Nirvana frontman 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. It's part of their classic 1991 album Nevermind.
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.
On September 10, 1991, "
Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released as the barrier-busting first single from the
Nevermind album, which came out two weeks later. It took a few months for Nirvana to catch on, so the next singles were released gradually, staring with "
Come As You Are" in March 1992, followed by "
Lithium" in July. "In Bloom" was the fourth and final single, released at the end of November 1992.
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."
Dave Grohl was Nirvana's drummer by the time they recorded this song on Nevermind, but he credits their previous drummer, Chad Channing, for coming up with the drum parts on this track, including that memorable fill after the main guitar riff. "When I joined the band, I had the honor of playing Chad's parts," Grohl said when Nirvana was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
The Ed Sullivan-like host in the music video introduces the band as "thoroughly alright and decent fellows," a sardonic joke. After they trash the stage, the host is unperturbed, saying, "let's hear it for these three nice, clean-cut young men."
"I wanted him to say something about how nice and clean-cut we are, how perfect we are," Kurt Cobain explained to MTV. "That video came out at the height of us being thought of as degenerates. It came out exactly how I wanted it. I didn't think we'd be able to find those kind of cameras, but we did. It was perfect."
