Come As You Are

About this song

The song was initially seen by the band's management as having strong crossover potential and was meant to be the lead single from the album Nevermind, though the unexpected success of Smells Like Teen Spirit overshadowed that plan. It still did well commercially, reaching number 32 on the Billboard chart and number 9 on the UK singles chart. Its guitar riff was heavily borrowed from Killing Joke's song Eighties, which made the band hesitant to release it as a single, and Killing Joke later complained but never sued. The song also features a rare extended guitar solo from Cobain, which producer Butch Vig said complements the melody rather than showing off.

What it's about

Cobain described the lyrics as contradictory, with each line working as a rebuttal to the one before, and said the song is about people and how they are expected to act. The lyrics have been noted for a foreshadowing tone given Cobain's death, though in context they read as an ironic comment on people's bad intentions.

Fun facts

• Sampled in 11 other songs, like “As You Are by Jarren Benton”.
• Covered 33 times, including “Come As You Are by Rusty Wounds”.
• Written by Kurt Cobain.
• Produced by Butch Vig.
• Recorded at Sound City Studios.