Lyric discussion by bunbury 

Just a quick word on the "It's about Kurt Cobain" comments - Automatic for the People came out in 1992, two years before Kurt Cobain killed himself. A simple google search, that's all it takes sometimes...

It is possible (indeed, likely) to be depressed before you commit suicide. The song may or may not be written with Cobain in mind but the timeline does not exclude the possibility. Besides the song sounds to me to be written for someone who is not yet dead. How can you "hold on" if you've already let go.

Maybe he wrote it for Cobain before he killed himself.

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