3 Alternative Rock Songs From 1994 That Are as Easy To Remember as Their One-Word Titles

The one-word song title became a regular feature of 90s alternative rock. If you’re of a certain age, you probably know the following songs without me having to name the artist: “Alive”, “Daughter”, “Supersonic”, “Wonderwall”, “Today”, “Disarm”, “Lithium”, and “Polly”. (That’s Pearl Jam, Oasis, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Nirvana for those in the back of the room.) Anyone can remember a single word. But see if you can also remember the lyrics to these alt-rock songs from 1994 with one-word titles.

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“Seether” by Veruca Salt

The Smashing Pumpkins weren’t the only Chicago band that rocked or raged. Veruca Salt’s first hit, “Seether”, does both. While many raged in 1994, Nina Gordon wrote a song describing an inner female wrath she tried hard to suppress.

You can interpret this in multiple ways. First, operating with a cooler head remains a good approach generally. But also, female rage often gets frowned upon, and Gordon’s song speaks to society’s emotional double standards between men and women.

Seether is neither big nor small,
Seether is the center of it all.

“Sabotage” by Beastie Boys

I’m going to say it: “Sabotage” might be the banger of 1994. It’s a punk rap classic featuring Adam “MCA” Yauch’s iconic bass groove, Michael “Mike D” Diamond’s rehearsal-room drums, and a genius set of lyrics shouted by Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz.

The Spike Jonze-directed music video for “Sabotage” lost all five of its nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards, proving that whoever voted back then had no idea what they were doing. “Sabotage” also shows the Beastie Boys’ hardcore punk roots, before they landed the first number-one rap album in history with Licensed To Ill.

But make no mistakes and switch up my channel,
I’m Buddy Rich when I fly off the handle.

“Animal” by Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam released its second album, Vs., in 1993, but “Animal” arrived as an official single the following year. If you don’t understand the combative vibe behind the album title, then allow Eddie Vedder to count it out for you: “One, two, three, four, five against one.” This track, along with Vedder’s primal rage, might be the musical avatar for an era defined by angst.

I remember when Pearl Jam ripped this one at the MTV Video Music Awards. Vedder looked like he hated being there. But he showed up anyway. The band melted faces, and that was before Neil Young joined them for “Rockin’ In The Free World”. Finally, “Animal”, along with “Alive” and “Even Flow”, makes a strong case for Stone Gossard as the riff lord of the 90s.

Why would you wanna hurt me?
So frightened of your pain.

Photo by Capitol Records