Written by guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, "Grind" addresses the various rumors that surrounded the band at the time. The opening lines, "In the darkest hole, you'd be well advised/Not to plan my funeral before the body dies", address the rumors that the band had broken up and the many rumors of vocalist Layne Staley's death that had occurred frequently around this time. In the liner notes of 1999's Music Bankbox set collection, Jerry Cantrell said of the song:
That was pretty much at the height of publicity about canceled tours, heroin, amputations, everything, thus it was another "FUCK YOU for saying something about my life" song. Any single rumor you can imagine, I've heard. I've been dead a few times, Layne's been dead countless times and lost limbs. I get on the phone every time I hear a new one, "Hey Layne, radio in New York says you lost two more fingers." "Oh really? Cool." I'd spoof The Six Million Dollar Man; "Since technology's moved on it only cost us 2 million to put Layne back together and we got better parts."
Release and reception
An early cut of the song was leaked to radio prematurely, so the band released it via satellite uplink a few days later, on October 6, 1995, to combat illegal versions being played in rotation. The song peaked at number seven on the BillboardMainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 18 on the BillboardModern Rock Tracks and reached the top 30 in the UK. "Grind" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1996. Editorial reviews frequently singled out the dark, compelling lyrics of the song. Jon Wiederhorn of Rolling Stone noted, "'Grind' shimmers and shudders beneath a web of trippy wah-wah guitar and half-distorted vocal harmonies, and features one of the album's many hook-filled choruses." Allmusic's Steve Huey regarded the song "among the band's best work" but also noted that the less refined tracks on the album make the defiance of "Grind" sound "more like denial." Regarding band rumors, Jon Pareles of The New York Times commented that the song advises against believing "what you may have heard and what you think you know." "Grind" was ranked at number 60 on Spin's "The 95 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1995" list.
Music video
The music video for "Grind" was released in November 1995. It was directed by Rocky Schenck, who had previously directed the "We Die Young", "Them Bones", and "What the Hell Have I" music videos for the band. The video was shot at Hollywood National Studios from October 8 to October 21, 1995. It is a live-action video with animated sequences featuring the band underground of an old building where a three-legged dog is. The dog in the video is not the same dog on the cover of Alice in Chains' self-titled album, and contrary to false information spread on the internet, it did not belong to Jerry Cantrell either. It was a different dog named Sunshine that was hired just for the video, according to Cantrell. The old man in the video was played by actor Richard Stretchberry. The video received heavy rotation on MTV in late 1995 and early 1996, and it is available on the home video releases The Nona Tapes and .
