These are the most bizarre songs by nine grunge artists.
Have you ever delved into a band’s discography after becoming a fan and stumbled upon a song (or songs) that left you puzzled? Not merely because it sounded different from their usual style, but because it was genuinely a, WTF did I just listen to? kind of moment.
Given the somber sound of many groups associated with the Seattle grunge scene of the late ’80s and early ’90s and their emotional lyrics, it’s easy to assume that many musicians were serious all the time. However, that wasn’t always true.
Alice In Chains, for instance, have experimented with various sounds and styles over the years and even infused their sense of humor into several tracks. There is one particular song that is truly perplexing and was included as a hidden track on one of their EPs.
Much of Pearl Jam’s third record Vitalogy (1994) was also quite eccentric due to tensions the band faced both with the outside world and among themselves. Our choice for the most bizarre Pearl Jam song is from that collection of tracks.
READ MORE: The History of Grunge Told in 13 Albums
For clarity, we’re not claiming any of these songs are bad — some are actually fantastic! They simply made us pause for a moment, do a bit more research, and feel compelled to share them with everyone we know.
Scroll down to listen to some of the most unusual songs by grunge artists.
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Skin Yard, ‘The Blind Leading the Blind’ (1987)
A lot of what Skin Yard produced felt genuinely strange compared to their hardcore and punk-driven contemporaries. Instead of pure aggression, they leaned into psychedelia, often channeling a darker, Doors-like atmosphere.
“The Blind Leading the Blind,” from the band’s self-titled debut, even shares some sonic DNA with The Doors’ “The End.” Thus, that was our selection for Skin Yard.
The track drifts with an eerie, hypnotic feel as Ben McMillan delivers the lyrics in a stream-of-consciousness style. It’s weird, unsettling but also mesmerizing — the kind of song that makes you stare at the wall for five minutes contemplating life’s meaning.
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Kurt Cobain, ‘Beans’ (1988)
Be honest — did you even know this song existed? To be fair, it never received a proper release and Kurt Cobain never actually released any solo material during his career. “Beans” was one of many odd tracks the frontman recorded by himself in 1988 on a four-track tape recorder that was later released as part of the soundtrack for the 2015 film Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.
It’s not quite a full-fledged song, as Cobain essentially strummed an acoustic guitar and squealed about beans and someone named Jessie being “happy, happy, happy.” Yet it’s too iconic not to include here. It’s quite poetic, indeed.
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Nirvana, ‘Hairspray Queen’ (1988)
Cobain and Nirvana were engaged in some peculiar activities in the late ’80s, so here we are with another one; although it wasn’t released until 1992 when they put out the Incesticide compilation following the success of Nevermind.
“Hairspray Queen” was an early Nirvana composition featuring Cobain once again delivering vocals in an unusual manner. This one is indeed a complete song.
“Even at that time when we first started writing songs, I would come up with the basslines and everything. I would show everybody what to play because I was still writing songs on my own time,” Cobain told MTV in 1993.
“So that was probably one of the first songs that I had written at that time when we had started to practice as a band.”
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TAD, ‘Wood Goblins’ (1990)
TAD were among the more primal groups of the Pacific Northwest scene so it’s no surprise they produced a song that sounds like it belongs on a Rob Zombie film’s soundtrack. It was also rejected by MTV for being too abrasive, according to Vice.
“I was looking at this book which contained photographs of journals from before the Russian Revolution and one was called ‘Wood Goblins.’ It featured graphic illustrations of grim reapers scything down enormous crowds and it was full of subversive articles. So it seemed like a good basis for one of our songs,” Tad Doyle told Melody Maker in 1990.
Right… It is indeed a good song!
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Alice In Chains, ‘Love Song’ (1992)
This might be the absolute strangest track on this list. The members of Alice In Chains have always had quite a sense of humor off stage and they infused that into a hidden track on their 1992 EP Sap with a song titled “Love Song” that has absolutely nothing to do with love.
It sounds like the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney World if it were turned into a song but features various tempo changes, chaotic frenzies, fart noises and megaphone vocals.
The song was all drummer Sean Kinney’s idea (as was recording an EP called Sap), according to an interview Jerry Cantrell gave to Guitar World in 1992. The members all switched instruments while recording it, adding to its… unique character.
“It’s the most bizarre song we’ve ever recorded,” said the guitarist. “It’s so noisy and horrible; it’s great. I play bass. Sean plays piano and sings lead vocals. Mike [Starr] plays guitar and Layne [Staley] plays drums. Basically, Sean’s subconscious had a lot to do with this whole project.”
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Stone Temple Pilots, ‘Wet My Bed’ (1992)
Stone Temple Pilots’ debut album Core features what might be the weirdest track of their entire career; though “Wet My Bed” acts more like a deranged interlude bridging the mega-hit “Plush” and the upbeat “Crackerman.” Similar to Skin Yard’s “The Blind Leading the Blind,” this song features a hazy, eccentric atmosphere as Scott Weiland delivers “lyrics” in a rambling Jim Morrison-like style.
The result sounds less like a proper grunge song and more like being a fly on the wall during someone’s nervous breakdown in a motel room. It’s creepy, funny and completely out of place on an album packed with rock anthems — which is exactly why it stands out so much.
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Soundgarden, ‘Half’ (1994)
Soundgarden’s musical output truly was a garden of sounds as they experimented with punk, psychedelic rock, odd time signatures and some of the strangest guitar riffs ever played. Their 1994 magnum opus Superunknown is home to an outlandish track penned by bassist Ben Shepherd titled “Half” that adds special Middle Eastern-influenced flavor to an already unique set of songs — especially because it features both viola and cello.
“What makes it strange is production and performance. This is Ben singing lead vocals instead of Chris [Cornell], which changes the dynamic in sound,” guitarist Kim Thayil explained during a Superunknown commentary.
“There’s a manic energy to it which gives good dynamic to the whole album.”
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Pearl Jam, ‘Bugs’ (1994)
This is indeed the Pearl Jam pick we mentioned earlier. One thing is certain: “Bugs” is the only song by these rockers featuring an accordion. Eddie Vedder “performed” a little ditty on this instrument while speaking nonsense over it before deciding he wanted it to be released as a single.
“Before I went into the studio, I wandered around some little thrift shop where I found an accordion. I went in with it and played something while speaking gibberish over it. I remember laughing and saying, ‘That’s going to be our first single’,” Vedder recounted during an interview with Spin in 1994 [via Five Horizons].
Fortunately, their label didn’t go for that idea.
“For quite some time after recording it, I played it for friends claiming it was our best work,” Vedder added. “We just decided to create something fun to listen to that wasn’t bombastic or reflective of everything we had become.”
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Melvins, ‘The Talking Horse’ (2006)
The best aspect about Melvins is that no matter how much time passes or how many albums they’ve released (over 25), they’ve remained consistently bizarre. You could probably listen to any Melvins song and place it here; however, we chose one from over a decade after grunge peaked — “The Talking Horse,” from their 2006 album (A) Senile Animal.
The video is just as twisted as the song itself — believe us.
