"Sit and drink pennyroyal tea. Distill the life that's inside me."
The first song I ever listened to by Nirvana was, surprisingly, not "Smells Like Teen Spirit”—it was "Pennyroyal Tea.”
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I was 11 years old and I was feeling depressed. Using the clever tool of Google, I typed in "songs about depression" and the song came up in the search. I listened. I read the lyrics. That was the day Nirvana and Kurt Cobain would be part of my life for a long time.
Nirvana was part of the subculture called Gg.
According to AllMusic and Gibson.com, grunge is characterized by a sludgy guitar sound that uses a high level of distortion, fuzz, and feedback effects. Grunge also fuses the elements of hardcore punk and heavy metal, but some bands have performed with more emphasis on one or the other. According to Wikipedia, grunge became commercially successful when Nirvana’s album, "Nevermind," was released, along with Pearl Jam’s "Ten" and Soundgarden’s "Badmotorfinger."
According to Wikipedia, grunge lyrics are typically angst-filled and anguished. They often address themes such as social alienation, apathy, confinement, and a desire for freedom. You could say grunge was almost like music escape for those who felt separated from society—in other words, they didn’t really fit in so they found their own community to turn to. What most attracted me to Nirvana was their song lyrics. Their songs lyrics can have many different interpretations—and that’s what made Nirvana good band.
From the day I discovered the band, I did endless research on their lyrics and read them closely. I made my own interpretations and read others' as well. It was interesting to read what others thought the songs were about. Their lyrics were like mystery journal entries that came from the disturbed mind of Kurt Cobain, who was truly an artist of words.
The anti-rap theme in "Rape Me" exposed to me the fact that he wasn't afraid to show he was a feminist. In "Heart Shaped Box," he wasn't afraid to say some women use sex to get what they want and men don't know what to do to satisfy them. Dark and complex, but they were art and focused on issues.
People say once grunge became mainstream, it lost its meaning. According to AllMusic, after Nirvana became mainstream, grunge lost its independent and punk connections. While this may be true, Nirvana was also worshiped by many because Cobain wasn’t your average rockstar.
To say I'm grateful for Nirvana would be too vague. I'm more grateful for Cobain's words than for the band itself. I listen to the songs because of the lyrics. Sure I can relate, but in my view, the lyrics are an endless mystery on because they are words from Cobain's unique and interesting mind.
“Pennyroyal Tea” introduced me to Nirvana, but the band itself turned me into a lyric person. Cobain will always be one of my favorite lyricists because he just wasn’t afraid to write about was going on in his mind.
