A coworker was showing me this yesterday and it blew my fuckin' mind. The lyrics work if you read both purple highlighted lines, then the blue ones, green, then red. Am I actually stupid for not realizing this lmfao? Coworker said he realized it on his own one day when listening and reading the lyrics at the same time, but he never heard anyone mention it before. So maybe we're both dumb, idk, thought it was really cool though and wanted to share :)
Kurt was heavily inspired by poetry, was definitely a poet in his own right, most likely very intentional.
William S Burroughs was famous for this cut and paste style
Underrated comment. Even if this isn’t what Kurt intended to do, I like to think he was chill enough to delight in people messing around with what he put out there.
I’m going off memory here so please forgive me if I’m wrong: I think I remember reading in Journals that Naked Lunch was a favorite book of Kurt’s. Burroughs said that the best way to read naked lunch is to tear/cut up the pages and put them back together randomly. I can’t cite any of this of course but if it’s accurate, that’s pretty neat.
https://youtu.be/oKisGFIhfAg?si=q02plUugu5ZnB2Hl
The “Priest” They Call Him.
Woahhh lmfao ngl I looked at this for a second like “what’s this guy on about” but it does kinda make sense when you read it like that
You/your coworker recognized something legitimate, I don’t understand why people are pissed. You’re not reading too much into anything. The parallel stacks you’re observing here in the verses, intentional or not, definitely exist and the themes are connected.
Purple is appetite/consumption
Blue is environment/mood
Green is nature/damage/biology
Red is sexuality/maturity
Fr, its a pretty interesting observation
Can you explain a bit better? For what I can understand this is just part of the verse and has the same melody
The title is bad, the explanation is bad. Just read the lines in matching colors together. It’s like finishing thoughts from verse to verse. Pretty cool.
The people talking about melody seem to be missing the point entirely.
Sell the kids for food, we can have some more.
weather changes moods, nature is a whore
Spring is here again, bruises on the fruit
Reproductive glands, tender age in bloom
Are there bruises on fruit in spring? I dont get it
It's not about literal fruit.
Children are "fruit of the womb," but this isn't a term that I see used much. It seems like it was used much more in the 1600s, but it still checks out since fruit and a pregnancy have parallels.
Therefore, "bruises on the fruit" could be a kid having a rough childhood because their parents just sort of tolerate their existence instead of being loving. And how did the kid get born? By the parents only being into each other to get sexual highs without any concern or understanding for what could result.
If taken this way, then "bruises on the fruit" also is implied by the opener lyric "sell the kids for food." The parents aren't well financially, otherwise it wouldn't even seem necessary to do. This also reinforces the previous paragraph if the "fruit" is kids having a rough childhood.
There's more I could say, but I think this is enough for now.
👉😎👉
Honestly a lot of Kurt Cobain’s lyrics don’t make much sense (he has admitted to this in an interview before) and he just likes finding words that rhyme and are absurd.
it seems like he was very all or nothing when it came to his lyrics, he either would think them out and put crazy meaning into them, or he would just say shit. id imagine him needing to uphold that carefree, untrying genius rockstar persona does have something to do with him putting down the effort in his lyrics too though
He had a saying with songwriting which was “music first, lyrics second”. So I think for him the lyrics were just second nature and he said whatever fit well instrumentally with the music he was making.
Shows the influence from the Melvins, another great band but mostly nonsense lyrics.
The Melvins make some of the most nonsensical rock music ever made IMO. Nirvana had a tiny bit of that but was more focused and had a “theme” than that of the Melvins.
Thanks, I had no idea WTF the OP was on about - I was like, 'You are basically just describing every song ever!'
Likely he wrote it together separate from the song then split it up to better fit the melody
Holy shit thats actually so cool
That’s cool!
i always thought the 2nd verse just picked up where the first one leaves off.
with poems or lyrics you could probably easily cut them up and find a way they "make sense" but i don't think this works particularly well here outside "sell the kids for food - we can have some more", unless i'm just misunderstanding this whole thing.
We can always make more kids. So sell the ones we have for food.
And weather changes moods (it really does)!
Is it: " knows not what he means " or "don't know what he means "? I have always said the latter
it's "knows not what IT means"
I mean, it's true, I can never get my fucking printer working.
he used to sing both live and he sings both in the studio version
Right? And the latter makes him sound like a grammatical idiot while the former makes you realize the intelligent poet that he was.
The number of times I've seen a "wear can I find X that Kurt is wearing in this pic?" and almost unsubbed. Finally something new.
Great post.
I don't think it's widely known, and I've always interpreted that as a dig at casual fans. If you don't know the verse lyrics and you like to sing along to the chorus, the song is about you.
I thought it was widely known but by the looks of these comments, I guess not.
I've always heard the second verse as carrying on the first verse line for line. Crazy to me that people hadn't noticed and some are in denial that it is deliberate.
I agree I remember knowing this in the 90s. I have a vague memory that there was a visual clue to this in the CD liner notes but can't seem to find a picture to confirm.
I’ve always heard “reproductive glads” as “ rape productive lands.” TIL
This is really pissing some folks off but it’s pretty cool man. I can see the direct correlation between the lines there
Ya maybe I didn't word it in the best way or something, but it's whatever. Some other comments explained it a little clearer than I did so hopefully people see those 😆
You worded it fine. It gives me a new appreciation for these lyrics.
You did fine. It’s a pretty interesting little thing there
It makes sense, meanwhile I'll point out that I saw a YT Comment under the South Park Intro; the comment was saying "the lyrics must be random" just because the commenter never thought about them at all, and it seems he/she didn't try either. And that comment had at least 130 upvotes.
Not everyone actually thinks about what's right in front of them - or at least, not right away. Some of them will then declare that "there's no meaning" when it does have meaning, all while not thinking about it at all.
I've also seen people commenting under the Police song "I Can't Stand Losing You" from people who were surprised when they realized (and who knows how long it took) what the lyrics literally contain very plainly and clearly without instrumentation making the vocals hard to hear.
Not that we can all think about every song and write a thesis about each one, but at the same time it's like come on already, can't some at least admit "I don't know what it means" unless maybe if the writer said it is meaningless? Even then, I'd wonder; "I Am The Walrus" might "mean nothing" according to John Lennon, but it doesn't sound like it.
I first saw it mentioned in this comment.
For the skeptical people, the proof is in the two purple lines; they go together to make a complete thought:
"Let's sell the kids for food. After all, we can always have some more kids."
What? Are you talking about the melody? You can put any words in there and sing it that way and it will work.
No, He’s saying if you read the highlighted lines from each verse with its corresponding colour, the lines are continuations of the lines from the first verse. Sorry if this doesn’t make sense Idrk how to explain it well.
Ohh, gotcha. Thats explained much better, thanks!
When I first started my band I noticed this while covering in bloom! It’s pretty interesting
Some of yall didn’t have the cd jacket and it shows.
Right? I feel like this was obvious from the liner notes.
You can read anything out of order. Weird post and a vast portion would sound terrible, while the same with many songs that aren't straight forward, the blended parts could've been flipped. I don't get the revelation.
writing music in a interesting mind set Will out you thinking in amazing ways. Those lines share the same theme and are interconnected like you May do in poetry as well. It is a smart way to add depth to it since they dont cross to the very next line by his decision that can be metrics or the way he saw the melody and went for it. That also may happen when you dont have many ideas and start to think in themes 😅 I cant say so many times i had listen to this song but actually never analyze it this way. It is a great catch!
Songwriting is just poetry
It’s kind of the same thing with Lithium and a couple others songs. First verse and second verse are different, third verse is the same as the first. But you can often hear Kurt confuse the lyrics of verse 1 and verse 2 haha hell I even do it and I’ve studied these songs on a weekly basis for 17 years lol
You could even read it from the last line up. All the lines except "sell the kids for food" and "we can have some more" are about the same subject matter or theme and could be read in which ever order without the meaning changing much if at all.
holy crap thats cool. i think i read kurt did that paper switching technique or whatever its called
Kurt was apparently known for swapping line-order in songs during live performances, so I've heard, so this makes sense to me.
I always figured the song is literally about the reproductive system of plants, possibly this is the “bees” . A tree drops its fruit, the fruit becomes compost that feeds the plant. Weather changes from winter to spring, the plants go from dormant to blossoming. Flowers are the reproductive glands of a plant. Flowering plants pollinate with any available flower. Bruised fruit will compost faster. The part about singing is about “birds” calling each other during mating season. I feel like the shooting a gun part is about hunters shooting birds, maybe even using bird calls, but not knowing what the birds are singing about.
It’s just words with the same number of syllables lol What
Oh ok I see now - each bar has words that apply to any of the other ones
I've n never realised it. Very smart from Kurt. Is this type of style named?
My guess is that he wrote it like this originally and then split it up to make better verses for the song
I’d have to agree with this. Damn. Who would have thought?
ABAB rhyming?
Yes, I always appreciated this, but not sure if it is well known.
This is so dope.
as a color blind person I have no idea what’s going on 🤣
...?
Reread this whoooole post and STILL have no idea what you're trying to say.
Why does this need to be a post?
Why does this need to stay up?
I am the one who likes all their pretty songs and I like to sing along
Daamn!!!
Wait this is actually blowing my mind rn. I thought I knew Nirvana, but not this much
No. I think that maybe were all dumb.
Reddit is insufferable. WTF is this shit
I feel like insufferable is a little extreme for this particular post lol
Probably. Lol. I’ll see myself out.
Come on dude, we might be near figuring something big here! This could answer What is the meaning of life? Or does god exist? Or some other lifes big mysteries.
THIS MOTHERFUCKER GETS IT! REAL SHIT HAPPENING RIGHT NOW
Dude, he’s absolutely right and considered common knowledge by anyone with a literacy level above 3rd grade
Its insufferable precisely because it is obvious to anyone who can read.
Grasping at straws.
Reproductive glands goes with nature is a whore
Bruises on the fruit goes with spring is here again or sell the kids for food…that one at least almost rhymes
You can make a connection with anything if you try hard enough.
They are broad, simple, surface-level lyrics.
Yep, it’s called the melody, and Kurt was one of the kings of them
I think it’s just the second verse mirroring the first one, each line keeping its own “subject” the same, you could say. It’s a set pattern repeated to strengthen the song’s themes, not really an example of non-linear songwriting.
This is the dumbest shit I’ll see today
It’s incredibly obvious and people have known this since the song came out dude….
An honour I'll treasure, always 🥹
Kurt's thing was always "melody first" thats why his demos are nonsense mumbling. He figures out the guitar melody and then gets the vocal line going. Then he would refer back to his journals, poems, writings or notes and use various bits to at least start the direction of the song. You see it all over. For instance, he was arrested for spray painting "God is gay" but in the early demos of Immodium, he screams it at the end.
Anyone who didn’t already know this is who the chorus is talking about lol