Seattle was the birthplace of a subculture and new alternative rock genre that would forever influence music, named Grunge. During the early '90s, with the release of many amazing records by different rock bands, such as Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, the movement stopped being an underground thing and became a worldwide commercial success.
And if there's an iconic band that represents that time of music, that's Nirvana. Despite their short time as a mainstream act and their tragic ending, it was a band that marked a generation and their songs will be played forever. Here are their ten songs that are most listened to.
10 Sliver - 39 Million Views
The video for the song Sliver is one of the most viewed in the band's Youtube channel, with over 39 million views. This song was first released as a single in 1990, a year before Nirvana put out their most successful album, Nevermind, and it was released under Sub Pop, an independent record label that signed many Seattle bands.
Later, in 1992, when the band was already a commercial success, it was included in the compilation album Incesticide. The music video was made in 1993, and it features Kurt Cobain's daughter Frances Bean dancing at the beginning.
9 You Know You're Right - 74 Million Views
This song is very special, as it is the last song Nirvana recorded in 1994, shortly before Kurt Cobain's death. The video is a compilation of different moments of the band's concerts.
There was some controversy around the release of this song, as there were disagreements between Kurt's widow, Courtney Love, and surviving members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, which ended in a legal fight. Luckily, it was resolved in 2002 without needing to go to court, and the song was released in the Nirvana greatest hits album the same year.
8 All Apologies - 81 Million Views
All Apologies was the second single from the band's third and last album, In Utero, which came out in 1993. The version that received 81 million views on Youtube is the one from Nirvana's MTV Unplugged concert, and fans love it, but it wouldn't have been Kurt Cobain's choice.
"I don't think it was the best performance of the Unplugged thing," he said in an interview, and added that he thought they'd "played that song a lot better before," but he agreed that it was a song that worked very well acoustically. The song was performed by Lorde when the band was inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
7 About A Girl - 107 Million Views
About a Girl is a song from Nirvana's first album, Bleach, from 1989. After Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, Nirvana's MTV Unplugged concert was going to be released as part of the album MTV Unplugged in New York, and their acoustic performance of this song was released as a single.
This version features Pat Smear on the second guitar, who had joined in 1993 and came from the legendary punk band, The Germs. This version was a lot more successful than the one in the studio album because Bleach came out before Nirvana became popular.
6 In Bloom - 125 Million Views
In Bloom was first recorded in 1990, and the band played it live on some occasions, but it only came out as a single in 1992, after the release of Nevermind, as the album's last single. The music video shows the band dressed as a group from the early '60s.
Krist Novoselic talked about how much the song changed from the first recording to the official version. He said that after playing it live Kurt Cobain went home and kept working on it. Then he called the bassist and played the song over the phone. To Krist, Kurt made it "more of a pop thing."
5 Lithium - 184 Million Views
Lithium was the third single of the album Nevermind. The video for this song is a compilation of Nirvana concerts, and it's now used to raise funds for the World Health Organization. This is a very raw and intense song, and Kurt Cobain explained how he wrote it.
"The story is about a guy who lost his girlfriend. I can't decide what caused her to die, let's say she died of AIDS or a car accident or something, and he's going around brooding and he turned to religion as a last resort to keep himself alive. To keep him from suicide." He said it's a made-up story, but influenced by personal experiences.
4 Heart-Shaped Box - 187 Million Views
Heart-Shaped Box was the first single from In Utero, and it came out in August 1993. The song reached number 1 in the Billboard modern rock charts, and it topped the charts in several countries. It was also the last song Kurt Cobain ever performed live during Nirvana's last concert in Munich in March 1994.
The music video was Kurt Cobain's idea. It starts with the band sitting in a hospital room, watching a man unconscious in a bed. After that, most of the video takes place in a sort of fantasy land. In the end, the hospital setting returns.
3 The Man Who Sold The World - 308 Million Views
This is a David Bowie song which Nirvana covered, but their version became very popular, especially the one at the MTV Unplugged. That's why the video of the song at the acoustic concert is among the three most viewed ones of the band's. David Bowie really liked their version, and this is what he said about it.
"I was simply blown away when I found that Kurt Cobain liked my work, and have always wanted to talk to him about his reasons for covering The Man Who Sold the World. It was a good straight forward rendition and sounded somehow very honest. It would have been nice to have worked with him, but just talking with him would have been really cool."
2 Come As You Are - 363 Million Views
Come As You Are was the second single from Nevermind, and it was released in March 1992. The song caused some controversy at the time because it was similar to the son Eighties by the band Killing Joke.
"We met to discuss what the second single would be. We couldn’t decide between ‘Come as You Are’ and ‘In Bloom.’ Kurt was nervous about ‘Come as You Are’ because it was too similar to a Killing Joke song, but we all thought it was still the better song to go with. And, he was right, Killing Joke later did complain about it," said Nirvana's then-manager, Danny Goldberg.
1 Smells Like Teen Spirit - 1 Billion Views
Smells Like Teen Spirit is Nirvana's most watched music video. The song is now the anthem of grunge, but its success was a big surprise for the band and the Seattle music community. It meant the beginning of the commercial success and attention that the band dreaded, and Kurt Cobain said that sometimes he couldn't even play that song. "I can barely, especially on a bad night like tonight, get through Teen Spirit. I literally want to throw my guitar down and walk away. I can’t pretend to have a good time playing it."
About writing the song, he said: "I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band — or at least in a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard."
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