The Meaning Behind “In Bloom” by Nirvana

When Nirvana released Bleach in 1989, the Seattle band noticed a change in their audience.

Videos by American Songwriter

The underground shows were soon populated with “jocks and shallow mainstream types,” according to biographer Michael Azerrad. Kurt Cobain wrote “In Bloom” in reaction to the jocks in the crowd.

Then came the mass hysteria that followed the release of Nirvana’s second album, Nevermind. Azerrad added, “The brilliant irony is that the tune is so catchy that millions of people actually do sing along to it.”

“In Bloom” arrived when Nirvana was still signed to an independent label. But its earworm hook proved to be prescient of the extraordinary fame ahead of them.

Macho Man

As Nirvana grew in popularity, Cobain watched the clubs fill with individuals he opposed. He couldn’t control who liked his band. And certainly not on the kind of scale he’d soon face.

So he wrote a chorus mocking the machismo he spotted. Perhaps enjoying a little schadenfreude watching them sing along.

He’s the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means

The band wore dresses in the music video to further antagonize the guys he viewed as homophobic. Director Kevin Kerslake created a parody of The Ed Sullivan Show, where Nirvana appears as a wholesome pop group, smiling and playing their safe music for the screaming teens. Then, the clip shifts to Nirvana trashing the stage in dresses.

Kerslake also directed the band’s videos for “Come as You Are” and “Lithium.”

We can have some more
Nature is a whore
Bruises on the fruit
Tender age in bloom

Multiple Versions

Bassist Krist Novoselic told Rolling Stone the earliest version of “In Bloom” sounded like Bad Brains. “But then Kurt went home, and he hammered it,” Novoselic said. “He kept working on it. Then he called me on the phone and said, ‘Listen to this song.’ He started singing it on the phone. You could hear the guitar. It was the ‘In Bloom’ of Nevermind, more of a pop thing.”

In the band’s early days, Novoselic said they listened to The Beatles, The Smithereens, and heavy metal. “We had one tape we listened to in the van—this was before we recorded Bleach,” he said. “On one side was The Smithereens. And on the other side was this heavy metal band, Celtic Frost. That tape was always getting played, turned over and over again. I think back now and go, ‘Yeah, maybe that was an influence.’”

Still signed to Sub Pop, Nirvana recorded “In Bloom” in 1990 with producer Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. The first recording was part of a demo tape used to court major record labels. It features Chad Channing on drums, and the band filmed a music video for the song in New York City.

In 1991, they rerecorded “In Bloom” at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, with their new drummer, Dave Grohl. The arrangement on Nevermind is similar to the Smart Studios demo with Grohl mostly replicating what Channing had played.

Grohl’s backing vocals feature prominently on the second version. The high harmonies and Cobain’s double-tracked lead vocal gave Nevermind its pop sheen. However, Cobain avoided the glossy veneer of Nevermind on the band’s Steve Albini-recorded follow-up In Utero. He, like Albini, wanted to present the band as raw as possible.

When Your Bullies Buy Your Records

Novoselic called Nevermind a “safe record.” He said it’s a pop album with heavy guitars.

“Pop,” of course, is short for popular. And Nevermind was a massive commercial success. Nirvana unwittingly led a wave of culture-shifting grunge bands.

But part of the shift included enormous audiences full of the kinds of people who bullied Cobain in high school. He couldn’t stop it, so he did the thing that got him there in the first place. He wrote another anthem.

Photo by Paul Bergen/Redferns