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Cover of Bleach by Nirvana
Cover: Bleach

Song · Nirvana

“About A Girl” by Nirvana

From the album Bleach (1989)

“About A Girl” by Nirvana appears on 75 radio countdowns from 29 stations between 1994 and 2026. It was first released in 1989 on the album Bleach. Its best result is #7 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 1994. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #16 alternative song of 1994, #304 alternative song of all time and #205 of the '90s.

75countdowns
29stations
#7best position
0#1 finishes
4top 10 finishes
1994–2026years charted

Watch

Nirvana - About A Girl (MTV Unplugged)

Video from YouTube (NirvanaVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Tucked in at track three on Bleach, Nirvana's 1989 debut, "About a Girl" is the moment the sludge parts and a pop songwriter pokes his head out. Kurt Cobain wrote it, and amid the album's grinding, murky riffs it jangles and aches, carried by a melody so sturdy it could have come from a far older and sunnier band. Jack Endino recorded, engineered and mixed it, with the debut-album lineup on board: Cobain on guitar and lead vocal, Krist Novoselic on bass and Chad Channing on drums.

The girl was Tracy Marander, Cobain's girlfriend at the time, and he never let on. She only learned the song was hers from Michael Azerrad's 1993 book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, something she revealed in the 1998 documentary Kurt and Courtney.

Its second life came unplugged. Nirvana played it acoustic for MTV Unplugged in November 1993, and that take was issued as a single in October 1994 to launch MTV Unplugged in New York, the first Nirvana single to appear after Cobain died that April. Stripped of the Bleach murk, the tune stood fully exposed, and it went to number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and 22 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 10 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1994 107
1994 10 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1994 91
1994 23 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1994 106
1994 20 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1994 101
1994 44 John Peel (BBC Radio 1) John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1994 50
1994 7 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1994 100
1994 47 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 94 Songs of 1994 94

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 321 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 89 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1994) 100
1994 691 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 41 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1995 683 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 302 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 770 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1998 836 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 95 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 304 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 893 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 136 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 281 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 76 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 796 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2000 76 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 81 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 7 KISW KISW Top 99 Rock Songs (2001) 99
2001 236 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 81 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2003 416 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 81 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 191 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 81 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 86 WBCN WBCN Grunge Top 104 (2004) 104
2005 324 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 82 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2006 199 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 218 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 166 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 415 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 423 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 429 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 68 CFNY 102.1 The Edge The Top 200 Songs of the 90's According to 102.1 The Edge 200
2009 428 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 133 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009) 200
2010 433 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 444 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2012 48 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 102 New Rock Songs of All-Time 102
2013 455 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 732 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 462 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 246 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 123 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 739 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 112 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2015 245 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2016 180 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2017 384 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2019 354 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 109 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2019 186 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2020 371 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2020 81 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2020 789 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2021 308 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2021 226 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 331 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2022 19 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2022 267 KEXP KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) 491
2022 917 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2023 753 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 221 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2024 1004 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 111 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2025 224 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400
2026 449 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 774 KXT KXT 917 Song Countdown 917

Also listed as: About a Girl.

Charting alongside it in 1994

Best songs of 1994 →
  1. 1Black Hole SunSoundgarden
  2. 2CloserNine Inch Nails
  3. 3Self-EsteemThe Offspring
  4. 4Interstate Love SongStone Temple Pilots
  5. 5Come Out and PlayThe Offspring
  6. 6Basket CaseGreen Day

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