Nirvana "In Bloom"

Nirvana was one of the most influential alternative artists of all time. They were started in Seattle, WA in 1987, and found fame in 1991 after releasing Nevermind and their smash single from said album, Smells like Teen Spirit. There band grew more and more fame as they were brought into the musical scene as “grunge”, a new form of alternative rock characterized by distorted guitars, and angst-filled lyrics. Not being able to deal with the fame, Kurt Cobain decided to end his life in April 1994 and ended Nirvana, but their music still lives on. Four Year Strong, on the other hand, is a pop-punk band from Worcester, MA. They got their fame with the release of Rise or Die Trying and grew a stronger and bigger fan base than what they had before. On their second to latest album, they covered many huge hits such as Nine Day’s “Absolutely (Story of a Girl)” and “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette. Then track 9 came in, with Nirvana’s “In Bloom”.
Nirvana’s original version is very grungy and filled with angst-filled distorted guitar and makes the listener actually seem like the music itself is something of hate. The lyrics are simplistic but subtly showed Kurt’s hatred of “wannabees” that only listened to popular music, not what they like. Even his voice seems to shout out to all these people who he, obviously, thinks aren’t worthy of his music. Not many poetic devices are used in here, and the whole song seems like a huge confusing mess, but it is Kurt’s way of making them. The music itself is very good and shows good skill (at that time) of the artists, and greatly conveyed his message.
Four Year Strong’s cover was so much different musical, but lyrical about the same. Their singer’s scratchy and yelling voice really put the meaning of the song out a lot more than Nirvana could ever do, and used another way: in the way they play. Their choice of changing the way the song is very dramatic, but very effective in the same way. Their choice to go with a heavier feel to it, defiantly dropping the tuning down and making the drums much faster, really brought this song into a whole new genre, but in a good way. Generally covers aren’t as good as the original, but I think its safe to say that this cover is as good, maybe even better.