Something In The Way

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"Something In The Way"

Song by Nirvana
from the album Nevermind
Released	September 24, 1991
Recorded	May/June 1991 at Sound City, Van Nuys and Devonshire, North Hollywood
Genre	Grunge
Length	3:52 (20:35 with Endless, Nameless)
Label	DGC Records / Sub Pop
Writer(s)	Kurt Cobain
Producer(s)	Butch Vig
Nevermind track listing
"On a Plain" (11)	"Something In The Way" (12)	"Endless, Nameless" (12 - hidden track)

"Something In The Way" is a song by the American rock band, Nirvana. It is the twelfth and final song on their 1991 album, Nevermind (not counting the album's hidden track, Endless, Nameless).

1 Meaning
2 Recording
3 Other versions
4 Appearances in film
5 Covers
6 Accolades
7 References

[edit] Meaning

It had long been believed that "Something In The Way" was written about a period of time during which its author, Kurt Cobain, was young and homeless, and slept under the Young Street Bridge in his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington at night. This myth, propagated by Cobain himself, was dispelled in 2001 with the publication of Charles R. Cross's Cobain biography Heavier Than Heaven, which pointed out that Cobain would have been carried away by the high tide of the Wishkah River if he tried spending the night there. In truth, Cobain spent this time sleeping on friend's couches, in cardboard boxes, and in abandoned apartment hallways and hospital waiting rooms.

[edit] Recording

According to Nevermind's producer Butch Vig, Cobain had originally wanted to record "Something In The Way" with the full band, but when initial attempts at this proved unsuccessful, Cobain sat down and 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 rendition sounded, and after having the air conditioner and all telephones turned off in the studio, proceeded to set up microphones and record the song the same way: with Cobain singing and playing guitar. This became the core of the track; drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic added their parts later, though both had some difficulties with the relatively slow timing of the song. Novoselic also had trouble tuning his bass to Cobain's guitar (a rickety old 12-string Stella acoustic strung with 5 nylon guitar strings which barely stayed in tune) 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's, came in and completed the song with a cello line, though he too had difficulties tuning to Cobain's guitar.

[edit] Other versions

A live electric version of "Something In The Way" appears on Nirvana's 1994 home video, Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!. It was recorded in Osaka, Japan on February 14, 1992.

Another live version appears on the band's 1994 acoustic MTV Unplugged in New York album. The same version appears as a B-side on the 1994 single for the song "About A Girl", and on Japanese versions of the band's 2002 "best-of" compilation. It features Pat Smear on second guitar, and Lori Goldston on cello.

Also another version was recorded during Mark Goodier's BBC Radio One show at BBC Studios in London. It was recorded on November 9, 1991. This version is electric and has never been officially released.

[edit] Appearances in film

A comically (and intentionally) poor acoustic version of "Something In The Way" was performed by Jerry O'Connell (playing football star Frank Cushman) in the 1996 Cameron Crowe film, Jerry Maguire. The actual Nevermind recording of the song was used in the 2005 Sam Mendes film, Jarhead.