Prior to the emergence of the grunge movement, The Beatles provided the perfect primer, laying the necessary groundwork for acts like Nirvana to thrive on a violent concoction of punk and rock ‘n’ roll. “I would say the biggest influence I’ve ever had would be The Beatles,” Cobain once shared in an interview with Mimmo Caccamo, explaining a life-long love affair that began at the age of five.
In fact, Cobain crafted Nirvana’s unique sound by fusing his interest in the Fab Four with the heavier elements of punk and metal, focusing on both the power of simple melodies and more profound, more thought-provoking musical arrangements. As a result, he perfected the balance between tender rock ballads and faster, energetic grunge sounds, coming up with an innovative sonic experience that would live on years after he passed away.
Like many Beatles fanatics, Cobain’s appreciation for the music was anything but casual. In fact, he once listened to 1964’s US album Meet the Beatles! for an entire day. According to former bandmate Dave Grohl, Cobain’s love for The Beatles’ simplicity is what formed a lot of their earlier sound, but it wasn’t always an easy thing to emulate. “They sound easy to play, but they’re fucking hard,” he mused, alluding to the common misconception that their chords and melodies are entry-level.
After Cobain listened to Meet the Beatles! on repeat, he wrote ‘About A Girl’, a sleeper hit that originally found its home on Bleach. Beginning with a simple acoustic chord progression, it’s easy to spot the Beatles’ influence in ‘About A Girl’, especially in the version that appeared later on MTV Unplugged in New York.
Though contrasting in subject matter, songs on the album like ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ begin with a similar straight-forward chord progression that touches the surface of heavier qualities, crafting an endearing sound that pulls on various emotions. ‘About A Girl’ addresses Cobain’s complicated relationship with his then-girlfriend, while ‘I Want to Hold You Hand’ demonstrates simplistic pining, but it’s hard to ignore the similarities in the lyrical structure of the verses alongside lines like “I’ll tell you somethin’ I think you’ll understand” and “I do think you fit this shoe, but you have a clue.”
What’s even more telling is that Cobain came into the studio the day after listening to Meet the Beatles! over and over without a title for his new song. Essentially, what would eventually become ‘About A Girl’ began as a product of Cobain’s obsession with the album as he experimented with various chords, melodies, and lyrics that each reflected his mindset at the time.
Although generally speaking, the sound that Cobain created that came to epitomise the grunge movement may seem a far cry from the lighter, more upbeat sounds of The Beatles, a closer look reveals the intersectional influence of the 1960s rock band on the Nirvana frontman, with songs like ‘About A Girl’ representing merely one example of his fixation. Nirvana continues to be associated with originality and innovation, but it also showcases Cobain’s ability to reinvent older, familiar sounds and craft something raw and brutally authentic.
