What was the first song Kurt Cobain ever wrote?
From the moment he picked up a guitar, Kurt Cobain was a prolific songwriter. He would go on to write a plethora of now-famed cuts, from the comedic to the reflective, from the autobiographical to the surreal. He played in a variety of pre-Nirvana outfits. However, after the group settled on their name and the early lineup of Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Chad Channing, the frontman would take his operations up a level.
Then, with newfound motivation, Cobain would refine his skill as a songwriter by fusing the bubblegum melodies of his childhood with the angst of the underground. This genius blend of the marketable and the anarchic would see the band enjoy a meteoric rise. After the classic iteration of Nirvana coalesced, with Dave Grohl replacing Channing, they would be lauded as the definitive outfit of their generation. Their sophomore album, 1991’s Nevermind, remains the era’s most significant title.
Although Nevermind is the body of work that Kurt Cobain is most closely associated with, it only accounts for one specific moment in his life and career. Its follow-up, 1993’s In Utero, is preferred by many fans, with the material delivering a much darker and more honest record. As for the group’s debut LP, 1989’s Bleach, it perfectly captured the authentic sludge of their early days, when the grunge movement was beginning to flourish. For purists, tracks such as ‘About a Girl’, ‘Blew’ and ‘Negative Creep’ confirm it as their best.
Whilst the debate regarding Nirvana’s greatest work will likely rage on forever, many fans often forget that Cobain and the group held back a wealth of material outside of their albums. The MTV Unplugged in New York live album and the compilation Incesticide are also contenders for the championship, with the scope of Nirvana’s oeuvre demonstrating just how prolific Cobain was as a songwriter.
One of the early outfits credited with helping Cobain to refine his craft before Nirvana was Fecal Matter, a short-lived punk band. Featuring Melvins alumni Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover and Mike Dillard, the group only lasted between 1985 and 1986, but Cobain still wrote a host of tracks for them. These pieces were compiled in the Illiteracy Will Prevail demo album. Although it remains officially unreleased, it is the earliest documentation of Cobain’s songwriting in circulation.
Whilst some of the tracks from the demo are storied, including ‘Spank Thru’ and ‘Downer’, which would become Nirvana tracks, another is significant, ‘Blather’s Log’. Sources have reported in the past that this was the first song Cobain wrote. Fans posit that this dates back to January 2nd, 1986.
It is an incredibly rough and ragged track. Even though it almost certainly is not the first track Cobain penned, the hallmarks of what became Nirvana’s sound are present. Crunchy, dynamic and catchy, the entirety of Bleach can be heard in this single cut.