3 of the Bleakest, Darkest Grunge Songs Ever

It’s no secret that there is a dark cloud hanging over the rock sub-genre of grunge music. From the bleak subject matter to the often rainy city of Seattle, where the music is connected to the string of untimely deaths of so many of the sound’s heroes, there is just an unfortunate history that comprises the buzzy sonic style. Here below, though, we wanted to look all that in the eye and examine three songs from grunge that are especially sad. There’s no sense in hiding from the doom and gloom, right? Indeed, these are three of the bleakest, darkest grunge songs ever.

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“Floyd The Barber” by Nirvana from ‘Bleach’ (1989)

The second song from Nirvana’s debut LP, Bleach, this track is about being taken advantage of by a barber. First, the guy comes in to shave the face of the singer. But then it gets dark. Quickly, Cobain sings, Floyd comes in and does something horrible. Then the singer gets sliced up and dies. For a band like Nirvana, it might not be surprising that this is the subject matter of the song, but it’s incredible how almost nonchalantly Cobain sings it over banging drums and distorted guitars. He offers a few lyrics that we can actually include in this article without getting too dark:

“Bell on door clank, come on in
Floyd observes my hairy chin
Sit down chair, don’t be afraid
Steamed hot towel on my face.”

“Junkhead” by Alice In Chains from ‘Dirt’ (1992)

As the title of this entry on our list of grunge songs suggests, this is about drugs, more specifically about her*in. The substance has caused so much pain in and around the Pacific Northwest, and Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley was particularly afflicted by addiction to it. The song is part of several on Dirt that show an arc related to drug use and debauchery. “Junkhead” almost shows the good side of being a user, but as you hear the song, you can feel the fall coming. The darkness, the depression, and even death.

“You can’t understand a user’s mind
But try with your books and degrees
If you let yourself go and opened your mind
I’ll bet you’d be doing like me
And it ain’t so bad

What’s my drug of choice?
Well, what have you got?
Say I don’t go broke
And I do it a lot (say I do it a lot)

I do it a lot
I do it a lot
Said, I do it a lot.”

“Outshined” by Soundgarden from ‘Badmotorfinger’ (1991)

This song is about spiraling. Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell said he could go through high highs and feel like he could do anything, and other times he could feel the opposite. Super low, devastated, like he was insignificant. And this song is about the latter. He’s dark, literally outshined. He’s looking, as he says, like California. But inside he feels like cold, rainy, and dreary Minnesota. Indeed, on the track, he sings:

“Well, I got up feeling so down
I got off being sold out
I’ve kept the movie rolling
But the story’s getting old now
Oh yeah

Well I just looked in the mirror
And things aren’t looking so good
I’m looking California
And feeling Minnesota
Oh yeah.”

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