9 Most Underrated Nirvana Songs
Smells like the only song you know.
Considering their unimaginable fame, enduring legacy and incredible cultural presence, Nirvana weren’t actually together that long.
Releasing their debut record in 1989, Nirvana disbanded in 1994 following the untimely death of iconic lead vocalist, Kurt Cobain. Much like other huge bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sex Pistols and The Clash, Nirvana had a deceptively short career but that didn’t stop them from releasing some iconic tunes.
Nirvana's most famous release is of course their second record, 1991’s ‘Nevermind’ which featured key grunge tunes such as ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, ‘Lithium’, ‘Come As You Are’, ‘Breed’ and other great, timeless tunes. Beyond these superstardom level singles, Nirvana also released a number of great tracks that have gradually fallen into the background of their discography and are sadly majorly overlooked.
Due to its unrivalled success, you could argue that any Nirvana song not called ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is potentially underrated. But, we will disregard this possibility today and instead focus on the bands overlooked singles, hidden gem B-sides, and most criminally underrated early career tracks.
These are the most underrated Nirvana songs of all time.
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.