3 Rock Tracks That Perfectly Capture the Dark Energy of the 1990s

When many think of the 1990s, they think of them fondly. It was the era before the internet, smartphones, and technology in general had taken over our lives. Politically, no matter what side of the fence you were on, things were mild compared to today. The aesthetics were cool, and things were more or less peaceful. Others, though, think of a certain kind of darkness when they look back at the 1990s. The HIV/AIDS crisis. The heroin crisis. The general apathy of America’s youths at the time. Grunge music was the natural response to that darkness, best exemplified in the following three songs.

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“Jeremy” by Pearl Jam from ‘Ten’ (1992)

“Try to forget this (Try to forget this) / Try to erase this (Try to erase this) / From the blackboard.”

This song will always be at the top of any list I write about dark grunge songs. It’s a heartbreaking song written by Eddie Vedder about the real-life suicide of a teenage boy in Texas. The boy took his life with a firearm in front of his teacher and classmates in 1991. Vedder said that he wrote the song in hopes of giving the boy’s hopelessness and the horrific event some “importance.” A lot of young people were dealing with depression in the 1990s. “Jeremy” made a lot of people feel seen when it dropped in 1992.

“Polly” by Nirvana from ‘Nevermind’ (1991)

“Polly wants a cracker / Maybe she would like some food / She asked me to untie her / A chase would be nice for a few.”

Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain wrote a lot of particularly dark songs, but few are as uncomfortable as “Polly”. This track from Nevermind was written about the kidnapping, assault, and torture of a young girl in Tacoma, Washington, in 1987, after she was returning home from a punk rock show. The song is sung from the perspective of the monster who harms her, forcing listeners to experience his acts from his perspective. Cobain said that he believed sexual assault was one of the most evil crimes in the world, and it’s clear that “Polly” was written as a jarring attempt to speak sense into young men who viewed it ambivalently.

“Slip Away” by Mad Season from ‘Above’ (1995)

“Down to the water / Drawn to the flame / This life will leave you crippled / Don’t you know the game?”

Mad Season was a fairly short-lived supergroup formed by members of Pearl Jam, Screaming Trees, and Alice In Chains. The group only released one album while they were together, and that album features one of the darkest grunge songs I’ve ever heard.

“Slip Away” gets existential and relatable in a way that would make anyone listening closely very uncomfortable. Mark Lanegan (of Screaming Trees) wrote the song as a painful examination of how all life really comes down to is working, making money, and being successful, spurred on by the media and standards of the time.

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