Ten from the vaults: the unseen works of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana

Nirvana ‘lost song’: Version from January 1994 studio session

Jam After Dinner

The title menus on the With the Lights Out DVD were a trove of instrumental curios including a 1992 demo that emerged on the In Utero reissue in 2013, as well as a shred later identified as coming from Nirvana’s final studio session in January 1994. At a bare minute-and-a-half, the piece would be of limited interest if it were not for the detective work of dedicated fans who identified the same tune played as part of the closing jam at a San Diego concert on December 12, 1993 and further back at a concert in Fitchburg on November 11, 1993.

Reviewing Nirvana’s live sets, it was very common for them to drop new songs toward the end of a show once the audience had been riled up, once the band had satisfied requirements and could afford to try songs that weren’t yet complete or finalized. What’s most interesting is that these repeat appearances suggest a longer gestation and a deeper writing process behind what’s ultimately seen in studio. The band clearly all know what they’re playing when on stage and lock into the tune very swiftly implying that they’d practiced it at some point. This is where the interest lies for fans. Firstly, as only an excerpt from January 1994 is known, it’s impossible to tell if this was just an off-the-cuff attempt or whether a lengthier attempt was made at the song. And secondly, the band’s comfort with it suggests that rehearsal recordings from 1993 may yield early work on the tune – the vestigial beginnings of a final lost Nirvana song.

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