnessWar:
127** The 2011 remaster of ''Nevermind'' is completely ruined by this.
128** As is the box set ''With The Lights Out.'' Luckily, most of the songs had previously been bootlegged and so the bootlegged versions don't suffer from this issue.
129* LyricalColdOpen: "Drain You", "Pennyroyal Tea", and "Sappy".
130* LyricalDissonance: "Lithium", "Sliver", "Polly", and arguably "You Know You're Right".
131* MetalScream: The number of songs in which Cobain doesn't start yelling the lyrics (or [[CarefulWithThatAxe just screams,]] such as "Love Buzz") is really small.
132* MisaimedFandom: {{Invoked|Trope}}:
133** The liner notes of ''Incesticide'' have Kurt complaining that "Polly" was sung by actual rapists.
134** Likewise, "In Bloom", despite being allegedly inspired by Kurt's friend and fellow musician Dylan Carlson, is arguably more about thugs who like Nirvana's music, but stand for everything Kurt hated. He also expressed a fear of the image of a yuppie singing along to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in his BMW.
135** In general, this played a major role in Cobain becoming disillusioned with the public image and fame he received after the success of ''Nevermind''. He strongly felt that he and his message had been misinterpreted and that a lot of his fans admired him for being somebody he wasn't. An example of this could be how the lyrics of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" led to him being named the "spokesman of a generation", even though he put little thought into them and considered them to be meaningless blather. Thus why he recorded ''In Utero'' with the intention of driving all of these same people away.
136* NewSoundAlbum: ''MTV Unplugged in New York'' is perhaps the most obvious example for being acoustic. It was also Nirvana's first live album, and nearly half of the songs performed during the show were covers. Their three main studio albums also have distinct, albeit slightly more subtle, differences.
137** ''Bleach'' was released on Sub Pop, and Kurt tried his best to bury his pop instincts to better appeal to the then small indie-minded grunge scene. As a result, the album has very simplistic riffs and lyrics.
138** ''Nevermind'' was released on Geffen, so Kurt let his pop instincts shine more, which was enhanced by Butch Vig's more polished production.
139** ''In Utero'' was intentionally made to sound more abrasive and unpolished, but there are still plenty of catchy songs.
140* NonAppearingTitle:
141** "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle", "Lithium", Territorial Pissings", and "Lounge Act".
142** [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]] in "Verse, Chorus, Verse", where the song does follow that format, but the words themselves never appear in the song.
143* PerishingAltRockVoice: This was Kurt's main singing style.
144* PopCulturalOsmosis: Nirvana are ''much'' more popular and well known than many bands who inspired them, e.g. Music/{{Melvins}}, Music/BlackFlag, Music/CelticFrost, and Music/ThePixies. Nearly every song they covered became a case of CoveredUp, even if they were originally performed by well known artists like Music/DavidBowie.
145* PrecisionFStrike:
146** "Lounge Act":
147-->"'til it's '''fucking''' gone."
148** "Aneurysm":
149-->"Come on over and shoot the shit."
150* PunBasedTitle:
151** ''Hormoaning'', ''Incesticide'', and "Anorexorcist".
152** Carrying the joke from ''Incesticide'' further, there's the compilation bootlegs collectively called ''Outcesticide.''
153** Kurt saw a poster aiming to prevent AIDS by advocating needle sterilization with the slogan "Bleach your works." Thus he decided to do that, naming his album ''Music/{{Bleach|Album}}.''
154* PunkRock:
155** All three members, were heavily influenced by punk rock.
156** "Breed", "Mr. Moustache" and "Radio-Friendly Unit Shifter" are some of their punkiest songs.
157** It's also noted that their touring guitar player, Pat Smear was a former member of the HardcorePunk band, The Germs.
158* RapeAsDrama: "Polly". They later did "Rape Me", which according to Kurt is about "sort of [[LaserGuidedKarma poetic justice,]] where a guy rapes a girl, ends up in jail, [[PrisonRape and gets raped there.]]"
159* RecurringRiff: The "Smells Like Teen Spirit" riff re-appears throughout ''Nevermind'' as a RunningGag of sorts.
160* RefugeInAudacity: Cobain screams: "God is gay" at the end of "Stay Away". [[TheUnintelligible They probably avoided controversy, because nobody could understand what Cobain was screaming]] -- in fact, the lyric is pretty easily misheard as: "Gotta stay."
161* {{Retraux}}: For the "In Bloom" video, the band dressed up as a 1960's pop group. The video was shot with old Kinescope cameras.
162* RevolvingDoorBand: They had five drummers before Dave -- and also an extra guitarist, who even financed ''Bleach,'' appears on the cover, but doesn't play there. Chad Channing was the only other drummer, to play on a Nirvana studio album.
163* RockTrio: The best known line-up of Kurt, Krist, and Dave. [[note]] Kurt intended the band to be a four piece, though, thus [[Music/TheGerms Pat Smear]] joining as the fourth member near the band's end. [[/note]]
164** WithAFriendAndAStranger: Krist was Kurt's friend in Aberdeen, and Dave their ''sixth'' drummer.
165** FourTemperamentEnsemble: Kurt: melancholic / choleric; Krist: phlegmatic; Dave: sanguine; Pat: leukine.
166* RockersSmashGuitars: Kurt loved doing this. At times extending to the drums or amps.
167* SelfDeprecation:
168** "I Hate Myself and Want to Die" was supposed to mock Nirvana's depressing image. It was even going to be the title for ''In Utero'' until he was persuaded to change it, fearing a potential lawsuit.
169** "I have... Very... Bad posture..." ("Pennyroyal Tea;" a MultipleReferencePun, to either Kurt's bad attitude or his crooked, often hurting back)
170* ShoutOut:
171** The song "Scentless Apprentice" [[FilkSong is inspired by Patrick Süskind's novel]] ''Literature/{{Perfume}}.''
172** Kurt's suicide note, as quoted above, was a shout-out to the godfather of grunge, Music/NeilYoung.
173** In their cover of "Do You Love Me" by Music/{{Kiss}}, they replaced the lyrics: "And all the money, honey, that I make," with "And all the Music/{{Mudhoney}} that I make."
174** "[[Music/{{Aerosmith}} Aero]] [[Music/LedZeppelin Zeppelin.]]"
175* SmokingIsCool: Cobain was a smoker through and through, but he urged a young British fan to not pick up the habit as seen in the end of ''Live at Reading''. As he gave an autograph, he happened to have a lit cigarette in one hand, and emphatically told the boy, "Don't smoke."
176* SongStyleShift: "Aneurysm" goes from uptempo to a different slower groove, all before the first verse is even sung.
177* SpiritualAntithesis: On top of grunge's broader rivalry with HairMetal, Nirvana were positioned as the antithesis of Music/GunsNRoses specifically. Cobain made it no secret that he hated [=GnR=], calling them the kind of "cock rock" that he was rebelling against, which caused Axl Rose to dismiss Nirvana as music by and for heroin junkies.
178* SpringtimeForHitler: ''In Utero'' was Kurt's attempt to alienate their newfound fandom, by making a noise rock record. It became another big hit, instead.
179* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Music/DaveGrohl on the BSide "Marigold." Grohl wrote it, played guitar, and drums, with Krist Novoselic on bass, and Kurt Cobain not appearing on the song at all.
180** Krist occasionally sang live too, most memorably one time during "Scoff" when Kurt had to move to one side to fix his guitar mid song.
181* StylisticSuck: The crows in the video for "Heart-Shaped Box".
182** The infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzRAZ1uS-Ao Top Of The Tops performance]]. The band were expecting to perform live, but the show's producers told them that they'd be miming to a backing track - except for Kurt who was expected to sing live. In protest the band turned in a deliberately terrible performance, with Kurt singing Smells like Teen Spirit in the style of a bored lounge room singer and the rest of the band not even bothering to pretend to mime to the backing track.
183* TakeThat: Apparently, Nirvana had been placed in the "Moderate Rock" genre by Geffen Records. They didn't seem to agree. [[note]]Which is perfectly understandable, given that most artists signed to Geffen at that time – maybe with the exception of [[Music/{{Slayer}} Slayer]] – were considerably softer in style.[[/note]] Hence the song "Tourette's" opens with Kurt snorting the words "Moderate Rock" before launching into one of the albums fastest and noisiest songs.
184* ThisIsASong: "On a Plain". To wit: "I'll start this off, without any words... What the hell am I trying to say? It is now time, to make it unclear, to write off lines that don't make sense... One more special message to go..." And in between are a bunch of WordSaladLyrics.
185* ThisLoserIsYou: "In Bloom" ...Or the chorus, at least:
186-->He's the one who likes all our pretty songs, and he likes to sing along, and he likes to shoot his gun, but he... Knows not what it means when I sing it.
187* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: Ran off this trope. Cobain himself said, that all his songs follow the same format: Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Solo, Bad Solo, Verse, Chorus.
188* TitleDrop: "Paper Cuts" drops the band name in the lyrics.
189* TitleOnlyChorus: "Something in the Way" and "You Know You're Right" (if you don't count the "heyyyyyy").
190* TheUnintelligible: When Music/WeirdAlYankovic approached the band, about making a parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (as "Smells Like Nirvana"), Music/KurtCobain inquired if it would be centered about food. When Weird Al answered that it would be about Kurt's IndecipherableLyrics, due to his singing, he was immediately given the green-light.
191* ThrashMetal: "Negative Creep" and "Annorexorcist" has elements of the genre.
192* TransatlanticEquivalent: A band influenced by punk hailing from an economically depressed (at the time) northern city, with a depressed lead singer who commits suicide, leaving behind a wife and a young daughter. The drummer forms a new band that turns out to be a LongRunner. We could easily be talking about Nirvana or Music/JoyDivision.
193* UnpluggedVersion:
194** Nirvana's performance on ''MTV Unplugged'' contains several of these. The UnpluggedVersion of "All Apologies" was a hit single.
195** ''Nevermind'' also has two unplugged songs: "Polly" (which, in an inversion, they also played electrically as "(New Wave) Polly") and "Something in the Way".
196* WhamLine: Kurt Cobain shows off his talents as a lyricist with the first two lines of "Polly:"
197-->Polly wants a cracker\
198Think I should get off her first.
199* WordSaladLyrics:
200** Their most famous song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", doesn't appear to be about anything. Even Kurt and Dave said that it doesn't mean anything.
201** Kurt himself {{lampshade|Hanging}}d this in "On a Plain", with the lines: "What the hell am I trying to say?" and "It is now time to make it unclear / To write off lines that don't make sense." Then again, that is a song about writer's block...
202** Good luck with deciphering the lyrics of "Milk It".
203----
204-->''Oh well, whatever, nevermind.''

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