About a Girl Lyrics
(I do) I need an easy friend
I do, with an ear to lend
I do, think you fit this shoe
I do, but you have a clue
[Chorus]
I'll take advantage while
You hang me out to dry
But I can't see you every night
Free (I do)
[Verse 2]
(I do) I'm standin' in your line
I do, hope you have the time
I do, pick a number too
I do, keep a date with you
[Chorus]
I'll take advantage while
You hang me out to dry
But I can't see you every night
Free
[Guitar Solo]
About
According to Chad Channing, Nirvana’s drummer around the time of Bleach, Cobain didn’t have a title for the song when he first brought it into the studio. When asked what it was about, Cobain replied, “It’s about a girl.”
The girl in question was Tracy Marander, Cobain’s then-girlfriend, with whom he lived at the time. Apparently, Marander had asked Cobain why he had never written a song for her, and Cobain responded with “About a Girl”. The song addresses the couple’s fractured relationship, caused by Cobain’s refusal to get a job, or to share cleaning duties at their apartment (which housed many of his pets). During arguments on the subject, Cobain would occasionally threaten to move into his car, at which point Marander would usually relent.
Cobain never told Marander that he had written “About a Girl” for her. In the 1998 Nick Broomfield documentary Kurt and Courtney, Marander revealed that she only found out after reading Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana.
Kurt Cobain wrote this after spending the previous night listening to The Beatles first US album, Meet The Beatles, over and over.
Nirvana opened their MTV Unplugged in NY session with this song:
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Kurt said in a 1993 interview:
Even to put ‘About a Girl’ on Bleach was a risk. I was heavily into pop, I really liked R.E.M., and I was into all kinds of old ‘60s stuff. But there was a lot of pressure within that social scene, the underground — like the kind of thing you get in high school. And to put a jangly R.E.M. type of pop song on a grunge record, in that scene, was risky.
IGN described the song in 2009, saying:
Apparently inspired by Cobain listening to early Beatles prior to writing it, ‘About a Girl’ is a perfect pop gem from any era. A hard-edged version was first released on Bleach, but it was the sinewy, live, acoustic version recorded for 1994’s MTV Unplugged in New York album that extended its appeal to the masses. The live recording of ‘About a Girl’ is featured as a playable song in Guitar Hero World Tour.
- 1.Blew
- 3.About a Girl
- 4.School
- 5.Love Buzz
- 6.Paper Cuts
- 8.Scoff
- 9.Swap Meet
- 10.Mr. Moustache
- 11.Sifting
- 12.Big Cheese
- 13.Downer
