The Batman: the story of Nirvana’s song Something In The Way

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From 1991 to 2022, over thirty years away for a generational change, yet the power of the song is still visible: we are talking about Something In The Way, the concluding song of Nevermind present in two crucial moments of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which since the release of the film (and the trailer) has had an astonishing peak in streaming, over 3 million plays on Spotify in the 5 days following the release of the film.

THE BATMAN – Main Trailer

The song was already well known to generations of music listeners of the 90s, as part of one of the most beloved and listened albums of that decade. The song, however, is different from the typical sound of Nirvana, and represents one of their saddest works.

The meaning of the lyrics has been debated for many years. The result is the perspective we presented years ago: the most probable interpretation refers to the difficult years of Kurt Cobain’s life, and the lyrics shows his way of telling life outside home, “under the bridge”, with reference to the Young Street Bridge in Aberdeen, where legend has it that Kurt spent several nights.

The animals I’ve trapped
Have all become my pets

It’s ok to eat fish
Cause they haven’t any feelings

Nirvana - Something In The Way (Live On MTV Unplugged Unedited, 1993)

You find above the unplugged version of the song, the most loved from the Nirvana repertoire. The sadness of the song resonates with those who know what happened next: Kurt Cobain will take his own life a few years later, after the release of a second album. The Unplugged in New York album was officially released after his death.