9 Most Underrated Nirvana Songs

9. Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle

As one of the few songs to feature on this album from Nirvana’s third and final studio album, ‘In Utero’, ‘Frances Farmer’ is an example of the band’s incredible song writing ability, as they feed off obscure history and taboo subjects.

The real life story behind the actress Frances Farmer is quite dark, and suits the murky, trudging grunge tone of Nirvana perfectly. Frances Farmer was a Seattle based actress who was sent to a mental institution for eight years in 1942, after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Upon release, she wrote an autobiography about her experiences in the mental institute in gritty, gnarly detail. The song was written by Kurt as a way to take a shot at the method of institutionalising people against their will, and that it can happen to anyone at any time.

The song also criticised Lynn Hirschberg, a writer for Vanity Fair, who wrote a rather damning story about Courtney Love. In the long run it seems Nirvana got the final laugh as they’re certainly much more recognisable than Hirschberg.