“I was simply blown away when I found that Kurt Cobain liked my work, and have always wanted to talk to him about his reasons for covering ‘The Man Who Sold the World’”. It was a good straight forward rendition and sounded somehow very honest. It would have been nice to have worked with him, but just talking with him would have been real cool.” *- David Bowie*
Is that a word for word quote? I've been listening to David Bowie for 30 years and I never heard him say 'real cool', but I might have just missed it. Do you have a source? Only asking because I'm a total Bowie fan and I'm curious, not trying to say you're wrong. I knew Bowie was interested to meet Kurt.
One of Bowie's finest, so glad that Kurt and the boys renewed interest in this great song. "Lake of Fire" from this same recording session should be next.
In case you’re wondering what the song is about, it’s originally a David Bowie song and he had the alter-ego Ziggy Stardust. It’s speculated that he’s talking to his alter-ego in the song, and “The Man who sold the world” is himself selling the world an image of someone who he’s not, and he seems to have gotten lost in it, but he’s trying to convince himself that he’s not, hence, the line “who knows, not me, I never lost control”
The man who sold the world is the devil. Plain and simple. That’s who own the world to sell it. That’s who Bowie is speaking of. All the lyrics tie to that too. Saying he was my friend. All of that. It’s the devils world to sell, he even tried to sell it to Jesus. It’s another name of many for the “one who has many names”
I also heard it’s the devil, this song is about making a deal with the devil to “own” the world as maybe a celebrity would. “I laughed and shook his hand” just like Robert Johnson and many others, they sell their soul for fame and fortune.
I had it on CD and OMG yes......I think its right up there with Bleach and Nevermind.....It was a demonstration of growth and showed they were more than just "grunge" which was more of a trend.....If Kurt hadnt died the band would have kept growing and would have become something thats even more special
That great riff is a David Bowie riff from his 3rd album 'The Man Who Sold the World' , the original is an epic rock song ... Nirvana's cover is nice, very chilled
@@wantutosigh1117 Really? Because he took his own life not long after this recording, hardly reading too far into it. Its an emotional piece that's for sure. Don't be a dick.
I had it on CD and OMG yes......I think its right up there with Bleach and Nevermind.....It was a demonstration of growth and showed they were more than just "grunge" which was more of a trend.....If Kurt hadnt died the band would have kept growing and would have become something thats even more special
@@dannydarkense5500 Thanks! time to legalize medical marijuana nationwide! dont get me started.....and if you like watching toasted people perform adequately at video games, check out the channel!
This is one of those rare songs that I actually enjoy the remake better than the original....and that is high praise when the original was created by a genius like David Bowie.
This MTV Unplugged show blew my 13-year-old mind when it aired waaaay back in 1994. It made me appreciate that live performances don't have to be big spectacles to be extraordinary. Small and intimate can be its own level of dramatic and unforgettable.
I’ve been obsessed with this song since I was a young child. It’ll never get old for me. Congrats Nirvana! I’d recommend Lounge Act by Nirvana next. Great reaction guys 🙋🏻♀️🙌🏼👍🏼👏🏼💜🇨🇦
Lounge Act is so good. I always have to listen to Milk It and Very Ape afterwards. For me, those songs fit together, if that makes sense. (I do the same with Drain You, On A Plain and Sappy).
Hey Brad & Lex - did you know that the guitarist playing the red / white striped guitar is Pat Smear - who was a famous musician from the punk era - he was a member of a famous punk band called the Germs - he ended up joining Nirvana as the 4th musician. I missed the live stream but i love the songs you reacted to - thanks for your reactions.
when i was a teenager i loved smell like teen spirit, now i'm forty nine and the man who sold the world is my nirvana's masterpiece song.kisses from france.
when my husband was a teenage growing up in Washington state, his father was military, my husband would see Nirvana in person before they were famous. in the under ground of Seattle.
i love on this version, the bad feedback sound right when he says i've never lost control. so fitting for this song and what i interpret the songs meaning as.
I walked into a convenance store and the clerk, listening to her radio looked faint. "Kurt Cobain just killed himself " she said. I still feel that same shock and sadness just remembering that moment. Then we lost David Bowie later. We still have their music. Wonderful legacy. RIP so many of the musical masters of my life are gone. Most way too soon.
The ”odd” sound you’re talking about is Kurt “bending” the strings. Also, not sure if you’ve noticed it or not but Kurt plays his guitars upside down and backwards. So did Jimi Hendrix.
Because Kurt died just when he really got started, I feel Nirvanas actual impact is some how under acknowledged. I mean people give them credit, blah, blah.. but like the Beatles in the 60’s, when Nirvana exploded on to the generation, everything stopped, everything changed. And to be fair to Nirvana, when the Beatles landed, they came at a time when the youth, especially the girls, were not exposed to anything, still innocent and niece, until they were married. Nirvana did it when, the youth of the generation, had seen everything, to he point of exhaustion. But anyways, we waited all week for this to air on MTV, we must of had 30 of us packed in my friends house just to watch. Pure magic, just awesome.
David Bowie loved this version of it, apparently. And no wonder, because Nirvana treated it sympathetically. You get a better sense of Nirvana as musicians in this concert, because the arrangements for every song were incredible.
It's great to see you guys reacting to a live performance. I get that you like lyric videos so you can interpret the meanings of the songs but live versions generally have a much better vibe and highlight the musicianship of the performers
The Midge Ure cover remains my favorite rendition of this track, but i still love Nirvanas bohemian take on the Bowie original. All 3 have permanent spots on my playlist
that one of the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard. Kurt makes love with his Guitar. by far my favorite White Artist and they are by far My alltime Favorite Rock Group. 3 Studio Albums their Catalog is bananas and they are one of the select Rock Groups that Blacks who know their Music absolutely Love. One select few white rock groups who crossed black ears
Got love Nirvana sound.. Grung change sound and the image rock. Kurt was ahead of time and sadly couldn't see the love his music touched many outcast from society... still today when time get rough hit the play button and let the therapy help you get threw it. Great reaction to a true legend.
That is an acoustic guitar. It has a pickup (like a mic) so it can got to a PA or amp so it can be heard in a loud setting. The sound you like is that guitar plugged into a overdrive effects pedal so it sound kind of sounds like a fuzz electric guitar.
I did hear after a Bowie performance a number of people came up to him after the concert and thanked him for covering a Nirvana song - mmm puzzled he asked which one as obviously he hadn't - They replied Man Who Sold the World.
It's a cover of David Bowie, but Nirvana totally made it their own. I love both versions. Everything I've seen you react to of Nirvana has come from this one unplugged session. Have you heard any of their non-acoustic songs? I love this session, but there'sa lot more to the band.
This song was an original by David Bowie. Very sentimental song, this version of Nirvana was released more or less a year before the tragic suicide of Kurt Cobain who shot himself after a quarrel with then partner Courtney Love
The song is a cover of a David Bowie song. This was from Nirvana Unplugged In New York. Unplugged meaning "acoustic" but Kurt refused to do the show like that so he used his "electric acoustic" guitar, which in hindsight, was the right decision. Kurt took his own life 5 months after this performance. I always felt that Kurt wanted this performance to be like his funeral. I mean, just look at the flowers, the lighting, the whole set-up. It is very funeral like with a melancholy atmosphere.
The drummer for Nirvana is Dave Grohl. He started the band The Foo Fighters, but is the guitar player and lead singer in that band.. He's a phenomenal musician.. There's a monument in his home honoring him, that's a huge pair of drum sticks, and they're the largest set of sticks in the world. Pretty awesome
It is an acoustic guitar but with an electric guitar pickup mounted in the soundhole, that's how he got the effect in the riff and the solo, that pickup configuration creates feedback. A normal Electro/Acoustic guitar has a piezo pickup mounted under the bridge which just makes the guitar louder without affecting the sound ie it will still sound like an acoustic guitar.
This entire album/recording is one of my fav albums ever. So well done, just brilliant. Not a bad song in the set. The AIC album of similar nature is another fav
This was one of Cobain's last performances before he took his life. You'll notice he was about 120 lbs soaking wet and he had to wear a sweater all the time becaseu he was frequenly cold and watned to hide how frail he was. A heroin addiction had given him severe stomach problems even after he got off the drug. It made it hard for him to eat and he was reported to have constant stomach pain. He is now considered part of the "27 club" of musicians who died at 27 that include Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Amy Winehouse. This seems to be the age at which the drugs catch up with a lot of performers.
That is an acoustic guitar that Kurt is playing but wired with electric pickups. This is an eclectic song because it is a David Bowie cover. The drummer here is Dave Groll who went on to form The Foo Fighters.
So glad that you reacted to this song from the MTV unplugged and not "Where did you sleep last night" like other reacters, this one and "all apologies" were the most popular songs from this MTV unplugged back in the day
David Bowie was suffering through some feelings of selling out when he wrote this song.. Kurt very much was feeling the same kind of way towards the end of his life.. his cover of this song was so moving that Bowie changed the way he played it from then on out.
1) this was cover of David Bowie song (also title of Bowie's album). 2) Kurt WAS playing an acoustic guitar, it just had an electric pick-up inside so it could be run thru an amplifier. He was able to play lead because he had a distortion pedal placed inbetween his guitar cable output and the amp that he turned on for the solo parts.
@Brad, I think the timbre you're describing (as being "from another country) is due to the unison voices of Cobain's guitar and the cello. The blend might be similar to a sitar, common in India and Pakistan.
That unique guitar sound was the Cello playing the exact same thing Kurt was playing. It really helped 'hide' the picking you would have otherwise heard and helped sustain a lot of the stuff he was playing. It was a well thought out facet of the live performance that produced a sound that was very unique. One thing I heard somewhere was Dave Grohl was pretty unhappy having to play as softly on the drums as he did there. No matter how softly he played Kurt wanted less until he finally went with the brushes instead of the sticks. If you saw the whole performance you could see and feel the conflict between Dave and Kurt during the show. The end result...probably the most iconic and amazing "unplugged" show in MTV history.
Here she comes now cover by Nirvana is my favorite and this is my second favorite cover. Early 2000s I listened to this album continuously through out high school and never gets old for me. I wore myself out of Bleach and Nevermind lol
The guitar Kurt was using was an acoustic electric guitar he had plugged in to a distortion pedal with the distortion on low going into the amp. That's how he got that sound of being acoustic but not quite
“I was simply blown away when I found that Kurt Cobain liked my work, and have always wanted to talk to him about his reasons for covering ‘The Man Who Sold the World’”. It was a good straight forward rendition and sounded somehow very honest. It would have been nice to have worked with him, but just talking with him would have been real cool.”
*- David Bowie*
Is that a word for word quote? I've been listening to David Bowie for 30 years and I never heard him say 'real cool', but I might have just missed it. Do you have a source? Only asking because I'm a total Bowie fan and I'm curious, not trying to say you're wrong. I knew Bowie was interested to meet Kurt.
@@dannydarkense5500 Just search the first sentence. It looks like that is a direct quote from Bowie in Far Out Magazine.
😥
@@whodafeak Yeah, that's where it was taken from✌️
Imagine having that said about you by David fuckin' Bowie.
Although I'd heard both versions, this was the version that mesmerized me. It also made me appreciate the Bowie original more. Great stuff.
so true, totally agree
Same, also the version in MGS5
Yeah, I can't choose between the two. Both are great.
@@Levitator94 I'll have you know it's the Midge Ure version
Feel the same about The King of Pain when Mudvayne redid it. So much different from the original.
One of Bowie's finest, so glad that Kurt and the boys renewed interest in this great song. "Lake of Fire" from this same recording session should be next.
Best unplugged album in my opinion.
@@Jason-Bailey Agreed
Or 'Plateau' or 'Oh, Me'. Those Meat Puppets covers are all just superb.
@@SadPeterPan1977 this should be known to all ;)
@@SadPeterPan1977 They're very good without approaching the Meat Puppets' versions. A band that should be far better known.
In case you’re wondering what the song is about, it’s originally a David Bowie song and he had the alter-ego Ziggy Stardust. It’s speculated that he’s talking to his alter-ego in the song, and “The Man who sold the world” is himself selling the world an image of someone who he’s not, and he seems to have gotten lost in it, but he’s trying to convince himself that he’s not, hence, the line “who knows, not me, I never lost control”
Deep
The man who sold the world is the devil. Plain and simple. That’s who own the world to sell it. That’s who Bowie is speaking of. All the lyrics tie to that too. Saying he was my friend. All of that. It’s the devils world to sell, he even tried to sell it to Jesus. It’s another name of many for the “one who has many names”
I also heard it’s the devil, this song is about making a deal with the devil to “own” the world as maybe a celebrity would. “I laughed and shook his hand” just like Robert Johnson and many others, they sell their soul for fame and fortune.
Excellent cover. That whole unplugged album was fantastic. "Lake of Fire" next?
Edit: "Raw" is the perfect word to describe Nirvana.
Lake of fire and Plateau are awesome!!
I had it on CD and OMG yes......I think its right up there with Bleach and Nevermind.....It was a demonstration of growth and showed they were more than just "grunge" which was more of a trend.....If Kurt hadnt died the band would have kept growing and would have become something thats even more special
Leadbelly’s ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night” also!
@@CLTHIKER singing an over emphasised version of lake of fire is my favourite thing….cant stop laughing tho
“Raw” = Grunge
They did a good version of David Bowies song.
also for the reacters FYI Dave Grohl was playing drums
It's the definitive version of the song for me. Love the original, but Kurt gave it something it was lacking
THis unplugged is timeless and will all give me chills. I really love "Jesus Don't Want For A Sunbeam"
Nirvana unplugged is such a classic and iconic show/album.
That great riff is a David Bowie riff from his 3rd album 'The Man Who Sold the World' , the original is an epic rock song ... Nirvana's cover is nice, very chilled
It's not a Bowie riff.
@@AcidicDelusion Yes it was, Bowie write the song in 1970 ... Mick Ronson played the guitar if that is what you are alluding to
This is a Bowie song but loved by many including Kurt that why he sang it on unplugged
I hear that David was flattered by their covering of his classic. I love it even though I'm not a big Nirvana fan.
This is one of my fave Kurt Cobain performances ever.. Live & Unplugged was amazing. I can remember watching it when it aired.
It is so good but at the same time it tears me up every time i see this, it's like Kurt played at his own wake.
@@Mordraith That's just you reading too far into things.
Had to wait for couple of days for someone to put it on VHS
@@wantutosigh1117 Really? Because he took his own life not long after this recording, hardly reading too far into it. Its an emotional piece that's for sure. Don't be a dick.
Great David Bowie cover...From one of the best MTV Unplugged performances ever!!!
I had it on CD and OMG yes......I think its right up there with Bleach and Nevermind.....It was a demonstration of growth and showed they were more than just "grunge" which was more of a trend.....If Kurt hadnt died the band would have kept growing and would have become something thats even more special
@@weedthepeople2795 agreed!!
@@weedthepeople2795 100% - Love your URL name, btw. :)
@@dannydarkense5500 Thanks! time to legalize medical marijuana nationwide! dont get me started.....and if you like watching toasted people perform adequately at video games, check out the channel!
This is one of those rare songs that I actually enjoy the remake better than the original....and that is high praise when the original was created by a genius like David Bowie.
Actually the original is good too
Ah nirvana, my all-time favorite. You can't go wrong. Man I miss the 90's.
I miss the 90's as well
God- this band really did change the face of music. The best Unplugged ever, IMO.
The AiC unplugged was also amazing.
And the first.
@@jimmcdonald4087I'm sorry, the first what?
The best unplugged definitely goes to Alice in chains.
@@AK01445: the best Seattle based band from that time goes to AIC.
This entire performance was legendary! Made so much great music. Anybody passing through the comments get to see them live?
Yea, Reading Festival 1992 - was amazing.
@@God-ck5yo Same. That's where I saw them and they were on form!
This MTV Unplugged show blew my 13-year-old mind when it aired waaaay back in 1994. It made me appreciate that live performances don't have to be big spectacles to be extraordinary. Small and intimate can be its own level of dramatic and unforgettable.
"Hung over greasy hair", your explaining my first time watching this concert
Kurt was such a beautifully talented man. May he Rest In Peace.
You guys should react to…
Nirvana - Lake Of Fire (Live On MTV Unplugged, 1993)
🎸🤘
Do the Meat Puppets' original.
I’ve been obsessed with this song since I was a young child. It’ll never get old for me. Congrats Nirvana! I’d recommend Lounge Act by Nirvana next. Great reaction guys 🙋🏻♀️🙌🏼👍🏼👏🏼💜🇨🇦
Lounge Act is so good. I always have to listen to Milk It and Very Ape afterwards. For me, those songs fit together, if that makes sense. (I do the same with Drain You, On A Plain and Sappy).
I love both the original and the cover. I can’t decide which one I like better.
That "fish" strokuh makes Bowie much betta! i mean amiaight?
Hey Brad & Lex - did you know that the guitarist playing the red / white striped guitar is Pat Smear - who was a famous musician from the punk era - he was a member of a famous punk band called the Germs - he ended up joining Nirvana as the 4th musician. I missed the live stream but i love the songs you reacted to - thanks for your reactions.
when i was a teenager i loved smell like teen spirit, now i'm forty nine and the man who sold the world is my nirvana's masterpiece song.kisses from france.
when my husband was a teenage growing up in Washington state, his father was military, my husband would see Nirvana in person before they were famous. in the under ground of Seattle.
This is good. Lulu sang this in 1974 with David Bowie on backup vocals and saxophone. She got to number 3 in the charts with it. I like it
I also love the with Klaus Nomi on SNL. Extraordinary with Klaus’s counter tenor voice!
Kurt Nd Nirvana could cover anything?! He looks so so sad.. Honest, raw, and pure emotion
i love on this version, the bad feedback sound right when he says i've never lost control. so fitting for this song and what i interpret the songs meaning as.
I walked into a convenance store and the clerk, listening to her radio looked faint. "Kurt Cobain just killed himself " she said. I still feel that same shock and sadness just remembering that moment. Then we lost David Bowie later. We still have their music. Wonderful legacy. RIP so many of the musical masters of my life are gone. Most way too soon.
It's even sadder when you realize he died there alone days before
@@dobber43 At least we still have old Dave!
Kurt did not die alone which is even more upsetting.
Bowie songs like this one are on their own - Brilliant. Kurt's cover here is Iconic, and will live on as legendary for years to come.
Kurt Cobain singing a Bowie song, perfect.
The essential 90s music collection must include this album
This was a great cover of a great song. It's almost as though David wrote it for Kurt.
Yeah. I always imagine David and Kurt passing on the stairs.
The ”odd” sound you’re talking about is Kurt “bending” the strings. Also, not sure if you’ve noticed it or not but Kurt plays his guitars upside down and backwards. So did Jimi Hendrix.
Because Kurt died just when he really got started, I feel Nirvanas actual impact is some how under acknowledged. I mean people give them credit, blah, blah.. but like the Beatles in the 60’s, when Nirvana exploded on to the generation, everything stopped, everything changed. And to be fair to Nirvana, when the Beatles landed, they came at a time when the youth, especially the girls, were not exposed to anything, still innocent and niece, until they were married. Nirvana did it when, the youth of the generation, had seen everything, to he point of exhaustion.
But anyways, we waited all week for this to air on MTV, we must of had 30 of us packed in my friends house just to watch. Pure magic, just awesome.
I actually. I think we'll never fully understand how big of a negative impact Kurt's death had on the youth and the music industry itself.
David Bowie loved this version of it, apparently. And no wonder, because Nirvana treated it sympathetically. You get a better sense of Nirvana as musicians in this concert, because the arrangements for every song were incredible.
She's describing Bowie's world without even realizing it.
The best ever MTV unplugged
It's great to see you guys reacting to a live performance. I get that you like lyric videos so you can interpret the meanings of the songs but live versions generally have a much better vibe and highlight the musicianship of the performers
Not sure why they bother with lyrics videos, as I’ve yet to see Brad come close to interpreting one correctly🤣
This song bring me old memories of the pub we usually hang-out during the 90s of which this song is a frequent request.
The Midge Ure cover remains my favorite rendition of this track, but i still love Nirvanas bohemian take on the Bowie original. All 3 have permanent spots on my playlist
that one of the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard. Kurt makes love with his Guitar. by far my favorite White Artist and they are by far My alltime Favorite Rock Group. 3 Studio Albums their Catalog is bananas and they are one of the select Rock Groups that Blacks who know their Music absolutely Love. One select few white rock groups who crossed black ears
I wish he wouldn't have died, I loved Nirvana.
Just wanted to point out the solid rhythm section of this band, the bass runs with the solid crisp percussion of Mr. Grohl!
I’m 50+, and this is from my 20s.
Love you two are growing exponentially.
How was Tool?
Unique cover. Love it. That show blew up their career beyond what was thought
man who sold the world live n loud, that's the best version of this song
Got love Nirvana sound.. Grung change sound and the image rock. Kurt was ahead of time and sadly couldn't see the love his music touched many outcast from society... still today when time get rough hit the play button and let the therapy help you get threw it. Great reaction to a true legend.
My teenage years were the Nirvana years and this album was everywhere. I must have watched this concert 20-30 times. Amazing.
This is one of the best covers I’ve ever heard in my life
It's an acoustic guitar with a pick-up and using his distortion pedal on the lead
I just relearned this on guitar a couple nights ago!
What is ironic about this song watching it now is that he really died alone a long, long time ago
"Hipsters" Were just in, or Just getting out.... of Diapers, When this Aired on MTV.
One of the best covers ever.
Most legendary singer of the 90's tragically taken from this world far to soon. He was a musical genius with the golden voice.
That song is David Bowies, this one is so special.
Nirvana really knew had to do a good cover song.
That is an acoustic guitar. It has a pickup (like a mic) so it can got to a PA or amp so it can be heard in a loud setting. The sound you like is that guitar plugged into a overdrive effects pedal so it sound kind of sounds like a fuzz electric guitar.
This is a song you feel it in your soul. An awesome song by David Bowie performed by Nirvana.
I did hear after a Bowie performance a number of people came up to him after the concert and thanked him for covering a Nirvana song - mmm puzzled he asked which one as obviously he hadn't - They replied Man Who Sold the World.
So weird that Lex thought this reminded her of a greenhouse as that's where Kurt was found dead :O
Ironically I wasn't the biggest Nirvana fan in Seattle but I played the shit out of this song in the juke box.
It's a cover of David Bowie, but Nirvana totally made it their own. I love both versions.
Everything I've seen you react to of Nirvana has come from this one unplugged session. Have you heard any of their non-acoustic songs? I love this session, but there'sa lot more to the band.
This song was an original by David Bowie. Very sentimental song, this version of Nirvana was released more or less a year before the tragic suicide of Kurt Cobain who shot himself after a quarrel with then partner Courtney Love
"shot himself" who are you? Courtney Love's attorney?
He shot himself as much as Epstein killed himself
it wasn't even five months between recording and suicide.
OP has a warped sense of the circumstances.
MTV Unplugged or teen moms tough call. Im so happy been teen in the 90's
Their minds are so young. I love seeing the journey.
MTV Unplugged was great. They should really bring that back.
Unplugged autotune doesn't work 🤣
Yeah who's gonna be on it? Old bands.
I love the smile Kurt gives at the end of that set. He knew they effin' killed it!
The song is a cover of a David Bowie song. This was from Nirvana Unplugged In New York. Unplugged meaning "acoustic" but Kurt refused to do the show like that so he used his "electric acoustic" guitar, which in hindsight, was the right decision. Kurt took his own life 5 months after this performance. I always felt that Kurt wanted this performance to be like his funeral. I mean, just look at the flowers, the lighting, the whole set-up. It is very funeral like with a melancholy atmosphere.
Bowie was genius. Cobs playing with a rightly guitar a la Sir Paul.
Good cover! Thanks for adding it to your views!
These guys are INCREDIBLE!! Just INCREDIBLE!
David Bowie's version sounds more haunting. Like he's singing from purgatory.
That "whoo" guy in the beginning always gets me lol everytime i play this song im always like "whoo" lol legend!
The drummer for Nirvana is Dave Grohl. He started the band The Foo Fighters, but is the guitar player and lead singer in that band.. He's a phenomenal musician.. There's a monument in his home honoring him, that's a huge pair of drum sticks, and they're the largest set of sticks in the world. Pretty awesome
You gotta do every song from this unplugged set for sure!! They are all great!!!!
It is an acoustic guitar but with an electric guitar pickup mounted in the soundhole, that's how he got the effect in the riff and the solo, that pickup configuration creates feedback. A normal Electro/Acoustic guitar has a piezo pickup mounted under the bridge which just makes the guitar louder without affecting the sound ie it will still sound like an acoustic guitar.
This entire album/recording is one of my fav albums ever. So well done, just brilliant. Not a bad song in the set. The AIC album of similar nature is another fav
You guys should do some proper Nirvana songs- About a girl. Blew. Heart Shaped Box.
This was one of Cobain's last performances before he took his life. You'll notice he was about 120 lbs soaking wet and he had to wear a sweater all the time becaseu he was frequenly cold and watned to hide how frail he was. A heroin addiction had given him severe stomach problems even after he got off the drug. It made it hard for him to eat and he was reported to have constant stomach pain. He is now considered part of the "27 club" of musicians who died at 27 that include Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Amy Winehouse. This seems to be the age at which the drugs catch up with a lot of performers.
Where did you sleep last night is the song from this set that blew it out of the water. Chills everytime.
MTV’s concept was for these shows to be acoustic-only, but Cobain used an acoustic-electric guitar for this show.
That is an acoustic guitar that Kurt is playing but wired with electric pickups.
This is an eclectic song because it is a David Bowie cover.
The drummer here is Dave Groll who went on to form The Foo Fighters.
So glad that you reacted to this song from the MTV unplugged and not "Where did you sleep last night" like other reacters, this one and "all apologies" were the most popular songs from this MTV unplugged back in the day
David Bowie was suffering through some feelings of selling out when he wrote this song.. Kurt very much was feeling the same kind of way towards the end of his life.. his cover of this song was so moving that Bowie changed the way he played it from then on out.
1) this was cover of David Bowie song (also title of Bowie's album). 2) Kurt WAS playing an acoustic guitar, it just had an electric pick-up inside so it could be run thru an amplifier. He was able to play lead because he had a distortion pedal placed inbetween his guitar cable output and the amp that he turned on for the solo parts.
@Brad, I think the timbre you're describing (as being "from another country) is due to the unison voices of Cobain's guitar and the cello. The blend might be similar to a sitar, common in India and Pakistan.
This was by far the best MTV Unplugged session.
I was same JM, absolutely loved Nirvana version was 10 years later I heard original and yet again fell in love with it lol god bless Bowie
Kurt's memories forever etched to our hearts 😭💜
That unique guitar sound was the Cello playing the exact same thing Kurt was playing. It really helped 'hide' the picking you would have otherwise heard and helped sustain a lot of the stuff he was playing. It was a well thought out facet of the live performance that produced a sound that was very unique. One thing I heard somewhere was Dave Grohl was pretty unhappy having to play as softly on the drums as he did there. No matter how softly he played Kurt wanted less until he finally went with the brushes instead of the sticks. If you saw the whole performance you could see and feel the conflict between Dave and Kurt during the show. The end result...probably the most iconic and amazing "unplugged" show in MTV history.
Guys this concert was the highlight of the Unplugged series of concerts. Got to check out the entire show.
Here she comes now cover by Nirvana is my favorite and this is my second favorite cover. Early 2000s I listened to this album continuously through out high school and never gets old for me. I wore myself out of Bleach and Nevermind lol
Early 70s era Bowie was a big influence on Kurt Cobain. This is a great tribute to one of his heroes
Such a beautiful soul that died way before his time
The guitar Kurt was using was an acoustic electric guitar he had plugged in to a distortion pedal with the distortion on low going into the amp. That's how he got that sound of being acoustic but not quite
This is Mt favorite song from their unplugged concert, a David bowie cover.
Under rated Bowie song that Nirvana brought back to life. Profound lyrics, great cover!
The original Bowie version is one of my favourites, with a 60's vibe (they say the past is a different country).
it's a weird and eccentric song because it is a David Bowie song they chose to cover.