3 Sad Grunge Songs From the 1990s for When You Need a Good Cry

Sadness defined grunge in the 1990s as much as flannel, angst, and Seattle. Including during its post-grunge phase, many bands released heartbreaking and confessional songs. In doing so, they displayed a vulnerability that wasn’t common in popular music until the alternative and indie rock boom. The emotional exposure helped remove a barrier between the artists and their fans.

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In the spirit of melancholy (and the infinite sadness), let’s revisit three sad grunge songs from the 1990s. Some of them might make you cry.

“Ana’s Song (Open Fire)” by Silverchair

Australia’s grunge export arrived when its members were only 15 years old. In 1995, after absorbing the alternative rock lessons of Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Silverchair landed a hit with “Tomorrow” while most kids their age were navigating tenth grade. But the trio eventually found their own voice on the 1999 release Neon Ballroom. “Ana’s Song (Open Fire)” was inspired by singer Daniel Johns’s struggle with anorexia. Here, he anthropomorphizes the eating disorder, begging “Ana” to die.   

Please die, Ana,
For as long as you’re here, we’re not.
You make the sound of laughter,
And sharpened nails seem softer.

“Release” by Pearl Jam

The visceral song that closes Pearl Jam’s debut Ten features Eddie Vedder absorbing the emotions of learning his father is really his stepdad. It’s about discovery, identity, and the pain, fear, anger, and loss of having never met his late-biological father. In a 2013 interview with Steve Gleason, Vedder answers a question about a few things he would have wanted to know about his father. He said, “I would have wanted to know if he loved me, and how much.” Just heartbreaking. I think it’s the best vocal take of Vedder’s career.

Oh dear Dad,
Can you see me now?
I am myself,
Like you somehow.

“Something In The Way” by Nirvana

Two of the era’s most poignant alternative rock songs describe events under a bridge. Anthony Kiedis’s poem, of course, became a blockbuster hit for Red Hot Chili Peppers. Meanwhile, Kurt Cobain’s diaristic acoustic song features sparse instrumentation. It echoes the funeral mood setting of Nirvana’s iconic MTV Unplugged performance. The title and its hook say everything and not enough at the same time. The word “something” is stubbornly vague, but also unknowable. And knowing how Cobain took his own life, “something” seemed to accumulate into a weight he could no longer bear.

Underneath the bridge, tarp has sprung a leak,
And the animals I’ve trapped have all become my pets.

Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage