Come as You Are (Nirvana song)

"Come as You Are"
Standard artwork
Single by Nirvana
from the album Nevermind
B-side
ReleasedMarch 3, 1992 (1992-03-03)
RecordedMay 1991 (1991-05)
StudioSound City (Van Nuys, California)
Genre
Length3:38
LabelDGC
Songwriter(s)Kurt Cobain
Producer(s)
Nirvana singles chronology
"On a Plain"
(1991) 		"Come as You Are"
(1992) 		"Lithium"
(1992)
Nevermind track listing
13 tracks
  1. "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
  2. "In Bloom"
  3. "Come as You Are"
  4. "Breed"
  5. "Lithium"
  6. "Polly"
  7. "Territorial Pissings"
  8. "Drain You"
  9. "Lounge Act"
  10. "Stay Away"
  11. "On a Plain"
  12. "Something in the Way"
  13. "Endless, Nameless"
Music video
"Come as You Are" on YouTube

"Come as You Are" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by frontman and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the third track and the second single from the band's second studio album Nevermind, the single released in March 1992. It was the band's second and final American top 40 hit, reaching number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, and second UK top 10 hit, reaching number nine on the UK Singles Chart. The single reached the top 10 in eight countries and the top 40 in eleven further countries.

The unexpected success of the album's lead single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" drew Nirvana to mainstream success, with Nevermind being released two weeks after the single's release. Following the album's release, the band and its management company debated whether to release "Come as You Are" or "In Bloom" as the next single from the album due to Cobain's concerns over similarity of the former with Killing Joke song "Eighties" (1984). After some persuasion by the management company, Cobain agreed to release "Come as You Are" as the second single because of its commercial potential. Killing Joke were upset over the song, and there were rumors that a lawsuit had been filed over the song, though the suit never materialized.[3] Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker was said to be upset about the whole situation, and he felt that Nirvana handled the matter poorly. Similarities between "Come as You Are" and "Life Goes On" by the Damned have also been noted.

The music video for "Come as You Are" was directed by Kevin Kerslake, who drew inspiration for it from the cover artwork of Nevermind. Rolling Stone ranked "Come as You Are" 445th on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and it placed 452nd on the 2010 edition of the list.

  1. ^ Cobain, Kurt (August 5, 2008). "Nirvana 'Come as You Are' Sheet Music in E Minor - Download & Print". Musicnotes.com. BMG Rights Management. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  2. ^ Nevermind (CD liner notes). Nirvana. DGC. 1991.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ Borzillo, Carrie (April 10, 2003). "Nirvana Pay Back Killing Joke". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 9, 2007.