# Blew
**"Blew"** is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by [Kurt Cobain](https://www.edgepedia.org/kurt-cobain) and released as the opening track of the band's debut album *[Bleach](https://www.edgepedia.org/bleach-nirvana-album)* on June 15, 1989, on the Seattle label [Sub Pop](https://www.edgepedia.org/sub-pop) (catalog number SP34).[1](https://www.subpop.com/releases/nirvana/bleach) It is also the title track of the *Blew* EP, Nirvana's first UK-only release, issued on the Tupelo label in 1989.[2](https://www.livenirvana.com/official/blew.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist / writer | Nirvana; written, composed, and lyricized by Kurt Cobain[3](https://musicbrainz.org/release/7d166a44-cfb5-4b08-aacb-6863bbe677d6) |
| First release | Opening track of *Bleach*, Sub Pop SP34, June 15, 1989[1](https://www.subpop.com/releases/nirvana/bleach) |
| Recorded | December 1988 (recording of "Blew" dated December 24, 1988 to January 24, 1989) at Reciprocal Recordings, Seattle[3](https://musicbrainz.org/release/7d166a44-cfb5-4b08-aacb-6863bbe677d6) |
| Personnel | Kurt Cobain (guitar, lead vocals), Krist Novoselic (bass), Chad Channing (drums); produced and engineered by Jack Endino[3](https://musicbrainz.org/release/7d166a44-cfb5-4b08-aacb-6863bbe677d6) |
| Length | 2:54 on *Bleach*[3](https://musicbrainz.org/release/7d166a44-cfb5-4b08-aacb-6863bbe677d6) |
| *Blew* EP | UK-only, Tupelo Records, 1989; 12-inch limited to 3,000 copies plus a CD; tracks: "Blew," "Love Buzz," "Been a Son," "Stain"[2](https://www.livenirvana.com/official/blew.html) |
| Later live release | Performed at the Reading Festival on August 30, 1992, included on *Live at Reading* (2009)[4](https://www.subpop.com/releases/nirvana/live_at_reading) |
## Recording
Nirvana entered Reciprocal Recording in Seattle on [Christmas Eve](https://www.edgepedia.org/christmas-eve) 1988 to record its debut album. Sub Pop wanted an EP, but the band wanted a full album, according to session producer Jack Endino, Sub Pop's de facto in-house producer.[5](https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/december-1988.php) The album cost a total of $606.17 to record, financed by [Jason Everman](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-everman), a friend of drummer [Chad Channing](https://www.edgepedia.org/chad-channing) who received an honorary credit as second guitarist on the liner notes although he did not play on the record.[5](https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/december-1988.php) The band used 30 hours of studio time from December 24, 1988 to January 24, 1989, recording on an Otari MX-5050 Mk III half-inch 8-track tape machine at 15 IPS with no noise reduction.[5](https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/december-1988.php)
An earlier version of "Blew" had been recorded at Reciprocal in mid-1988, during the sessions that produced the "Love Buzz"/"Big Cheese" single; a rough mix of that version survives among the session sources.[6](https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/jun-sep-1988.php) The album version was recorded in the December 1988 to January 1989 sessions and mixed by Endino.[3](https://musicbrainz.org/release/7d166a44-cfb5-4b08-aacb-6863bbe677d6)
The band had originally intended to sequence the album with "Blew" closing side two, but the running order was changed at the behest of Sub Pop co-owner Bruce Pavitt, and "Blew" became the opening track.[5](https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/december-1988.php)
## The Blew EP
After *Bleach* came out on vinyl, Sub Pop licensed two of its songs, "Blew" and "Love Buzz," to Tupelo in England for the *Blew* EP, adding two other songs recorded with producer Steve Fisk in September 1989, "Been a Son" and "Stain."[2](https://www.livenirvana.com/official/blew.html) The EP was released only in the UK, on 12-inch vinyl limited to 3,000 copies and on CD.[2](https://www.livenirvana.com/official/blew.html) The cover photograph was taken by Tracy Marander, Cobain's girlfriend at the time.[2](https://www.livenirvana.com/official/blew.html) The EP's version of "Been a Son," recorded by Fisk with an extended bass solo, differs from the version later heard on the 1992 compilation *[Incesticide](https://www.edgepedia.org/incesticide)*, which came from a 1991 Mark Goodier radio session; the EP version of "Been a Son" also appears on the band's self-titled 2002 compilation, and "Stain" later featured on *Incesticide*.[2](https://www.livenirvana.com/official/blew.html)
## Musical characteristics and meaning
The song opens with a low, heavy bass figure by [Krist Novoselic](https://www.edgepedia.org/krist-novoselic) before the drums and a distorted guitar riff enter.[7](https://emmettking.wordpress.com/2019/02/15/nirvana-bleach/) A scholarly analysis of Nirvana's January 6, 1990 performance at the University of Washington, where "Blew" closed the set at 2:57, attributes the song's heaviness to the overdriven sound of the bass, guitar, and vocals, the way those parts double the same melody, and the relative slowness of that melody.[8](https://users.iit.demokritos.gr/~k.palaiologos/thymeli/pdf_files/Inglis%20Ian%20-%20Performance%20and%20Popular%20Music_%20History%2C%20Place%20And%20Time.pdf) The repeated lyric, "And if you wouldn't mind, I would like to blew / And if you wouldn't mind, I would like to lose," is characteristic of the song's incantatory style.[9](https://music.apple.com/us/song/blew/669728223)
According to *NME*, "Blew" is about Cobain's growing sense of claustrophobia living in [Aberdeen, Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/aberdeen-washington), as a teenager.[10](https://www.nme.com/photos/nirvana-the-secret-story-of-every-album-track-explained-1418077)
## Reception and afterlife
*Bleach* did not chart upon its initial release, and Cobain was frustrated by Sub Pop's lack of promotional effort.[11](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/bands/krist-novoselic-on-recording-nirvanas-ultimate-grunge-song) The album initially sold 40,000 copies, but after the worldwide success of *Nevermind* in 1991 it went on to sell 1.7 million copies in the United States alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan; Sub Pop reissued a remastered *Bleach: Deluxe Edition* on November 3, 2009, for the album's 20th anniversary.[12](https://www.subpop.com/releases/nirvana/bleach_deluxe_edition) "Blew" remained in the band's performing repertoire through its career: the 1992 Reading Festival set, later released as *Live at Reading*, reached back to *Bleach* for "Blew," "[About a Girl](https://www.edgepedia.org/about-a-girl-nirvana-song)," "School," "Negative Creep," and "Love Buzz."[4](https://www.subpop.com/releases/nirvana/live_at_reading) The deluxe edition of *Bleach* also includes a live "Blew" from the February 9, 1990 show at the Pine Street Theatre in [Portland, Oregon](https://www.edgepedia.org/portland-oregon).[12](https://www.subpop.com/releases/nirvana/bleach_deluxe_edition)
## References
1. [Nirvana: Bleach, Sub Pop Records](https://www.subpop.com/releases/nirvana/bleach)
2. [Blew EP (Tupelo Records), LiveNIRVANA.com companion to official releases](https://www.livenirvana.com/official/blew.html)
3. [Release "Bleach" by Nirvana, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/7d166a44-cfb5-4b08-aacb-6863bbe677d6)
4. [Nirvana: Live at Reading, Sub Pop Records](https://www.subpop.com/releases/nirvana/live_at_reading)
5. [Live Nirvana sessions history: December 24 & 29–31, 1988 and January 14 & 24, 1989, Reciprocal Recording, Seattle](https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/december-1988.php)
6. [Live Nirvana sessions history: June–September, 1988, Reciprocal Recording, Seattle](https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/jun-sep-1988.php)
7. [Nirvana – Bleach, Off the Record (Emmett King)](https://emmettking.wordpress.com/2019/02/15/nirvana-bleach/)
8. [Ian Inglis, "Performance and Popular Music: History, Place and Time"](https://users.iit.demokritos.gr/~k.palaiologos/thymeli/pdf_files/Inglis%20Ian%20-%20Performance%20and%20Popular%20Music_%20History%2C%20Place%20And%20Time.pdf)
9. [Blew – Song by Nirvana, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/song/blew/669728223)
10. [Nirvana: the secret story of every album track explained, NME](https://www.nme.com/photos/nirvana-the-secret-story-of-every-album-track-explained-1418077)
11. [Krist Novoselic on recording Nirvana's Bleach, Guitar World](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/bands/krist-novoselic-on-recording-nirvanas-ultimate-grunge-song)
12. [Nirvana: Bleach: Deluxe Edition, Sub Pop Records](https://www.subpop.com/releases/nirvana/bleach_deluxe_edition)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Discographies and musical catalogues › Production and songwriter credit lists › Songs recorded by lists › Songs recorded by bands and groups*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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