About

Genius Annotation

“Something in the Way” is the twelfth and final song on Nirvana’s major label debut, Nevermind—not including its hidden track, “Endless, Nameless.” While many fans believed that the lyrics were auto-biographical, concerning a stint of vagrancy in Kurt Cobain’s life, this common misconception has been refuted by several sources. According to Michael Azerrad’s September 1993 biography, Come As You Are, Cobain said the concept was supposed to be:

…like if I was living under the bridge and I was dying of A.I.D.S., if I was sick and I couldn’t move and I was a total street person. That was kind of the fantasy of it.

Nonetheless, historians seem to agree that it was the Young Street Bridge which inspired this haunting composition, as Kurt would often hang out nearby and fish along the famous Wishkah River when he was a teenager. This location has become a sort of memorial for Nirvana fans and is commonly decorated with tributes to the late singer.

According to an iconic January 2005 episode of VH1 Classic Albums, producer Butch Vig recalled a frustrated Cobain giving up on the original recording process due to the band’s inability to realize his vision. He and Vig entered the control room with a 12-string acoustic guitar and Kurt laid down on his back to demonstrate how it should sound. Vig scrambled to turn off all the buzzing electronics surrounding them and set up microphones in order to capture the moment. The subsequent overdubbing process was quite arduous, as there was no click-track and Cobain’s vocals came in at almost a whisper.

More than twenty years later, Rolling Stone would place “Something In The Way” at #5 on their definitive ranking of every Nirvana song.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What was the process of recording this song like?
Genius Answer

In the book Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song, producer Butch Vig stated Cobain had initially wanted to record “Something in the Way” with the full band, but when attempts proved unsuccessful, Cobain played the song for Vig by himself to show him how he thought it should sound. Vig was impressed with the way Cobain’s solo delivery sounded and after turning off the air conditioner and the telephones in the control room, he set up microphones to record the song with just Cobain singing and playing guitar. This became the core of the track with drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic adding their parts later. However, both still had some difficulties with the relatively slow timing of the song. Novoselic had trouble tuning his bass to Cobain’s guitar and Grohl was forced to repress his natural inclination to pound on the drums in order to match the song’s gentle mood. On the final day of the Nevermind sessions, Kirk Canning, a friend of the band, completed the song with a cello line, and even though the song was successfully recorded through much trial and error, Canning also had difficulty tuning to Cobain’s guitar.

- source

What did Nirvana say about "Something in the Way"?
Genius Answer

Producer Butch Vig shared:

That was the hardest song to do by far on Nevermind. 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. Then we go back and I get Kurt [Cobain] to overdub some guitars or double guitars or double some vocals and things. We tried doing ‘Something In The Way’ out in the studio and it just didn’t work, the 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. 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.

How did this song perform on the Billboard charts?
Genius Answer

During the week ending March 26, 2022, “Something in the Way” debuted at #46 on the Hot 100 — over 30 years after its release. The song rose in popularity after appearing in the 2022 film The Batman.

Credits
Produced By
Mastering Engineer
Recorded At
Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, CA
Release Date
September 24, 1991
Something in the Way Live Performances
View Something in the Way samples
Tags
Comments