| "Endless, Nameless" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 "Endless, Nameless" cover art for 7-inch single | ||||
| Promotional single byNirvana | ||||
| from the albumNevermind | ||||
| A-side | "Come as You Are" | |||
| Released | November 12, 2021[1] | |||
| Recorded | May 1991 | |||
| Genre | Noise rock | |||
| Length | 6:43 | |||
| Label | DGC | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers | ||||
| Nirvana singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Nevermind track listing | ||||
13 tracks
| ||||
"Endless, Nameless" is a song by the Americanrock bandNirvana, written by vocalist and guitaristKurt Cobain, bassistKrist Novoselic, and drummerDave Grohl. It is the 13th and final song on the band's second studio album,Nevermind, released in September 1991.
This song was released as ahidden track, beginning approximately 10 minutes after the end of the album's final listed song, "Something in the Way", and occupying the same track. It was first credited by name when it was re-released as aB-side on the album's second single, "Come As You Are", in March 1992.
On November 12, 2021, "Endless, Nameless" was released as a7-inch single included on the 30th-anniversary reissue ofNevermind.[1]
The earliest known live performance of "Endless, Nameless" was at the No More Wars anti–Gulf War benefit show on January 18, 1991, at theEvergreen State College Library 4300 inOlympia, Washington.
The song was first recorded in the studio during the recording sessions for the band's second album,Nevermind, in May 1991 atSound City Studios inVan Nuys,California. It was recorded following a failed attempt at recording the futureNevermind single "Lithium," with a "frustrated"[3] Cobain instructing producerButch Vig to continue recording while he, Grohl and Novoselic began playing "Endless, Nameless."[4] As Vig recalled, “the rage and frustration in [Cobain's] voice was fuckin’ scary to hear, because he kind of lost it.”[5] Vig remembered Cobain being "really pissed off, thrashing and screaming" during the take.[6]
Unlike the rest ofNevermind, the song was recorded live, with no overdubs added afterwards. Cobain's vocals and guitar were recorded in the middle of the room, with Cobain singing into aShure SM57 microphone designed for conversation and not music. Vig recalled that "we had tremendous bleed from the bass and drums all pouring into Kurt's microphone."[4] Cobain smashed his guitar during the recording, which halted recording for the day after the band realized it was the only left-handed guitar available.[4] According to the 1993 Nirvana biographyCome As You Are byMichael Azerrad, the sound of Cobain smashing the guitar can be heard around 19:32 on the track.[4] A photograph of the destroyed guitar, a black JapaneseFender Stratocaster[7][8] and not aMosrite as claimed by Vig,[9] appears inCome As You Are.[4]
On September 3, 1991, the song was recorded during aJohn Peel session for theBBC by Dale Griffin atMaida Vale Studios inLondon, England.[10] This version of the song featured Cobain briefly singing part of "Turning Japanese", the 1980 single by English rock bandthe Vapors. The full session, which also included versions of theNevermind song "Drain You" and futureIn Utero song "Dumb", was first broadcast on November 3, 1991.[citation needed]
When played live, "Endless, Nameless" was usually performed last, with the band members frequently destroying their instruments and the stage during the end. The final live performance of the song was on December 13, 1993, atPier 48 in Seattle during theLive and Loud concert, filmed forMTV. The original broadcast of the performance, on December 31, 1993, only included anoise jam at the end of the recognizable song that was not credited as "Endless, Nameless." However, the jam was included as part of the song when the full show wasreleased on DVD in September 2013.
According toCome As You Are, Cobain himself was unsure of what he was singing during their first performance of the song, but believed the lyrics included the lines, "I think I can, I know I can."[4]
According to author Chuck Crisafulli, the song's placement onNevermind was in part inspired by the use of hidden tracks bythe Beatles, such as "Her Majesty" on their 1969 album,Abbey Road.[11]
In a 1991 interview withICE,Geffen Records’ vice president of marketing Robert Smith explained that using the song as a hidden track "was kind of a joke for the band to do, as in we're not going to list it in the packaging, or mention it exists. It's for that person who plays the CD, it ends, they're walking around the house and ten minutes later... Kaboom!"[6] In the 1992 promotional interview CD,Nevermind: It's an Interview, Grohl theorized that "the original reason for [the song's placement] was because 'Something in the Way' is sort of a slow song. It's the last song on the record and most likely to be listened to by someone who would have a carousel player. So, why not screw up their little carousel deal?"[6]
The song was accidentally omitted from the first pressing ofNevermind, which led to many who purchased this version of the album later trading their copies in for the less valuable second pressing. The album features a runtime of 59 minutes and 23 seconds with the song, and 42 minutes and 39 seconds without it.[12] The album's mastering engineer,Howie Weinberg, recalled receiving "a heavy call from Kurt" after the band noticed the song's initial absence, asking him, "Where the hell is the extra song?" and demanding he "Fix it!"[12]
In 2015,Rolling Stone ranked "Endless, Nameless" at number 60 on their ranking of all 102 Nirvana songs.[13] In 2019,Vulture ranked it at number 16 on their "Best Nirvana Songs, Ranked" list, calling it "a revolting sound that Nirvana brought to bear on millions of Middle American homes" that "surfaced like a nightmare, a cherry bomb in a disc changer, Cobain’s stomach pain manifested in sound."[14] In 2023,PopMatters included it on their list of "The 10 Heaviest Nirvana Songs," with Dean Brown describing it as "an obstinate emission hell-bent on rupturing the mournful mood left by 'Something in the Way.'"[15]
American musical comedian"Weird Al" Yankovic parodied the song on his 1992 albumOff the Deep End with the seven-second-long hidden track, "Bite Me."[16]Off the Deep End also featured the lead single "Smells Like Nirvana," a parody of the 1991Nevermind single "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and an album cover that parodied the cover ofNevermind.
"Even in His Youth" and "Aneurysm" originally appeared as B-sides on the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" single, released in September 1991.
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