Beneath The Bridge of Aberdeen

Beneath The Bridge of Aberdeen

                                                           

The 90s was an incredible decade for music. Dozens of albums were made that will certainly outlast the test of time. Grace, Adrenaline, In Utero, The Color And The Shape, The Bends, OK Computer, Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, Siamese Dream,  Either/Or, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, and countless others. All these magnificent albums were made within the span of a few years, each one sure to outlast all of us through the course of time and musical history. The most amazing part about these albums is that even though they were made over two decades ago, generations from then and now can both relate to them. Newer generations are falling in love with music that their parents fell in love with.  It shows that bonding over music can’t be held to the laws of time. For instance, Nirvana is now a disbanded group after the tragic death of Kurt Cobain. Even now, decades after their last tour, they still have millions of monthly listeners from both newer and older generations. 

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Nirvana quickly took the world by storm. With their debut album BLEACH, released in 1989. BLEACH is one of Nirvana’s lesser-known albums. It shows more of their hard-rock side. With more grungy and distorted songs.

Most people know Dave Grohl to be Nirvana’s drummer, however, this was not case for this album. Throughout Nirvana’s earlier years, they had a hard time keeping one drummer. Bob McFadden, their first drummer, only played for about a month. Then Aaron Burkhard, then their most regrettable, Chad Channing.

Kurt had said that Chad Channing had severe anger issues. He was hot-headed and just didn’t fit in with the other members.

Nevermind was recorded in 1991 with the help of Butch Vig as the producer.
Butch Vig has been a major help for famous artists like The Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth. From interviews and articles, it is easy to tell he’s a master at his craft. Although Butch wasn’t the biggest fan of Kurt’s perfectionism, they appreciated each other’s hard work.

On September 24th, 1991, Nirvana released their sophomore album Nevermind. One of the most successful albums ever released. A severe lack of stock caused the album to be held in high demand. You would be lucky if you even found a copy months after its release. Everyone wanted it.

The Album held thirteen total tracks, one of which, was “Something In The Way” one of Nirvana’s slowest and softest songs. “Something In The Way” contains a quiet guitar, slow vocals, deep yet soft drums, and most surprising of all, a cello. The hit grunge band had shown that their talent far exceeded anyone’s expectations and proved they couldn’t be held to just one standard.

The lyrics behind this song talk about a boy, who lives beneath a bridge, traps animals, tames them, and makes them his pets. It talks about how he lives off the drippings from his ceiling and the grass that surrounds him. It also mentions that “It’s okay to eat fish, ‘cause they don’t have any feelings.” which could be assumed to mean that this boy might be against eating other kinds of animals.

Conflicting rumors have said that this song takes inspiration from Kurt Cobain’s personal life as
a young adult. He was kicked out of his house in 1983 for quitting high school two weeks before his graduation and wanting to pursue his passion for music. Contrary to what the rumors say, on multiple accounts, it’s been said that he often stayed with his friends, sleeping on their couches. It wasn’t until three years later, in 1986, that he got his first apartment.

During the recording of “Something In The Way” Kurt Cobain had been adamant about making this song perfect. Butch Vig said,

“‘Something In The Way’ was definitely the hardest track to record on Nevermind. After three or four takes on trying to cut it live in the main room, it just wasn’t happening. Kurt came into the control room out of frustration, sat on the couch and basically said it needed to sound like this. He laid on his back, he played his guitar, and he was barely singing. It was coming out at almost a whisper.”

He stopped Kurt, turned off all the fans in the room, put a microphone in front of him, and told him to just do what he had to do, and after three takes, they had the base of the song.  Kurt had wanted a cello’ in the song. However, it was the last day that they rented the studio. They began calling friends, asking if anyone could play the cello. Thankfully, one of their friends, Kirk Canning, who lived in LA at the time, was able to help them produce the last parts of the song. Contrary to how Butch felt, Kurt talked about how thankful he was for how easy the recording of “Something In The Way” had been. He compared it to Dominos, everything just fell into place.
Despite their personal beliefs and differences, they came together and created one of history’s most successful albums of all time. Forever to be remembered.