We know, right; Kurt Cobain’s songs are probably the last things you would want playing at your wedding. But some couples get their kicks out of bucking tradition, and if you’re a nonconformist couple yourself, Nirvana’s songs are, paradoxically, nothing out of the ordinary.
Today, as we celebrate the secret wedding of Kurt and Courtney Love’s all grown-up bundle of joy, Frances Bean, we roll-call some of the most unexpectedly romantic songs in the band’s catalogue:
“Love Buzz”
Nirvana’s first single also happens to be their most lyrically romantic. Originally released in the 1960s by Dutch band Shocking Blue, “Love Buzz” was a fixture in Nirvana’s earliest gigs. A wedding band can easily recreate this song for a grungy first dance number that guests would never forget.
“About a Girl”
Long before there was Courtney Love, there was Tracy Marander. She was rumoured to have asked her then-paramour Kurt why he had not composed a song that referenced her. As a result, Cobain penned “About a Girl,” a Beatles-inspired tune that highlights the band’s much-welcomed tendencies to stray into poppy territory.
“Heart-Shaped Box”
Courtney Love had the audacity to tweet Lana Del Rey that the song is about her private lady parts. Seen in that light, this single seems like a pretty dope love song, although it has since emerged that the tune is really about — wait for it — kids with cancer. But then again, Courtney was legendarily known to have gifted Kurt a box shaped like a heart, which contains, amazingly, doll parts. Although the whole thing was written under five minutes, the song continues to reveal Kurt’s beating heart to new generations.
“Drain You”
“With eyes so dilated I’ve become your pupil” sure is a bad-ass, rock ‘n’ roll way of expressing your love. “Drain You” is one of the more buoyant songs on the legendary “Nevermind.” In a passionate kiss, from your mouth to another, you’ll like this song for your wedding.
“Come As You Are”
“Nevermind” that this sounds like Killing Joke’s 1985 song “Eighties”; “Come as You Are” is simply one of the greatest songs ever, period. While some have the mistaken notion that Kurt had suicide in his mind while writing this, due to the frequent mention of guns, the song is actually about, in Kurt’s words himself, “people, and what they’re expected to act like.” Also, Garbage member and Nirvana producer Butch Vig told NPR that the song is “about acceptance, and about misfits” and “an ode to accepting someone for who they are.” Now isn’t that a good theme for a marriage, which should always bank on self-revelation?
Bonus: “Smells Like a Teen Spirit”
It’s the band’s signature song, one that has been played to the hilt so much so you’re probably sick of hearing it. But there’s a good chance someone in the wedding reception hall is part of Generation X; this one is a crowd-pleaser in that sense. It may not scream “wedding,” but in a room full of hardcore grunge rockers, it may as well be a party song.
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