About a Girl

What makes About a Girl so special is its catchy melody, a trait that contrasted with Nirvana's usual rawness in their early days. Kurt Cobain wrote it in 1988, inspired after repeatedly listening to the album Meet the Beatles!. At that time, Cobain was trying to keep his inclinations towards a more pop sound hidden, fearing that including such a song on their first album, Bleach, might alienate the fanbase that identified with the grunge sound. In fact, he himself described it as a pop song. The producer of Bleach, Jack Endino, did see the potential in it, even considering releasing it as a single.

Years later, Butch Vig, who produced Nevermind, would point to About a Girl as the first indication that Nirvana was more than just grunge, recognizing The Beatles' influence on Cobain's songwriting. The original recording of About a Girl took place in December 1988 in Seattle, Washington, with Jack Endino producing. It was an intense 30-hour session spread over six days, during which they recorded nine tracks that would make up Bleach. Endino recalled that the band had the songs very rehearsed and recorded them in one or two takes, with vocals added later. This studio version was released in June 1989.

The song debuted live in February 1989 at a party at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. An acoustic version, recorded in November 1993 during Nirvana's appearance on MTV Unplugged in New York, was released as a single in October 1994. This version, which featured Pat Smear on second guitar, reached number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 22 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. The last time they played the song live was in Munich, Germany, on March 1, 1994.