Hear the rare demo for Nirvana’s ‘All Apologies’
In 1993, Nirvana released their final single – a double A-side featuring ‘Rape Me’ and ‘All Apologies’. The tracks preempted their third and final studio album In Utero, which would be released later that year, just ahead of Kurt Cobain’s suicide in 1994.
A year before the release of the album, Cobain told Rolling Stone that the album would contain “both of the extremes”. He continued, “It’ll be more raw with some songs and more candy pop on some of the others. It won’t be as one dimensional.” He suggested that ‘All Apologies’, alongside ‘Dumb’ represented “the lighter, more dynamic” sound he wished featured more in their releases before In Utero.
In a rare demo of ‘All Apologies’, recorded in early 1991, you can hear the range that he describes. Compared with the final studio version, the minimal demo is folkier, almost Beatles-inspired. Soft guitar riffs paired with jangly tambourine leaves the song feeling much more upbeat and optimistic than most of Nirvana’s output. Cobain described the track in his biography as “peaceful, happy, comfort – just happy happiness.” Though it retains Nirvana’s defining rawness in its lyricism and doesn’t quite see them stray into “candy pop”, the demo is a far cry from the grunginess of Nirvana’s previous releases.
Speaking with Harp in 2005, drummer Dave Grohl also noted that Cobain wrote the track “on [a] 3-track in our apartment in Olympia.” He continues, “I remember hearing it and thinking, ‘God, this guy has such a beautiful sense of melody, I can’t believe he’s screaming all the time.” The demo is a welcome change of pace from Nirvana’s unrelenting discography, a glimpse at a happier Cobain.
Though the track was written by Kurt Cobain before he even met Courtney Love, he went on to dedicate the song to his wife as well as his daughter Frances Bean. In his biography, he told Michael Azerrad, “I like to think the song is for them, but the words don’t really fit in relation to us… the feeling does, but not the lyrics.”
The finalised ‘All Apologies’ retained its folky riff, but the guitar became harsher, more stereotypically Nirvana. The studio version also pushes Cobain’s vocals further forward, and replaced the cheerful tambourine with atmospheric cello, played by Kera Schaley. The track went on to have chart success and two Grammy nominations.
Listen to the early studio demo of ‘All Apologies’ below.
