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Nirvana did a bunch of great ones during their brief time together.
The Man Who Sold The World has already been mentioned, but their versions of Turnaround by Devo, Plateau and Lake of Fire by Meat Puppets, and Where Did you Sleep Last Night and They Hung Him On A Cross by Leadbelly are all beautiful renditions in their own ways.
Of those, I'd say that Where Did You Sleep Last Night and both of the Meat Puppets covers are just as distinctly re-stanked by that Nirvana magic as their Bowie cover was. I like their version of They Hung Him On A Cross more than the original too, but tbh it always made me feel a bit weird hearing a white man singing that one. I get that it came from a place of reverence and compassion, but....idk man. I am both mixed race and have mixed feelings on that one lol. At the same time though, if any white man was to cover that one, I'm glad it was him since the hurt inherent to Kurt's voice was a perfect match for the vibe and tone.
also Jesus doesn't want me for a Sunbeam which came from unplugged too.
some of my favorite covers nirvana did though were not off unplugged, Love Buzz, Molly's Lips, And I Love Her
I completely forgot about Love Buzz somehow (that bass line tho) and have already kicked myself for not mentioning their The Vaselines covers. Glad someone brought em up!
I think Incesticide was one of their most vibiest releases and the covers on their are all wonderfully done. Molly's Lips very much included!
Have you heard the original meat puppet versions? Nirvana basically covered them exactly.
Not saying that's bad. But when you look at songs like "All along the washer tower" by Jimi, or "Whiskey in the Jar" by Metallica. Those covers are completely changed to fit their style. In my mind, that's what makes a cover great.
A lot of Nirvana's style is the Meat Puppets
Good covers, but they lack original twists. Meat Puppets even played the music in the unplugged performance. So really it's wasn't Nirvana covering them as much as Kurt Cobain singing.
It's what I have against Weezer's cover of Toto's Africa. Good cover, but it doesn't scream Weezer at all.
huh I've never heard the originals, didn't realize they were 1:1. I think Kurt's voice suits them perfectly but yeah agreed that the best covers are transformative, as you can see clearly if you wanna go look at my main comment on here haha
I love Weezer's Africa just because it's so fucking funny that they did that but yeah, it doesn't recontextualize anything or even sound like Weezer. would be a lot cooler if it did
I have heard them and was aware that the Puppets performed with Nirvana on those songs, as well as of the former's overall influence on the latter.
Still, I think there is a depth to Kurt's voice and an eccentricity to how he played that nudges those versions over a certain metaphysical edge, but that's just my take on it. As much as he learned from MP, he was also an avid parasocial student of Leadbelly, and that influence makes each version of those songs very distinct pieces in my ears. Still very similar ofc, but also each their own worlds, with their own flavors.
If you disagree, that is perfectly okay, and, either way, I appreciate you adding a bit of context for the uninitiated.