3 Classic Rock Songs for People Who Say They Don’t Like Bush

Amid the grunge craze of the 1990s, there were some bands that featured the gravelly voiced, introspective, often dark sensibilities that did not actually come from the Pacific Northwest. Kurt Cobain, Nirvana and pals didn’t have a monopoly on that sound. Indeed, the British-born band Bush also boasted those tones and that touch.

Fronted by Gavis Rossdale, Bush was something of a phenomenon in the 1990s. Founded in 1992, the group put out some of the biggest singles of the decade. Yet, there are people out there in the world who would say they aren’t fans of the group. Here below, we wanted to dive into a trio of tunes that might sway that opinion. These are three songs for people who say they don’t like Bush.

[RELATED: Gavin Rossdale Discusses How His Voice Held Bush Back, Then Pushed It Forward; Now Being Used for Change]

“Glycerine” from Sixteen Stone (1994)

Released on the band’s debut LP Sixteen Stone in 1994, this song is buzzy and hard-rocking but it is also emotive and vulnerable. A balance that Bush and lead singer Rossdale created well. The song, which features emotive strings, was inspired by Rossdale’s then-girlfriend, the Australian singer Suze DeMarchi. For those scoring at home, glycerine is a chemical used in medicine, explosives and anti-freeze. Sounds like a perfect element for a love song! On the tune, Rossdale sings,

It must be your skin, I’m sinking in
Must be for real ’cause now I can feel
And I didn’t mind, it’s not my kind
It’s not my time to wonder why
Everything gone white, everything’s grey
Now you’re here, now you’re away
I don’t want this, remember that
I’ll never forget where you’re at

Don’t let the days go by
Glycerine
Glycerine

“Swallowed” from Razorblade Suitcase (1996)

Most who grew up in the 1990s had a copy of Bush’s breakout album Razorblade Suitcase. The title itself seems fallen from the stars, perfect for the mid-1990s. The track is likely the band’s most popular single release. It was all over rock and alternative radio in the decade and Rossdale planned as much, calling it, despite its dissimilar sound, his version of the Beatles’ “Help!” And on the driving song, which is about feeling taken over, he sings,

Warm sun feed me up
I’m leery loaded up
Loathing for a change
And I slip some
Boil away

Swallowed, followed
Heavy about everything but my love
Swallowed, sorrowed
I’m with everyone and yet not
I’m with everyone and yet not
I’m with everyone and yet

Just wanted to be myself
Hey you said you would love to try some
Hey you said you would love to die some
In the middle of a world on a fishhook
You’re the wave, you’re the wave, you’re the wave

“Machinehead” from Sixteen Stone (1994)

Another single-word song title, this song also comes from the band’s debut LP Sixteen Stone. Featuring a supremely catchy electric guitar riff combined with Rossdale’s sticky, distorted vocals repeating, Breathe in, breathe out, this track became an indelible 1990s artifact. The lyrics for the song are largely stream-of-consciousness, though the title points to an increasing reliance on technology as the 1990s began to unfurl. Today, we’re all but drowning in it, of course. On the song, Rossdale sings,

Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in
Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in
Tied to a wheel, my fingers got to feel
Bleeding through a tourniquet smile
I spin on a whim, I slide to the right
I felt you like electric light
For our love, for our fear
For our rise against the years, and years, and years

Got a machinehead, it’s better than the rest
Green to red, machinehead
Got a machinehead, it’s better than the rest
Green to red

I walk from my machine
I walk from my machine

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