1
Sell the kids for food
Weather changes moods
Spring is here again
Reproductive glands
He's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say he's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say yeah
We can have some more
Nature is a whore
Bruises on the fruit
Tender age in bloom
He's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say he's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say yeah
He's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say he's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say yeah
Weather changes moods
Spring is here again
Reproductive glands
He's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say he's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say yeah
We can have some more
Nature is a whore
Bruises on the fruit
Tender age in bloom
He's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say he's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say yeah
He's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say he's the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
And I say yeah
Lyrics submitted by Novartza, edited by universalsounds, Bennyshambles, LHGL, Txredhead
In Bloom [Remastered] Lyrics as written by Kurt Cobain
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
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In one of three Nevermind songs to feature guns prominently in the lyrics, Cobain painted a thumbnail sketch of a character whose life consists of bad parenting and blissfully stupid rock n' roll escapism. Drawing on visions of some of the rock-loving, perpetually-stoned losers he'd grown up around in Aberdeen, Cobain describes a guy who's a bit past his "teen spirit" prime - he's now got some kids that he's hoping to "sell for food", which is no cause for heartache because, as he tells his companion, "we can have some more."
The character lives for the moments when he's swept away by a "pretty song" to which he'll sing-along. Maybe he'll even get happy enough to fire his guns. The happiness isn't too deep through - the guy has no conception of what he's singing along to, and no self-awareness. In biblical syntax, he knows not what it means.
At the time Cobain wrote 'In Bloom', the kind of dumb rock fans he had in mind were still a bit of an oddity at Nirvana shows. But from the start he and the band had sometimes been approached by "rocker dudes" who likes Nirvana's loud catchy stuff without knowing, or caring, at all about what the music was trying to get at on any level other than one of rockin' out. But the song proved to be troublingly prophetic - by the time Nirvana was at the top of the charts, millions of people were coming to Nirvana shows to sing along while knowing not what it meant. The beauty of 'In Bloom' was that while it was a sly and satisfying condemnation of this kind of fandom, it was also an exciting enough rock tune zo engender mass sing-alongs. It managed to satisfy egghead ironists and blithe moshers with the same chorus.
The gun imagery from 'In Bloom' and other Nevermind songs was no great stretch of imagination for Cobain, who had grown up surrounded by gun owner in Aberdeen. In fact, Cobain wasn't aware he had used guns so prominently until he started to be questioned about it by interviewers after the release of Nevermind. Guns had in fact already played a tragic part in the Cobain family history. One of Kurt's great-uncles had died after shooting himself in the stomach in 1979, and another family member had killed himself in a similar fashion five years later. In the studio, 'In Bloom' gave Dave Grohl a chance to shine apart from his thunderous work - he sang the achingly high harmonies that power the choruses.
The song took on a life apart from Nevermind when the band, with director Kevin Kerslake, came up with a particularly inspired video concept to accompany the track. Parodying early rock-on-TV programs such as Hullabaloo, the band performed with awkwardly slicked-back hair and matching suits, achieving a properly-dated, grainy look by being filmed through old-fashioned Kinoscopes. Cobain enjoyed the humorous irony of having the band introduced in the video by a preening host (Doug Llewellyn of TV's The People's Court) who describes them as, "nice, decent, clean-cut young men."
The video shoot also had an effect on Nirvana fashion - Cobain liked the thick horn-rim glasses he wore while shooting the video so much that he kept them for several months afterward.