In Bloom

Album: Nevermind (1991)
Charted: 28
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Songfacts®:

  • Kurt Cobain explained that he had a disdain for "rednecks, macho men and abusive people." He said that this song was an attack on these types.
  • Growing up in Aberdeen, Washington, Cobain encountered a lot of people with very little tolerance to anyone different. He told Melody Maker in 1992: "For ages I thought I might be homosexual, because I didn't like the cheerleader type of girl or want to hang out with the jock boys. I chose to live the life of a recluse. I didn't hang out with anyone else because I couldn't handle their stupidity."
  • Kurt Cobain was very much aware that many people would not get the point of his songs and simply sing along with them blindly. On this song, he wrote a very sing-a-long chorus so that people would find themselves singing about not understanding the song: "He's the one who likes all the pretty songs, and he likes to sing along, but he knows not what it means."
  • To further provoke the homophobic crowd this song targets, the band wore dresses in the video. The clip begins with the band appearing on a '50s-style variety show, with the clueless host hyping them but mispronouncing their name. Later on, clips with the band wearing dresses appear in contrast to their jacket and tie look they wear for most of the video.

    Kevin Kerslake, who also did Nirvana's videos for "Sliver" and "Come As You Are" was the director. He says they came up with the idea from talking about The Ed Sullivan Show.
  • Talking about Nirvana's unlikely fame in 1992, their bassist Krist Novoselic couldn't help using a line from this song to explain. Said Krist: "'He's the one who likes pretty songs' – there you have it. Nevermind is a very safe record. It's not like Big Black or the Butthole Surfers, something totally left of center. We're just slightly left of center. It's pop. It's just that the guitars are heavy."
  • There are four different videos for this song. The first was made by a film student in 1990 before the band was famous. The other three are different edits of the same footage. In one, the band is wearing suits, in another, they are wearing dresses, and in the one MTV usually played, they are wearing a suits in some shots and dresses in others. These three videos are parodies of the old variety shows like The Ed Sullivan Show. Just like the show, they were filmed in black and white, include footage of a crowd of screaming girls, and feature a host who mispronounces the name of the band.
  • This was released as a single more than a year after the album came out.
  • Nirvana was known for their unfettered energy, but many of their songs were very melodic and quite memorable, including this one. David Yow, who toured with Nirvana as a member of the band The Jesus Lizard, remembers hearing Nirvana play this song before it was released and having it stick in their heads. "It was before Nevermind came out, and the next day - and this never happens - in the van, Mac, our drummer and I, were singing 'In Bloom,' after having heard it once live," he said. "We had picked up on that because you absorbed it. That was so catchy." (Here's our full David Yow interview.)
  • Country artist Sturgill Simpson recorded a cover version for his 2016 A Sailor's Guide to Earth album. His interpretation is rendered completely unrecognizable by a swirl of strings and horns.

    Simpson grew up in a broken home and found solace in Nevermind. "I remember in seventh or eighth grade, when that album dropped, it was like a bomb went off in my bedroom," he explained. "For me, that song has always summed up what it means to be a teenager, and I think it tells a young boy that he can be sensitive and compassionate - he doesn't have to be tough or cold to be a man. So I wanted to make a very beautiful and pure homage to Kurt."

Comments: 86

  • Luna Loud from Royal Woods, MichiganThis song's not that hard to play on guitar and drums, but it's harder than one might think. The main riff is kinda all over the neck. Most of the drums are easy technically speaking but you have to remember to lead with your left (or less dominant) hand when playing the fill after "knows not what it means".

    As for the lyrics, it's nonsense written to make a point. Write down any lines, however stupid or nonsensical they are and as long as the music's catchy it will sell and people will sing along to it. John Lennon wrote "I am the Walrus" for almost the same reason.

    Later, dudes!
  • Sjf from TexasI dont think it's hard to understand or overly cryptic. I'm not going to write a long paragraph, but I at least gotta address one thing about peoples interpretations that leaves me scratching my head and/or laughing.... Why in the world does everyone believe that "sell the kids for food" references a transaction involving kids, their owners, and money? Its seems apparent to me, because its congruent with the rest of the song, that it's meant the other way, like to convince a person of something, or an idea...For example "he sold me on that"... or "try to sell them on the idea that" Lol, but what do I know? Maybe I'm crazy and people owning kids that they sell for money is more sensible, ha ha
  • AnonymousIt's about a type of people who blindly and absent mindedly follow trends. Individuals will come and go quickly, and each individual in the group is by nature disposable, but the group is always there as new people replace the old ones. The point is that there is so no way around the truth of this situation, that he can just sing any lyrics, it doesn't matter what they are... So, in the course he just makes a statement about it... "sell the kids" is "sell the kids on something"... Shooting a gun is a reference to firing celebratory shots, something like would have been done by drunk people in saloons in the old american west.
    Also, he's talking to the record company executives during the verses. Hes basically explaining the situation to them, and showing and telling them how they are easily going to go about capitalizing on it
  • Human from EarthI feel like "knows not what it means" sounds like dont know what it means
  • David from DresdenBriitany / Jessica: Hopefully not, but the things that happend in the last months, and cornell and bennington (and avici).... Uff...
  • Brittany from GeorgiaI somewhat agree with Jessica. If you’ve paid attention to things going on in the world. The conspiracies really. The conspiracies about frazzle drip and adrenochrome. If not, look them up. Maybe he knew more than they wanted him to. Maybe he didn’t agree with these things and he was going to eventually call out some powerful people. I feel like these “suicides” were not suicides at all. Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Chris Cornell, Avicci, and others were working on a sex trafficking documentary and were going to call out some powerful people. Watch Fall of Cabal part 1-10. And wake up
  • David from Dresden GermanyOh yeah, of course I forgot something. ^^

    - Adhd for example meens, that you have problems to ignore sounds for ex. (screeming kids for ex.) .. Thats one of the things, why he said, that he thought, that if you would have asked his teachers in school, which of their "students" could get "angry", a murder, shoots around in school (you know what I meen ^^), they would have said: Kurt.
    This problems with noise and so on is one of the reasons, why you consumed drugs (and ritalin) ( iam adhd too and when i studied at a big university, i always had too " instincts: run home and close the door (silence) or box all the students k.o. (silence, acusticly and visibly, but because they are egoists too, because all screeming around, stay in the way and go like they are alone at the earth - maybe thats the reason, why we adhd people so often are late: because then all are in the rooms and its silence in the building (school, university))

    - he always said, his body (Bauch, Magen ^^) hurts. -> drugs. I have similar problems with my bones / scellet

    - another problem, we adhd people have, is that the good feelings we get, if we are succsesfull with something or have sex or eat something nice, is over much faster then it is for "normal" people. (Because adhd is a problem with dopamin and so on!)
    Thats why he consumed drugs (and ritalin) and because of that, the succses he had, or his child didnt gave him good feelings for a long time / forever. He hoped it, thats why he tried to push the nirvana project at the very beginning, when Krist had a lack of motivation (or something). He hoped, he will feel better, when he has a child to live for. But yeah, not for a long time ...and the drugs and so on...
  • David from Dresden GermanyShould add something:

    - 2 YOUNG people? Because the most "fans"/fans were young (?), and so in the main he addressed them I bet.

    - spring or summer

    - next year: maybe 2 / 3 / 5 .... years later....

    - make money with the kids: could meen also, they / " he" dont have spend money for all they stuff the baby / kids need... (Pic in his diary) (dont know, how it is in the usa, but maybe they gained money for there kid/kids from the state and so they / he can "buy food" (i.g. drugs?)) .... or something else xD

    - nature is a whore because wether changes moods (not whore because of giving sex for money, but because the meaning of a "whore", which means people, which have affairs and leave the partner alone to have fun/sex witg others.) nature is not somethinh external, like a god or the sun or the spring and so on,...its the animal we are /( biochemical / neurotrans/ instincts/ needs (reproduction,)) -> nature

    - " he" because of the refrain, too of course ("he" is the one)

    - " bruises on the fruit" : its only 1 fruit....if you have a fruit with bruises on it, you dont want it anymore so it is put into the waste (another thing kurt wants to communicate i think....its not (longer) perfect? -> buy / get a new one)
    Of course it could mean a 5 years relationship or so, too, when "his" woman is not like the young shiny girls out there anymore / older.

    For sure, I forgot sonething again, but yeah, adhd ( :D )


    Every kid knows: If you are ill, you need quiet! And if you dont want to get ill, you need quiet too. So why the f..K there is still so much noise in our society, why the government dont say this, to fight corona (...), egoist people screaming their stupid s--t around, like they are alone at this earth, and so on, dont show their kids to think about, that there are other people which "sometimes" need quiet.

    I say this, because ADHD : Kurt .... ( most people think, they know, what adhd is, because of this s--t name, but most don;t have a clue what it means to have ADHD)
  • David from DresdenKurt didnt have problems with stardom or depression. He was an ADHD guy like me and only was f--ked up by this f--king stupid normal animals called humans and the fact, that he himself is not much bether. He was bored because allways the same s--t, including singing always the same songs. He was f--ked up when thinking about senseless life...getting older> die. And when he was rich and famous he thought: and now? And was bored... And f--ked up... And his own fans gave him the rest while booing out the melvins- his favourite band - in munich at last tour! ... Like the stupid animals they / we are!
  • David from Dresden GermanySeems like no one saw this :-(


    1 Sell the kids for food
    2 Weather changes moods
    3 Spring is here again
    4 Reproductive glands

    1 We can have some more
    2 Nature is a whore
    3 Bruises on the fruit
    4 Tender age in bloom


    1 Sell the kids for food, we can have some more.
    2 Weather changes moods, nature is a whore.
    3 Spring is here again, bruises on the fruit.
    4 Reproductive glands, tender Age in Bloom.

    My english is bad, so I hope, you understand me. ^^

    Its about 2 young people meet in the spring while having fun/party and then have sex and get a baby.
    -> Then in the next year the song starts:
    Make money with the kids, (prostit, let them alone near a churvh, sell them to pedoph. Or smth.) to get food, money, alc, party entrys and so on. Why? Because the spring changes the moods (you all know, what i mean) especially "his". Why " he"? Bruises on the fruit means he dont find the woman attractive anymore, because she was pregnant and so on, and there are so many nice young shiny girls in the spring... The reproductive glands screaming for action, because the young nice woman out there/tender age in bloom.

    Hope, it is understandable, and I still dont know, what it means, but seems like it could it be this. ^^

    ( but oh yeah, I have to see these pics at his diarys, and read :D)
  • Ozwald from SeattleI felt like it was as described above until reading the lyrics.

    After which it seems like a song about ignorant people and reproduction.. "he" mindlessly drifting towards pretty things and sensations, gun being his dick, but don't know what it means..

    sell the kids for food.. Weather changes moods.. Spring is here again... Reproductive glands... (don't know what it means) We can have some more.. Nature is a whore.. Bruises on the fruit.. Tender age in bloom

    Showing a lack of value or understanding in our life or leading to pain that starts the cycle again. Kinda floaty idea maybe reading into a few lines to much.



  • Chris from SomewhereNobody mentioned this, so I might as well, the host who didn't pronounce the name right was played by Doug Llewelyn who was best known as the original announcer for "The People's Court."
  • Zero from The Abyss, NjWell, it's Feb 1st 2015 the day of Super Bowl 49. One of the pregame commercials had a montage of epic sports victories while the Smashing Pumpkins "Today" plays over them. Talk about getting the wrong interpretation of a song! (The song is actually about suicide)
  • Lani from Ulagan, ZimbabweI admire all of your great Ideas but has anybody of you read Kurts "Journals"? It's a book that only consits of different pages out of his diaries. on page 110 he writes:
    „Ive been told that an artist is in need of constant tragedy to fully express thier work, but Im not an artist and when I say I in a song, that doenst neccesarily mean that person is me and it means whoever or whatever you want because everyone has their own definition of specific words and when your dealing in the context of music you cant expect words to have the same meaning as in everyday use for vocabulary because i consider music as art. […] I feel this society has lost its sense of what art is, art is expression“
    and in this Interview he talks about how much he hates that people interprete so much into his lyrics (at about 10:00):
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe7q8yDPJFo
    I think Kurt didn't go that far with his songwriting as some of you would interprete it. He often talks about himself as a songwriter as writing rubbish, but I think he just writes down, what he thinks. As he's describing his writing process nn page 249 in "Journals":
    „Ive never been a very prolific person so when creativity flows, it flows“
    Furthermore he has a picture on page 139, where he has drawn different scenes and written the the first verse of this song under it: "sell the kids for food" is a baby swimming in the water and to hands, that look like they have just thrown it into it. "waether changes moods" has the picture of a person with a KKK-hat on, that gets blown of his head by the wind. "spring is here again" is a meadow with flowers on it and a magniying glass with a KKK-hat on it. "reproductive glands" is a brain in a sort of a glass box, it kind of looks like these things you have in your bilogy lessons.
    I think this song is really about all of these "Jocks" (as he calls them) that hated him in school, these silly, typical american males, that don't have a clue about what it is they sing a long or they follow, but just do it because it's 'in', or because everybody does. I think in the verses he just maybe triess to confuse the listener, with his typical sracastic and paradox lyrics. I think I gives some kind of examples about what people do only because everybody does, e.g. racism, as these KKK-hats do show, or rape for the "reproductive glands. I think one may not take Kurts lyrics too litareally and interprete too much. I think he would really hate it.
  • Jessica Vanier from Windsor, OnAfter reading the lyrics and reflecting, I would gather that the Nirvana song In Bloom is about prostituting children for money either for food as a metaphor for drugs. I grant you this sounds far fetch but please allow me to clarify and support my claim.
    Sell your kids for food -- prostitution
    Weather changes moods spring is here again -- prostitution is always on the rise when the weather gets nice outside. It is more of a seasonal trade so to speak.
    Reproductive Glands -- In general, obviously it simply means sex but more than that people are likely to be more sexually active in the spring/summer months.

    Chorus: He is the one -- the man, either father, step-father, mother's boyfriend, uncle, WHO is the one selling the kids for sex. These type of men are different than those men who simply physically abuse children. When it comes to sexual abuse they mask it by "grooming" type of behaviours which often include spending quality fun time with children and buying them things. It is how these type of men try to make up for what they are doing, and it helps the children going through the abuse cope... thinking about the good times.
    So in the case of the chorus, he is the one who is singing the nice songs... playful male role model; He likes to shoot his gun could be a metaphor for reaching a sexual climax.

    Next verse: We can have some more. Nature is a whore. This signifies that we can be greedy and have as much as we like. Whores just sleep sleep sleep around with no control right?. They crave sex and enough is never enough. A second conclusion would be that it is our nature to use sex to get what we want. A completely straight man may engage in fellatio with a man for drugs or money for drugs even though he would otherwise never do it, because he is in fact a straight. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and sex can fix all things human and animal alike. Prostitution is common among many animal species not just humans.

    Bruises on the fruit. Tender age in Bloom. Means that children are at a very delicate age in their development, they have been hurt and hurt easily at such an impressionable age and furthermore in bloom would signify the onset of puberty. Still while tying into the entire changing seasons and spring theme. Trees are the makers, the parents or guardians. Fruit is the offspring, or even blooming flowers. Young girls bloom during puberty. They will never be so beautiful and pure as at that moment.

    So.... What do you think? Not so far fetch when you really think about it. Many people say that Nirvana's music doesn't mean anything and that it is just a mish-mash of rhyming words
    I would disagree because even if these songs were written under the influence of drugs, the mind is still thinking and trying to make sense of the world. It is possible that if it was written while under the influence of drugs, and then later asked what it meant... he may not remember. Doesn't mean that the song has no meaning though. You can have an epiphany in your dream, and it all makes sense, even it is a little warped, but it still has meaning even if you never remember your dreams. Your brain is working things out.
  • Zero from Nowhere, NjI'm probably gonna get flamed for talking about another band on a Nirvana forum but it relates to the same thing Kurt was talking about in the song. When I was in middle school and everyone was listening to KoRn and one day I came in with a KoRn Tshirt and everyone started calling me a poser. These were the same preps and jocks that have been picking on me and giving me a hard time my whole childhood. What they didn't realize was that The singer was an outcast himself and those kids probalby would like him either if he wasn't a famous rock star. Kurt was an outcast as well and while I'm sure he wouldn't discourage ANYONE from listening to his wonderful music, he wouldn't tolerate any of his "fans" from doing it either.
  • Mark from Ann Arbor, Moway below sheeberson had the best comment. The solo is "terrible" yet perfect. To me this song is just about discovering the nature of life or something.
  • Steve from Phoenix, AzKurt had problems with stardom. In Bloom
    perfect example. It's pretty much shows how
    Kurt viewed fans who are easily amused
    and tends to put people or in this case
    bands on a pedestal.
    It's also a poke at the music business.
    First part of the parody on the Ed Sullivan
    shows a very subdued almost nerdry Buddy Holly like singer, to a raging maniac symbolizing the inner rage and feeling Godlike to a bunch of sheep like fans. His tongue and cheek and he likes to shoot his gun. Cobain being a pacifist put it all into perspective. I've heard this in
    another one of his songs about stardom
    when he wrote

    Here we are now, entertain us
    I feel stupid and contagious

    We can add some more Nature is a whore.
    or the Sell the Kids for Food.
    That could have been a poke at commericalism
    or maybe like John Lennon said about
    I'm a walrus. I'm a walrus really had no
    meaning, I was just throwing words on
    paper and whatever rhymed stuck.
    Like Sitting on a Cornflake, Waiting for
    the van to come.
    So maybe Kurt was just being creative.
    I played this song for an older musician
    friend of mine when it first came out and
    after showing him the lyrics he said
    The guy sounds like a manic depressive.
    So maybe that's all this is about
  • Nigel from London, United KingdomI think this song is awesome. R.I.P Kurt Cobain
  • Ryan from Anahola, HiIt sounds like Kurt had a cold because his voice is low on the voices.
  • Naccione from Liechtenstein, LiechtensteinI think the stepdad idea sounds the most likely. It matches the 'Sell the kids for food / we can have some more' verses. Kurt's mother has changed her loyalties as in 'weather changes moods'. Suddenly she's 'young' again, and Kurt exposes the falseness of this with the ironic lines 'bruises on the fruit', 'tender age in bloom'. Finally, the conflict between his mother as his loving parent and her concealed identity as a sexual being is crystallised in the lyric 'reproductive glands'.
    I suppose the rest could fit in with the idea that Kurt's activities may be regarded as childish by his stepdad and mum who patronise him ('pretty songs') but don't understand the pointed references to their unwelcome and distasteful (for Kurt) relationship.
    Kurt Cobain was a quality lyricist whose words are not cheap pop throwaways but intended to last and touch deep, important issues. He was actually a very serious and moral man, for example taking a stance against macho chauvinism and theatricals in certain popular heavy metal music.
    He was also an outsider and very protective of his own clique of friends who were also non-mainstream (eg not preppy). This identity, teasing the mainstream sheep, might also be alluded to by 'In Bloom'.
  • Mike from Glendale Heights, IlOne of the funniest moments in the Unplugged concert, which I strongly recommend for anyone interested in Nirvana, Kurt asks the audience if they have any requests. They shout out a bunch of songs like Sliver and Teen Spirit of course, then some guy yells out "IN BLOOM", and Kurt just says, "How are we supposed to play In Bloom acoustic?" because of all the pedal effects the song uses and the fact that its almost all power chords. What makes it really great is that Krist and Dave start playing the opening lines and Kurt just grins at them. Classic Nirvana.
  • Albert from Dallas, TxI may be stating the obvious, but I've never seen or heard it mentioned. To me, the song has the same connotation as The Hook by The Blues Travelers. It's a stab at all the people who think it's a pretty song and like to sing along, but no one takes the time to try and understand what it means. The chorus directly states this, using his friend as a metaphor for the masses. Look at the verses though. He wrote one verse, and just chopped it up to make two, which make no sense independent of each other, yet it was still a huge success.

    Sell the kids for food. We can have some more.
    Weather changes moods. Nature is a whore.
    Spring is here again. Bruises on the fruit.
    Reproductive glands. Tender age in bloom.

    One verse, split in two. Especially with the commentary of the chorus, how could this be interpreted in any other way? The masses don't care what a song is about as long as it is catchy.
  • Nick from Seattle, AlbaniaThe line "weather changes moods" is about seattle and its crappy weather that makes him and everyone else depressed. SEATTLE ROCKS! we got all the greats here, thanks 4 helping out kurt!
  • Chris from Newcastle Upon Tyne, United KingdomLise from Sydney, this song is clearly not about the gun that killed Kurt, would people stop saying every line is about suicide.
    When Nirvana released Nevermind, this was an old Nirvana song, ie written around 1990, as seen with the video made by a film student.
    Shoots his guns, duh, he's having a stab at macho guys, who use violence to justify themselves.
  • Daniel from Winchester, Ohthis song kicks butt,try listning to this song when your drunk,trust me the song will sound even better...
  • Timmy from Mukilteo, Waif you listen to this song from a non-musical perspective, you think, "WTF?" this band is horrible and the singer must be high.

    but when you look at it from a musical perspective, you get this really wierd feeling, like kurt is talking directly to you through the music, and its not all about the music. kurt kobain was a great lyricist.
  • Austin from Smallsville,new England, --This song was featured on the video game Rock Band.
  • Lisa from Sydney, AustraliaThis song is supposed to be about Dylan Carlson , I cant help but think when the Lyrics say "he likes to shoot his guns " that it was Dylan that actually bought Kurt the gun that killed him..............
  • Kurt Cobain from Heaven, RiIts kinda funny how people tell me
    what i wrote my songs about
    This was about how nature gives and takes
    and also how people follow each other
  • Sadie from Arlington, VaThis is another great song by Nirvana. Don`t question it just flow with it. R.I.P Kurt April 5, 1994
  • Sheeberson from Wrightsville Beach, Nci love love LOVE the solo in this song. its terrible, yet at the same time amazing. doesnt really make sense, but oh well
  • Cherry from Arizona , AzI listen to a lot of rock music, and anything with a guitar in it, but not because I think everyone is doing it because I'm not someone to give in to peer pressure. I listen to it beacuse it;s gewd muzac! I love this song, anyways...
  • Max from Laconia, NhThe drums are so easy in this song. Super cool, too.
  • John from Manila, OtherThe guitar riff is difficult to learn, it's the same with the drums too.
  • Echo from Normalville, MaGreat solo, by the way. Love that part where it stops with everything else.
  • Echo from Normalville, Mathis must've been hard for Dave. He had to learn all of Chad Channing's crazy stuff plus do all those really high vocals in the chorus.
  • Tyler from Toronto, CanadaThis song is about people (mainly youth) he is basically stating there are too many youth who just like bands because a whole bunch of ppl like them, meanwhile they have no idea what the meaning of the song is. I might have typed that whole thing wrong because I already did like 10 reviews and I am tired .
  • Noe from Los Angeles, CaSimple lyrics about people who sing and write song and don't what they means or say.
  • Lance from Oklahoma City, OkStephen you're very wrong......this song was written a couple of years before Smells Like Teen Spirit was released.
  • Stephen from Denver, CoI think it's about smells like teen spirit and the fake fans that only like that song and don't understand the lyrics etc.
  • Jt from Tullahoma, TnAnybody see the original vid? It made it sound more grungy
  • Jonathon from Clermont, FlSome of their songs are overrated and uneven, but this one is awesome.
  • Bbb from Brook Park, United Statesi'm listening to the song right now and the solo is amazing!
  • Jac from Boulder, Cokurts lyrics on any song are great because you interpret them your own way. kurt was so addicted that he probly couldnt express what he wanted to say in his songs in a better way.....i love nirvvana!!!
  • Joel from Christchurch, New ZealandThis is Clearly a song, about many different things, Kurt hated people misinterepting his lyrics, and you can't get much more forward than this song here.

    Nature is a hore, Bruises on the fruit.
    Against how the world works. that even the sweet things, are ruined.
  • Derp from Jackson, Mslisten to the base riff of this song and the Foo Fighters song "My Hero" they are very similar maybe ..... any one else agree
  • Dan from Sydney, Australiasometime went under the name of 'Knows Not What It Means'
  • Mo from Newark, NjThis is my favorite Nirvana song!!!!! This single came out after "Teen Spirit" , "Come As You Are" and "Lithium". At first I felt it referred to the Nirvana fans that liked Nirvana songs but couldn't understand the lyrics. When Cobain says "He's the one who likes our pretty songs...but he don't know what it means" I always felt he was referring to any Nirvana fan that had trouble understanding the lyrics. This song was in "Nevermind" so it might have been too soon for Kurt to be aware of his slight unintelligibility. Therefore I have to believe that this song really is about Dylan Carlson ; his ole pal. I assume Dylan must've enjoyed the melodies to Nirvana's songs but couldn't grasp what they meant. And Mark from Virginia Beach , I totally agree with you about Grohl's backup vocals on "In Bloom". His high tone vocals gives the song an extra lift during the chorus and really enhances the chorus alot.
  • Zac from Olive Bridge, Nyi like this song a lot, even though this may not be the meaning i think it can really relate to this weirdo in my school named eddie who thinks he's all tough and tries to act like he's the cats pajamas, and he does infact like to shoot his gun, and he likes nirvana but he doesnt really know what any of it means and he thinks its for tough people like the perons he's trying to be
  • Max from Austin, TxGuys, I hate to break it to you, but Kurt Cobain killed himself. Its impossible to replicate the way a body and gun falls after suicide, and no true fan of Nirvana would want Kurt Cobain alive. He was an extremely troubled individual who battled with depression most of his adult life. Bringing him back would just be cruel, and you probably thinking "Well, I'd bring him back without all of his depression." Without all of that depression, his lyrics wouldn't be as powerful as they were. This song, to me, is about adjusting to change, something that Kurt never really acomplished when he went from a kid from Aberdeen Washington to a famous rock n' roll icon.
  • Mark from Virginia Beach, VaI love Grohl's backing vocals, beatles-esque!!
  • Joe from Lockport, IlMatt- I don't see any similarities, unless im thinking of the wrong video.
  • Jordan from VictoriaThis is my favourite nirvana (or any other band's) song to jam on, but up there as well are Pen Cap Chew, Scentless Apprentice and All Apologies. All nirvana songs are good, so many to list so i'm not even going to try. The simple powerchords used by any other bands wouldnt have the same feeling; kurt really knew how to put it together. {ourettes is great too}
  • Cameron from Seward,pa, Pathis is one of my favorite songs by Nirvana i just laugh at the people who call themselves Nirvana's number one fan and they have no clue Kurt is insulting them
  • Kimmi from Louisville, Kyok first off...only idiots cant understand the genuine genius of kurt cobains lyrics...i respect him as a poet but his guitar playing was just simple chords...and if you half witted pieces would take the time to read over the lyrics and actually listen to what the singer is saying then you could easily understand anyone...but kurt made sure to make it clear because he was a very complex person!!! if you have something to say to this im me on aim at: medicatedunalive thanks =kimmi=
  • Tolstiy from Richmond, CanadaIf only people that understand Nirvana's songs can listen to them, then the only person that could ever listen to them would be Kurt Cobain. Sadly he was killed before he could tell us what his songs mean. Kurt Cobain was a genius that will probably never be matched. I wish that he was still around to play his music and that who ever killed him is one day found.
  • Stu from Ottawa, CanadaKurt's lyrics were like a placebo, they mean wahtever you want them to mean, the message is hidden in the melody rather than the words
  • Marc from Niagara Falls, Canadadave grohls voice kept craking up at the part when he was suposed to sing the high harmonies in the chorus everyone laughed hysterically and eventually they got it right,listen to the chorus and ull see what im talking about.
  • Marc from Niagara Falls, Canadadave grohls voice kept craking up at the part when he was suposed to sing the high harmonies in the chorus everyone laughed hysterically and eventually they got it right,listen to the chorus and ull see what im talking about.

    -Marc Brooker,Ontario Canada
  • A from Sunnyside, Wa"I've always thought that the song was about kurt, "he is the one who writes all our pretty songs...and he likes to sing along
    - Sam, birmingham, MS"

    Nah you got it wrong it's "hes the one he likes all our pretty songs and he likes to sing along and he likes to shoot his gun but he dont know what it means" great song videos funny, i like how they trash the stage and cobain's up on novaselic's shoulders and smashing the planets and falls off and goes on singing that was awesome
  • Sam from Birmingham, MsI've always thought that the song was about kurt, "he is the one who writes all our pretty songs...and he likes to sing along
  • Matt from Millbrae, CaDoes anyone else notice a similarity between the music video for this and the video for Hey Ya (by Outkast)?
  • Levi from El Paso, TxFinally, one day I found someone I could relate to in some directions, and what do you know... it was Cobain (except for the whole drug thing). I was reading part of his biography and then it said he hated mainstream, such as I, acted gay, such as I (though it's hard to convince others you're straight, IT'S JUST A JOKE SEPERATING US FROM SOCIETY, watch the "In Bloom video... he's wearing a dress along with his band and trashing up the stage), and hated macho men. It may seem as if though I directly copied those few facts from him, but i only discovered what he was recently, plus I find that it's real interesting that one of the most monumental people of rock acted the way you would normally. Also, his death (I'm cluless on why im bringing this up but it's starting to get on my nerves) was without a doubt a suicide, with his heroine addiction and music life.
  • Jeanette from New Milford, CtDoran:

    His mother and her friend threw the guns into the river, not his stepfather. His mother threatened to kill his stepfather in a druken rage, but when she couldn't figure out how to load the gun, she dragged all of them to the river and threw them in. Cobain didn't fish them out himself, he paid some local kids to do it, and he didn't buy his first guitar with the money, he bought his first amplifier with the money.
  • Tanya from Rotterdam, Netherlands"In Bloom" isn't just about posers I think. I'm afraid it's about us all. Cobain didn't really like people very much, and he often felt misunderstood and alone, I think. I don't care if he would have liked me or not, or the way I listen to his songs. A lot of his songs touch me very deep, whether he likes (liked) it or not. It's not his business. He made the songs, after that they weren't his anymore. Making good songs is losing them. It's just as with children.
  • Mario from Riverside, CaI've always wanted to see them live and its nice to see all this love for an incredible genius he was, bein only 15 when he was around I didnt have that chance of bein there seein him in concert. Man, i wish i was there. He said in an interview, the songs mean whatever, Someones cross word puzl, its true we all have diff meanings to it. The songs never left me and i still jam today in 2005 and thats all that matters. In my opinion he still challenges! in every song.
  • Leo from Manhattan, NyKurts grandmother said kurt looked like his father with the glasses on , this made kurt angry and he never put them back on
  • Madeline from Blah, OhIt's horrible that people think jocks/preps shouldn't listen to In Bloom. Since when was listening to music based on what social group you're associated with? Just because they're not the typical Nirvana listener doesn't mean that they can't appreciate or understand their lyrics. You don't have to know everything, or even the members of the bands names, to listen to their songs. I adore Kurt and his lyrics, but I'm the biggest prep in the world! Preps/jocks can like Nirvana too!
  • Druff from Gotham City, NyIn Bloom was written in 1990, when Nirvana was still a relatively obscure "underground" band. It isn't about "macho jocks" in their audience, as there were none at the time. As someone else said, the song was inspired by Dylan Carlson, Cobain's friend who had (still has?) a band called Earth. The guy's a gun nut, look at the photo of him on the Earth 2 album,
  • T.j. from Port Elgin, Canadathis is a comment about the gun in the river.actually kurt used it to buy a fender amp,he just exagerrated because he thought it sounded better.kurt often exagerated stories.
  • Edwin from Costa Mesa, CaThe guy who posted before me is right, Kurt said it was about Machomen who liked Nirvana songs for no reason except that they were popular... Down with jockocracy
  • Tiana from A City, OhI've always liked this song, at least since I've been old enough to appreciate it--it came out when I was three. Kurt is a great writer, and I think that's at least half of the reason why I love Nirvana's music so much. So many people can identify with the feelings his lyrics. I think it's sad that some of you feel like you need to attack the people who like the song but don't know much about Nirvana. Sure, the song's about liking their music without understanding it, but when did it become illegal to like a song without knowing every detail about the band who wrote it?
  • Gilliann from Dublin, IrelandIts about people who like Nirvana for the "image" people who don't really listen to the music, know all the lyrics, but don't know what they mean, its about posers basicly
  • Carlos from Mexico City, MexicoDoran: Kurt got his first guitar as a present when he was just a little boy. It was a right-handed guitar and he naturally flipped it so he could play as a left-handed. Maybe you're referring to his first electric guitar, that one i have no idea how he got it.
  • Hac Barton from Las Vegas, NvI agree with Jad on this one. It's about people who will like a certain style of music just to fit in and not be themselves. This is a problem now more than ever. I think that a large group of people will listen to Nirvana because it's hard rock and not even pay attention to the meaning behind the lyrics. They just care about the guitar rhythms and bass lines.
  • Brian from Mayfield Heights, OhAll i know is that if you sing along to this song, and don't know nirvana, you should be singing "Baa! Baa! Baa!" instead. Think about what i jut said. You'll get it.
  • Doran from Toronto, Canada The lines " Sell the kids for food.Weather changes moods.Spring is here again.Reproductive glands." and "Likes to shoot his gun." Are references to Kurt's step-father and his step-father's gun which Kurt fished out of a river after his step-dad had thrown it away in a drunken rage... Kurt subsequently sold the gun and bought his first guitar with the money.
  • April from Houston, TxTotally agree with Rachel... You can talk about Nirvana (samething w/ Metallica) n' all the jocks'd be like "YEA!" And i was like "do you even know who's in the band?" the most frequent replies i got was "I don't know, but they sounded cool" Yea that explains everything.
  • Joe from Weatherly, PaThis song does not have 2 different meanings just one it is that people listened and still do to nirvana because the were and are a trend not because they neccessarily liked them or appreciated them most didn't know what their songs were about or what the band was a bout nor did the ever try to understand it was just cool to like them kurt used the example of the macho white trash women beating iron pumping male that came to the shows obviously those guys have no idea what nirvana is about. "weather changes moods" if they weren't a trend no one would have cared about them. "spring is here again" our music is fresh they knew that and knew it would catch on. "Nature is a whore" They never wanted it to but it happened "bruses on the fruit" they weren't like the rest of the mtv world
    So as you can see he used spring and fruit to represent him and no the most important line isn't "But he knows not what it means" I don't think any one line is important at all but I would say the cooliest line is "Sell the kids for food"
  • Luke from Leeds, EnglandThis song has two meanings: The Verse is about changes in nature, and the Chorus is about a person doing something but not knowing what.
  • Rachel from Dearborn Heights, Miyeah, the jocks are all now so grungey... i would of been pretty pissed too.. GO KURT!
  • Bertan from Istanbul, Turkeythe most important line of the song is "but he knows not what it means" because it's musically the most catchy line and the one everyone sings along with, and it creates a very ironic situation.
  • Delirium Trigger from New Brunswick, Nycobain once called the video for this "the johnny carson show gone to hell".
  • Jad from Batroun, OtherAlso the people that are macho and like violence but still listen to nirvana's songs without knowing what's the meaning since Nirvana are against machism and violence
  • Jad from Batroun, OtherAbout People that are sheep and follow the herd
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