Come as You Are

The song Come as You Are, born from the mind of Kurt Cobain, has a peculiarity from its conception. Before the album Nevermind was recorded in 1991, Nirvana sent a rehearsal tape with some of the new compositions to Butch Vig, the producer. Among them was this piece. The final recording took place at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, in early that same year. During the session, Cobain recorded his guitar solo in two takes and the vocals in three, choosing the first for the definitive version. Something interesting happened during the overdubbing of vocal harmonies: Cobain, unintentionally, sang the phrase "No, I don't have a gun" at an unexpected moment. Instead of correcting it, he decided to leave it in the final recording, adding a layer of spontaneity to the song. Producer Butch Vig also took fragments of the word "memory" sung by Cobain and integrated them into the background of the song towards the end, repeating them a couple of times.

The release of Come as You Are as the second single from the album Nevermind in March 1992 was not without internal debate. Cobain had reservations about the song's similarity to Eighties, a 1984 track by the English band Killing Joke. Despite Cobain's concerns, the record label's insistence, who saw its commercial potential, convinced him to move forward. This similarity generated rumors of a possible lawsuit from Killing Joke, although it never materialized. Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker expressed his displeasure with the situation. Despite these controversies, the song became a hit, reaching number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, being the band's second and last single to reach the US Top 40. It also charted in the Top 10 in nine countries and in the Top 40 in ten others. The music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, was inspired by the iconic cover of the album Nevermind, featuring the band in a dark environment where water distorts the images. The song, categorized as alternative rock, has a duration of 3 minutes and 38 seconds and is distinguished by the use of the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone pedal, which gives the guitar a "watery" or echoey sound.