"All Apologies" (Nirvana)

I never really identified with grunge rock.  I found a lot of the music morose and boring.  There also was too much smack-fueled posturing by bands that were trying too hard to be taken seriously.  And everything was so fucking serious and depressing.  The genre's only saving grace for me was that it was the polar opposite of 80s hair band schlock, which I detested.  Still do.

Then there was Nirvana.  Yes, they were from Seattle, the wounded, rain-soaked heart of grunge.  Yes, their frontman, the late Kurt Cobain, penned dark, angst-y songs like "I Hate Myself and I Want to Die."  But there was more going on beneath the surface.  There was an appreciation of pop and classic rock--The Beatles, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Queen, and other bands who placed a strong emphasis on nuance, shifting dynamics, and melody.  And even when Nirvana was playing a dirge, it somehow didn't feel like a funeral; it felt like some sort of alternative dance party in the dirty basement of an abandoned roller rink.

"All Apologies" from In Utero (1993) embodies Cobain & Co.'s pop sensibilities, filtered through his refusal to be pigeonholed by any labels or genre.  (I mean, did anyone expect a cello on a Nirvana track?)  It is such a memorable, hummable melody that feels like something that Lennon-McCartney might have crafted back in the days of Rubber Soul or HELP!   To keep it from feeling too sunny and poppy, they also throw in a bit of sonic grit to contrast the calm, which owes a lot to The Pixies and that band's frequent and effective use of dynamic shift.  Props also go to Endless Dave Grohl for rocking a beat that feels like a distant cousin to "Misty Mountain Hop" throughout; you especially can feel the John Bonham-esque groove in the coda as the song dissolves into that haunting refrain All alone is all we are...

It's a great song from a visionary songwriter whose insecurities and demons stole him from the world too soon.