3 Grunge Songs Not From Seattle That Have Stood the Test of Time

In the late 1980s and early ’90s, grunge music took over the world. Born in the Pacific Northwest and more specifically within the confines of Seattle, the musical movement included bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. But there were some groups that fell under the sonic umbrella that weren’t from the upper left corner of the United States.

Here below, we wanted to explore three such musical offerings. A trio of tracks from bands around the world that wrote and recorded songs that were, to paraphrase Elaine from Seinfeld, “grunge-worthy.” Indeed, these are three grunge songs not from Seattle that have nevertheless stood the test of time.

[RELATED: 3 Eternal Grunge Songs That Are Especially Fun To Sing Along To]

“Violet” by Hole from Live Through This (1994)

For those who know grunge music history, the Los Angeles-born band Hole was fronted by Courtney Love, who was also famously the wife of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. So, the grunge connection runs thick between the two bands. And the two lovebirds were big influences on one another. You can hear each in the other’s lyrics, including and especially in this song “Violet” from Hole’s 1994 LP Live Through This. On it, you can hear Love’s disdainful, dark lyrics, befitting of Seattle’s doom and gloom. On it, she sings,

And the sky was made of amethyst
And all the stars were just like little fish
You should learn when to go
You should learn how to say no

Might last a day, yeah
Mine is forever
Might last a day, yeah
Mine is forever

“Glycerine” by Bush from Sixteen Stone (1995)

The sounds and feelings and vibes of grunge music traveled not only throughout the United States but all the way across the pond, as they say, to England, where the British-born band Bush took them on and made them their own. On this screeching, rust-covered song, lead vocalist Gavin Rossdale sings about love, affection, existentialism, and time passing. All while using his droning, diamond voice. Indeed, he offers,

It must be your skin, I’m sinkin’ in
It 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

“1979” by Smashing Pumpkins from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)

When Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain died in 1994, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan famously mourned the loss saying his most famous “rival” had died. But whether or not you count the two on the same plane, the Chicago-born Smashing Pumpkins were one of the biggest and buzzy rock bands of the 1990s. With his eerie, at times vampiric lyrics and visage, Corgan burst onto the music scene singing about all the things on his dark mind. And this song “1979” was no different. On it, Corgan offers,

Shakedown 1979
Cool kids never have the time
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet

Junebug skipping like a stone
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we’d never see an end to it all

And I don’t even care to shake these zipper blues
And we don’t know just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth below

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