“Drain You” by Nirvana

"Drain You" is the eighth track on Nirvana's Nevermind, released in September 1991, and it might be the sweetest-sounding thing on the record until the noise kicks in. Kurt Cobain wrote the lyrics and sings and plays guitar, Krist Novoselic plays bass, Dave Grohl drums, and the two of them add backing vocals. Butch Vig produced it with the band and Andy Wallace mixed it, and it hurtles along, a pop song with a distortion pile-up in the middle.

It went out to radio as a promotional single late in 1991 and sat on the flip of UK copies of "Smells Like Teen Spirit". A live take from the Del Mar Fairgrounds in California, recorded on December 28, 1991, became a second promo single from From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah in 1996. Cobain told Rolling Stone in 1993 that he rated it right up there with "Teen Spirit".

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