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Song of the Day #5,045: ‘Come As You Are (Live in New York)’ – Nirvana

I thought it fitting to follow up my post on Hole’s Live Through This with one on Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York. This is another album that overachieved due to the tragic suicide of Kurt Cobain.

Recorded in November of 1993 and released a year later, MTV Unplugged in New York found a band famous for pioneering the loud grunge sound settling into an acoustic set that highlighted their skill as songwriters and performers. In a set heavy on deep cuts and covers — they don’t even play ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ — Nirvana makes a case for themselves as an excellent folk rock band.

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Song of the Day #5,044: ‘Doll Parts’ – Hole

Fronted by Courtney Love, Hole is one of the most successful female-led rock bands in history, and their sophomore album — 1994’s Live Through This — was their biggest hit. And yet, this record was almost entirely new to me.

Hole’s debut album, the hard-edged, punk rock Pretty On the Inside, was released three years earlier, and Love wanted to go in a new direction musically, introducing softer sounds and more melody. The change led to the departures of the band’s drummer and bassist, forcing Love to recruit a whole new rhythm section for Live Through This.

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Song of the Day #5,043: ‘Gimme the Loot’ – The Notorious B.I.G.

Now that I’ve counted down my personal top ten albums of 1994, it’s time to feature some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful releases of that year.

The Notorious B.I.G.’s debut album, Ready To Die, has been hailed as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. Recorded by the Brooklyn rapper when he was 19 going on 20, the record is a semi-autobiographical account of the gangster life he never really escaped.

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Song of the Day #5,042: ‘How You’ve Grown’ – 10,000 Maniacs

‘How You’ve Grown’ is a standout track from 10,000 Maniacs’ gorgeous 1992 album Our Time in Eden. Between the ongoing 1994 “Decades” posts and this weekend’s random selections, the early 90s is really getting a workout lately.

This is a song about the fleeting nature of childhood, the way we see our children morph into adults before our eyes. Merchant was a decade away from motherhood herself when she wrote it, and the line “I’ll never be more to you than a stranger” suggests it was written about the child of a friend or relative.

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Song of the Day #5,041: ‘Fuck and Run’ – Liz Phair

Today’s Random Weekend selection is the standout track from Liz Phair’s seminal 1993 album Exilt in Guyville, and probably the most celebrated and discussed song of Phair’s entire career.

‘Fuck and Run’ is a raw, sad, deadpan account of the aftermath of a one-night stand — one in a series of many. It finds Phair regretting the pattern of meaningless encounters she’s fallen into and longing for an old-fashioned romance, however unlikely that is to happen.

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