Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' Ranked 3rd Most Depressing Rock Song by Far Out
Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' Ranked 3rd Most Depressing Rock Song by Far Out
Nicole MooreSun, August 30, 2026 at 1:27 AM UTC
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The grunge band Nirvanaproduced their fair share of less-than-cheery tunes. For instance, one of the band’s biggest hits, “Something in the Way,” off their celebrated 1991 album, Nevermind, was included on Far Out magazine’s list of “the 10 most depressing rock songs ever.” The 3 minute-and-52-second track, penned by Kurt Cobain, took home the ranking’s third spot, with the publication noting that the song’s lyrics paint a rather bleak picture of a person with very limited means.
The Far Out magazine list also included songs likeEric Clapton‘s “Tears in Heaven” from 1992, 1977’s “Songbird” byFleetwood Mac, andLed Zeppelin‘s “All My Love,” released in 1979, with Johnny Cash‘s 2002 cover of “Hurt” being named the “most depressing rock song ever.”
‘Nevermind’ Producer Butch Vig Spoke About Making ‘Something in the Way’ in a 2021 Interview
In a 2021 interview with NME, Butch Vig, the producer of Nevermind, said that “Something in the Way” “was the hardest song to do by far” while making the record, which also included tracks like “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Come as You Are,” and “Polly.”
“The other songs we tracked pretty quick – once we were set up, had the sounds and everything, they nailed everything in one or two, three takes tops,” said the producer, now 71, in the NME interview.
He explained that they “tried doing ‘Something In The Way’ out in the studio and it just didn’t work.”
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“[T]he drums were too big and loud. Kurt tried an electric guitar, he couldn’t play it on acoustic [at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California] because the room was just too loud,” continued Vig. “So out of frustration he came into the control room and started playing it on the couch. And I said, ‘Hold on, let’s just record it right here’. So I kicked everybody out of the control room, brought a mic in, turned the fans off and unplugged the phone and we recorded him on acoustic guitar there and then, and built the song from it.”
He then said the band eventually “moved from the big studio into the small studio,” where he “had to go back and overdub Krist [Novoselic] and Dave [Grohl],” which proved to be difficult for the bass player and drummer.
“[T]hat was hard because they were used to all play together and now they had to play to this real mellow acoustic [track],” said the producer in the 2021 interview. “We drove Dave real crazy because he’d start playing and immediately it would start getting louder, I’d go ‘You have to play it quiet!’ [but] Dave can’t help himself. He played it great every time but it was always getting louder and louder. After five or six takes he finally nailed one that had a really good dynamic to it.”
In addition, Vig theorized that “Something in the Way” was much more personal to Cobain, who died by suicide in 1994 at the age of 27, than some listeners may expect.
“Kurt’s very much writing about himself. He could be the guy under the bridge [in the lyrics],” said Vig.
This story was originally published by Parade on Aug 30, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
