The Ten Best Songs by Nirvana, Not Considered to Be a Hit

To commemorate the September 24^th anniversary release of the revolutionary album Nevermind, I present the ten best songs written and performed by Nirvana not to be considered a "hit" by the corporate dinosaurs and the commercially-digestive public.

10) "Aneurysm" - Incesticide

The final song on the bands "B-Side" album, this track (written about a girl Kurt Cobain was infatuated with before he became involved with Courtney Love) contains a simple yet universal verse seen since the dawn of rock n' roll;

Come on over and do the twist/
Over do it and have a fit/
Love you so much it makes me sick/
Come on over and shoot the shit;

And Cobain completes the love sick track with one of the best lines ever screamed to music;

She keeps it pumping straight to my heart.

9) "Francis Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle" - In Utero

This song off of the band's number one final album contains several elements from Cobain's personal life;

It's all soothing, now that you sue me/
Starting to sound the same;

But also one of the all-time best emo lines ever written (in a good way);

I miss the comfort in being sad;

The track hits its peak with the bridge that brings rock n' roll back to the simpler time of garage bands feeding their songs with distorted waves and catchy melodies from economical amplifiers.

8) "Do Re Mi" - With the Lights Out Box

Recorded shortly before his death, this haunting home demo by Cobain stands as one of his swan songs. The pounding rage and rhythm of the acoustic guitar meshed with Cobain's groaning vocals present a dark, disturbed world few could understand. Although not released until several years after his death, this straightforward record lends itself to the simplicity of the common tune to make it pure genius.

7) "School" - Bleach

From the band's debut album recorded in 1989, Nirvana's flashback of teenage angst, confusion and compete alienation splash into a hard-hitting, punk archetype for the powder-punk of the mid-to-late 1990's. The only three lines remain timeless to memories of any listener to the troubles and self-doubt which plagued every not-so-popular high school student;

Won't ever leave it/
It's just my luck

No recess

You're in high school again.

6) "Serve the Servants" - In Utero

One of the most fitting titles for any god of music, the first track from the band's final album begins the only way it can;

Teenage angst has paid off well/
Now I'm bored and old;

And the song only continues on to become one of Cobain's best lyrical achievements, but scratching only at the surface of his personal and professional insecurities.

5) "Dive" - Incesticide

Courtney Love's favorite song by her husband, the track begins the band's B-Side album with a bang, as his poignant and distressing vocals discharge into any listener's heart, enabling it to become any fan's personal favorite (despite the opinions of the Widow).

4) "Breed" - Nevermind

Currently the only Nirvana song to be used in television commercials, this track contains one of the best love choruses ever written about the opposite sex, by far;

Even if you have, even if you need/
I don't need to stare, we don't have to breed/
We can plant a house, we can build a tree/
I don't even care, we can have all three/
She said;

The relentless and intense tempo of the guitar, bass and drums, in combination with the genius lyrics of the verses and the chorus contribute to one of the best (anti)love songs ever to be accepted by the mainstream.

3) "Something in the Way" - Nevermind

The softest song recorded by the hardest pop-group of the 1990's, the record was utilized to show Cobain's gentler side, as well as some(what) fictionalized elements of his past. The song focuses around a young homeless man living under a bridge, which many prestigious music journalists believed to be autobiographical on Cobain's part, but only began the legend;

Underneath the bridge, tarp has sprung a leak/
And the animals I've trapped, have all become my pets/
And I'm living off of grass, and the drippings from the ceiling/
It's ok to eat fish, because they don't have any feelings;

The song was written from his personal experience through the divorce of his parents, and how at most times he felt he was that "something" that was in the way. Instead, Cobain made the cello the fourth instrument in any hard rock band.

2) "Opinion" - With the Lights Out Box

Recorded live at a local radio-show appearance by Kurt Cobain, this acoustic solo song was one of the first to be released as a bootleg after his death (before the controversial trial between the band and the Widow over the rights of the unreleased tracks). It also stands as the peak of the vocal abilities of Cobain to strike at the soul of the average teenager with yet another simple acoustic melody too genius to ever be written by any single man;

Congratulations, you have won/
It's a year's subscriptions of bad puns/
And a - make shift story of concern/
And to - set it up before it burns/
My opinion/
Now there seems to be a problem here/
The scale of emotions seem to clear/
Now they - rise and fall like Wall Street stock/
And they - have an effect on our peace talks/
Your opinion.

1) "Polly" - Nevermind

Written by Cobain about an article concerning an abducted and tortured woman he read about in the newspaper, "Polly" stands as the most influential songs by the band. While "Smells Like Teen Spirit" stands as the single song to completely capsize popular culture and influence the aspirations of Generation X, no other sound has had its impact on any and every chart-topping acoustic track than this song. Just the resonance of Cobain's cheap, out-of-tune guitar became the staple of every producer trying to capture the essence of the timbre of his vocals and musicianship, alongside Krist Novoselic's pulsing bass and Dave Grohl's single symbol splash to jump-start each chorus, in order to clone one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded. The band, even on a subliminal level, understood it as one of their most important contributions to music; it was recorded in six different variations released by the band themselves, including the solo acoustic, original album, New Wave (available on Incesticide), live, Unplugged and demo versions. Each adaptation of the original vision achieves a different feeling for the listener, as well as a different interpretation of the song. In my humble opinion, the very best song ever written and recorded by Kurt Cobain.