Dumb (Nirvana song)
"Dumb" is a song by the American rock band, Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It is the sixth song on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released in 1993.
Despite never being released as a single, the song reached number 37 on the US Alternative National Airplay chart, which was published by the Billboard sister publication, Radio & Records.
Origin and recording
"Dumb" was written by Cobain in the summer of 1990, after he had begun to explore the more pop-influenced side of his songwriting. Two lyrics sheets for the song were published posthumously in Journals in November 2002, one under the working title of "I Think I'm Dumb," with a note that the lyrics were "Not Finished," and the titles of two songs by Scottish rock band the Vaselines, "Molly's Lips" and "Slushy," written under the title.The song was debuted live on September 25, 1990, when Cobain performed a solo acoustic version on the Boy Meets Girl show, hosted by Calvin Johnson of the American rock band Beat Happening, on KAOS in Olympia, Washington. The first live version featuring the full band was at the Off Ramp Café in Seattle, Washington on November 25, 1990.
On September 3, 1991, the band recorded a version of the song, already featuring finished lyrics, during their second John Peel session for the BBC at Maida Vale Studios in London. The full session, which also featured versions of "Drain You" and "Endless Nameless" from their then-latest release, Nevermind, was produced by Dale Griffin, and first broadcast on November 3, 1991. Three studio versions of the song were recorded by Jack Endino on October 26, 1992, at Word of Mouth in Seattle, Washington, but all were instrumental, as were all the other songs recorded during this session, except for one take of "Rape Me".
The final studio version of "Dumb" was recorded by Steve Albini at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota in February 1993, and was released on In Utero in September 1993. The recording features Kera Schaley on cello, who also played on the album's closing track, "All Apologies." All subsequent live versions of both songs featured cello, although never by Schaley, who did not tour with the band.
On November 18, 1993, the band performed an acoustic version of "Dumb" during their MTV Unplugged appearance at Sony Music Studios in New York City. This version featured Pat Smear on second guitar and Lori Goldston on cello. The song was performed, along with "Serve the Servants," at Nirvana's final television appearance, on February 23, 1994 in Rome, Italy for the RAI television show, Tunnel. This version featured Melora Creager on cello.
"Dumb" was performed for the final time live at Nirvana's last concert, on March 1, 1994 at Terminal Einz in Munich, Germany.
Composition and lyrics
Music
Journalist Gillian G. Gaar noted that "Dumb" was one of the few Nirvana songs to remain "low-key from beginning to end," comparing it to the Bleach song, "About a Girl." Like "About a Girl," the song has been described as "Beatlesque." Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic called it "a beautiful song. That's a really good one. I like the BBC version of the song. It's real raw, but still the beauty is strong. A sweet pop song."Lyrics
In a 1993 interview with Melody Maker, Cobain explained that the song was "just about people who're easily amused, people who not only aren't capable of progressing their intelligence but are totally happy watching 10 hours of television and really enjoy it. I've met a lot of dumb people. They have a shitty job, they may be totally lonely, they don't have a girlfriend, they don't have much of a social life, and yet, for some reason, they're happy."Though written before Cobain's addiction to heroin, "Dumb" is also one of the few Nirvana songs to directly reference drug use. In Cobain's unused liner notes for the song, he blamed "all that supposedly unaddictive, harmless" marijuana for harming his nerves and damaging his memory, saying it "wasn't ever strong enough" which led him to "climb the ladder" to heroin.
In 2015, Kurt's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, offered her own interpretation of the song in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying, "I cry every time I hear that song. It's a stripped-down version of Kurt's perception of himself – of himself on drugs, off drugs, feeling inadequate to be titled the voice of a generation."
Reception
In his review of In Utero for Rolling Stone, David Fricke cited "Dumb," along with "Heart-Shaped Box," as evidence that if Generation X "is ever going to have its own Lennon...Cobain is damn near it." Will Bryant of Pitchfork called the song "one of Cobain's most underrated efforts, a populist revision of "Lithium" that replaces Nevermind's misanthropy with earnest self-deprecation." Bryant praised Kera Schaley's cello playing as the song's "secret weapon," and the bridge as "hands down, Cobain's best."In a 1993 Rolling Stone interview, Cobain told Fricke that he wished he had put more songs like "Dumb" and "All Apologies" on previous Nirvana albums, saying that Nirvana had so far "failed in showing the lighter, more dynamic side of our band."
Though never released as a single, "Dumb" has become a popular song on American alternative rock radio, and was played on European radio.
It was ranked at number 39 on WHFS's top 100 played songs of 1994, number 41 on KROQ-FM’s top 100 played songs of 1994, number 56 on Q101's top 100 played songs of 1994, and number 82 on 91X's top 100 played songs of 1994. "Dumb" was also ranked at number 381 on Live 105's Top 500 songs in 1994, as well as at number 266 on Live 105's Top 300 Revolutionary songs in 1995, and also at number 220 on WHFS's Top 500 songs of the 90s in 1999. The combined airplay in 1994 allowed the song to chart at number 37 on the US Alternative National Airplay chart which was published by Radio & Records, a sister publication to Billboard. The song was subsequently released on Nirvana’s two greatest hits albums, Nirvana in 2002 and Icon in 2010.
In 2004, "Dumb" was ranked number seven in Q's list of the 10 Greatest Nirvana Songs Ever. In 2011, NME ranked it sixth on their list of the Nirvana's 10 Best Tracks. In 2015, it was listed at number 20 on Rolling Stone's ranking of 102 Nirvana songs. In 2019, The Guardian ranked it ninth on their list of Nirvana's 20 greatest songs.
In 2017, to mark what would have been Cobain's 50th birthday, the Phonographic Performance Limited released a list of the top 20 most played Nirvana songs on the TV and radio in the United Kingdom, in which "Dumb" was ranked at number 19.
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
| UK Airplay Top 100 | 92 |
| US Alternative National Airplay | 37 |
Accolades
Personnel
Nirvana- Kurt Cobain – vocals, guitars
- Krist Novoselic – bass
- Dave Grohl – drums
- Kera Schaley – cello
Recording and release history
Demo and studio versions
| Date recorded | Studio | Producer/recorder | Releases | Personnel |
| September 25, 1990 | Boy Meets Girl, KAOS, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington | Calvin Johnson | Unreleased |
|
| September 3, 1991 | Maida Vale Studios, London, England | Dale Griffin | With the Lights Out |
|
| October 26, 1992 | Word of Mouth Productions, Seattle, Washington | Jack Endino | In Utero | |
| February 12-26, 1993 | Pachyderm Studios, Cannon Falls, Minnesota | Steve Albini | In Utero Nirvana Icon |
|
Live versions
| Date recorded | Venue | Releases | Personnel |
| August 30, 1992 | Reading Festival, Reading, England | Live at Reading |
|
| November 10, 1993 | Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, Massachusetts | From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah | |
| November 18, 1993 | Sony Music Studios, New York City, New York | MTV Unplugged in New York | |
| February 23, 1994 | Tunnel, RAI, Rome, Italy | Unreleased |