ADP #6 In Utero by Nirvana

[RoundTheBend]

[mickilennial]

I feel like I’ve talked about all three Nirvana LPs in detail enough when they come up in the AOTW, so I’m not sure if I can invest myself much in discussing In Utero, unfortunately. My opinions on it are pretty concise and clear if you look through the threads of the past.

[RoundTheBend]

[mickilennial]

Here are some things I've also said:

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Ok first off - Kurt Cobain HATED it when people tried to interpret his songs. It was like, look, I make the lyrics up on the spot and it doesn't even matter... it's just words. But as a listener listens, they often want meanings. So I suppose that's what is happening here. And it's fun... I feel like he was almost like an impressionist painter with his lyrics - only "painting" the light reflections, not the details. In another way too, it's like this form of poetry of one liners that sometimes seem it doesn't match at all. I think my favorite lyric is something I feel this pseudo vegetarian friend of mine has because she only eats fish for meat: "It's ok to eat fish cause they don't have any feelings" - idk... it is this simple lyric yet on a lot of levels is interesting: the pseudo vegetarian, that argument that only humans matter that kind of started with rationalism. It's a simple lyric yet has some kind of deep/intriguing discussion possibilities.

I feel like I watched a documentary about this album and maybe it was... oh, I remember, it is an episode where Foo Fighters did their Sonic Highways thing and the song Something From Nothing was produced by Albini. Anyway, interesting stuff about this album in this one (probably can find it free somewhere, but this is what I could find: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlP5lPggk_I)

Also interesting is the Scott Litt vs Albini productions. Totally agree with the Scott Litt recordings and love how Kurt worshiped R.E.M. (Scott was longtime producer of theirs).

Serve The Servants: 100/100
"I tried hard to have a father; But instead I had a dad"

Scentless Apprentice: 100/100
"You can't fire me because I quit"
Reminds me a bit of the Violent Femmes "this will go down on your permanent record."

Heart-Shaped Box 100/100
"Cut myself on angel hair and baby's breath ... Throw down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back"

When this song came out, my father was terminally ill. Somehow I related to the eat your cancer/sickness theme this song had. I was 10 years old.

Rape Me: 100/100
This actually was a single and this is quoted from wikipeida about it: Kurt Cobain conceived "Rape Me" as an anti-rape song. He told Spin, "It's like she's saying, 'Rape me, go ahead, rape me, beat me. You'll never kill me. I'll survive this and I'm gonna fucking rape you one of these days and you won't even know it.'"

Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle:100/100
"I miss the comfort in being sad"
I love the sliding guitar in this. I know it is simple, but there's just something about it. Anyone who has suffered from depression or socially is a bit awkward can understand that lyric well.

Dumb: 100/100
"I'm not like them
But I can pretend
The sun is gone
But I have a light"

Anyone understanding child abuse and the self medication of drug abuse can understand that while this song is a bit simple (what Cobain was master of), it actually is just heartbreaking and possibly one of Nirvana's best songs.

Very Ape: 100/100
"If you ever need anything please don't hesitate
to ask someone else first
I'm too busy acting like I'm not naive."

To me it's almost like speaking to - hey, we are all human. Stop trying to be this academic. You too really don't know anything, even if you pretend to.

Milk It: 90/100
"I own my own pet virus"

I'm actually not sure why I didn't give this a higher score. Possibly due to the "guitar solo"... I mean I'm all for unconventional guitar solos, but some how this one was just the equivalent of I purposely don't even want to put effort into it. And I guess that is unique... but not my cup of tea. Still vocally very interesting. The dynamics are very interesting, and the bass is killer. I love how he almost laughs at 3:13... like a bit maniacal or possibly someone was doing something funny and he was trying to focus (I've been in the studio and well, yeah, people sometimes try and mess with you as you are cutting).

Pennyroyal Tea:100/100
"Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld
So I can sigh eternally"

Ok... I forgot who said it, but mind exploded when they explained Penny Royalty. I know, I freak out at magic tricks too... (not really but see Aziz Ansari). Always was curious about that lyric and it is so obvious now.

Radio Friendly Unit Shifter: 80/100
"I love you for what I am not
I did not want what I have got"

I love the song title. The initial riff/emotion I like, but the wanking around... eh... I don't know. I get Nirvana does this on purpose and does it well with the hidden track on Nevermind, but for this song, idk... it just didn't work for me.

Tourette's: 85/100

Moderate Rock... hahaha. Probably got dinged because while I like the concept, it just felt like they farted and this song was there... I like the riff they use for the chorus.

All Apologies:
"I wish I was like you
Easily amused"

This song for me is the equivilant of "In My Life" by The Beatles... Sure Nirvana has more complex/intriguing songs, but this really hits at the heart and is possibly their best songwriting. The unplugged version is great and I used to prefer it, but I like them equally now.



Looks like that basically averages to a 95/100. So obviously for me, song by song, this is a fantastic album.

I think someone said something like I grew up past this teenage angst phase. Yeah that's cause for you, these emotions were probably only relatable while going through puberty. Someone dealing with child abuse/neglect, self medicating drug abuse, social anxiety due to the previous issues and then becoming a world famous rockstar... idk... I don't think they are just teenage angst like the whole made up grunge sell your soul for "cool" music scene which exploded at this time. Teenage angst and grunge... blah blah blah... I hate those terms when talking about Nirvana.

[RoundTheBend]

Oh wow... obviously totally missed those Gowi. Thanks for finding it all for us. Appreciate your comments.

[RoundTheBend]

Oh and you reminded me of something I wanted to say but forgot.

Nirvana is amazing because they are just pure emotion. They are musically the most emotional group (I think) I've listened to since Shostakovitch (meaning I feel like they mastered the emotional aspect Kant talked about being the point of music... it is emotional first.) Oh also meaning since probably 1950s music.

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Oh another thing: I typically don't like noise rock or super lo-fi stuff. Nirvana helped me see how that aesthetic actually has value. Just wanted to add that.

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If your interpretations of the songs are different than mine, do share.

Already did

On Serve the Servants, why did Kurt jump between different topics? Was it simply a way of announcing how he's a different person from the Nevermind sessions, or are the topics somehow connected?

I don't think Kurt ever wrote really coherent flowing lyrics. I don't think there's much to gleem from it other than he talked about two topics in the same song. Nothing new in my opinion.

Does All Apologies foreshadow his suicide? Personally I'm not sure, due to the long time between the song's writing and his suicide. But if you think certainly yes or no, please explain.

I think it talks more about a terrible relationship he had with Courtney (which is funny cause I think he dedicated this song to her on a live recording). But that's just my opinion. I don't think this is a suicide apology or whatever.

Nobody expected the singles of Nevermind to become the radio sensations they did because by pre-1991 standards, they weren't radio-friendly...too dark, too distorted, too heavy, too angry, too depressing, etc. But as it turned out, those songs, along with several other 1991 hits, helped change what radio-friendliness meant. With that in mind, was In Utero a mainstream or anti-mainstream album?

This is a difficult question because mainstream is a pretty loose term. In one since it is absolutely mainstream - it sold millions of copies. In another since, it was anti-corporate rock and corporate was mainstream, so in that since Nirvana was always the punk rock attitude and was always anti-establishment, etc.


Unlike Nevermind, where in hindsight nearly every track could have been a radio single, In Utero greatly wavered between the conventional and the unconventional, such as tracks 2, 4, 8, 10, and 11. But why are these songs juxtaposed to radio-friendly songs like Heart-Shaped Box, Dumb, and All Apologies?

Eh - I don't think nearly every track on Nevermind could be a single. But I get what you are getting at. And to answer the question, I think I remember seeing an interview where Nirvana wanted to get back to their harsher sound, what they started with Bleach. They didn't like the overall polished sound of Nevermind.

Furthermore, In Utero constantly jumping around in mood, theme, and song structure can be a valid criticism - it's inconsistent. But perhaps that's the beauty of it because it reflected the personality/mindset of its artist? As an album, how do you feel about it?

I already stated I liked the album. But to why it is "inconsistent" I think largely had to do with drug abuse and the diffuculty Nirvana was having at the time with mental health/etc. I think they even had a shrink come to the studio (something I heard and haven't verified). But kind of like the white album, I like the differing things going on... and really for me it isn't that one song sounds like this and one song sounds like that - I think it had more to do with the differing production styles of Albini and Litt.

[RoundTheBend]