Shoestarr’s Playlist: Top 5 Nirvana Songs

I’ve been rocking out to my grunge playlists lately because I’m getting really excited for the West Coast Best Coast Road Trip I’m going on in May. I’m going to be visiting Portland, Seattle & Vancouver for the first time, with some stops along the way in Aberdeen and Olympia. Seeing as this week also marks the 18th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death, it seems a fitting time to present my Top 5 Favorite Nirvana Songs.

5. Nirvana - “Sliver” 

My favorite song from the B-Sides album “Incestcide”, which is my best friend Vivian’s favorite Nirvana album. I strongly disagree with that statement, and this topic of debate has been a running joke through our 10+ years of friendship. I’ve always loved this song “Sliver”, It’s Nirvana staying true to their punk rock roots at their finest.

4. Nirvana - “Drain You” 

Oh, “Nevermind”. The album that started it all. If you ever read another Top 5 Nirvana songs list, and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is on there, avoid it, because it’s not written by a Nirvana fan. “Nevermind” was the first Nirvana album I heard (such is the case for most), but I’m honestly a little burnt out by their most popular songs from this album because of their heavy radio play. I mostly skip them, and listen to the non-singles. “Drain You” was great enough to be a single, luckily it wasn’t, but even if it was, I never get tired of listening to this song.

3. Nirvana - “The Man Who Sold the World” 

Although this song wasn’t written by Nirvana, I’m sure even David Bowie can appreciate this version as it’s whole separate entity. Much like Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt”, the makings of a great cover is when the artist takes a song, and make it’s entirely their own. Classic example: Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”.

2. Nirvana - “Verse Chorus Verse” (Also known as “Sappy”) 

Once a difficult song to track down, it’s now available on the Nirvana Box Set. In middle school, I bought a bootleg “In Utero” album that had four unreleased tracks for the sole purpose of getting this song onto my mixed tapes. Things were more complicated in the pre-Napster days. 

1. Nirvana - “Milk It” 

One of Nirvana’s most heavier sounding songs, “Milk It” has always been my favorite. I’ve gotten people into Nirvana with this song. Mixing raw emotion with a heavy dynamic punch is the main reason Nirvana is my favorite band.