Blew

Written in 1988, "Blew" was first performed live at the Community World Theatre in Tacoma, Washington on March 19, 1988. The song was first recorded in the studio by Jack Endino at Reciprocal Recording Studios in Seattle, Washington in June 1988, during the recording sessions for what became the band's debut single, "Love Buzz." It was re-recorded during the Bleach sessions in December 1988 by Endino at Reciprocal.

The Bleach version of "Blew" was accidentally recorded one step lower than the band had intended, which contributed to what Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad called its "extraordinarily heavy sound."[4] Not realizing that they had already tuned to their favored Drop D tuning, the band tuned further down to Drop C on the first day of the sessions and recorded several songs in that tuning. As bassist Krist Novoselic recalled in a 2009 Seattle Times article, "we came back the next day and decided the idea wasn’t so hot, and we recorded over most of it with things tuned back up a little. In fact, 'Blew,' with that growly bass, is the only survivor of that experiment."[5]

The Bleach version of "Blew" was re-released on the Blew EP in November 1989, along with the Bleach mix of "Love Buzz" and the previously-unreleased songs "Been a Son" and "Stain," which had been recorded by Steve Fisk at Music Source in Seattle, Washington in September 1989. The band's original plan had been to release an EP to promote their current European tour, but the EP was delayed and released exclusively in the United Kingdom after the tour was over. However, the EP built on the interest the band had generated in the UK with Bleach, and was promoted by English DJ John Peel, who had also played Bleach on his influential show. The Blew EP eventually peaked at #15 on the UK Indie chart.[2][3]

"Blew" remained one of only three songs from Bleach, along with "About a Girl" and "School," which the band performed until their dissolution in April 1994. It was performed for the final time live at Nirvana's last show, at Terminal Einz in Munich, Germany on March 1, 1994, as the second-to-last song, preceding "Heart-Shaped Box."

In his 1993 Nirvana biography Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Azerrad described the song as having a "theme of entrapment and control."[4]

In 2009, Novoselic said that "Blew" was perhaps his favorite song on Bleach "because it has a groove, and again, it’s the sole survivor of the Doom Pop experiment."[5]

In 2015, Rolling Stone's listed "Blew" at number 22 on their ranking of 102 Nirvana songs.[6]

All tracks are written by Kurt Cobain, except where noted.

• "Blew" and "Love Buzz" were previously released on Nirvana's 1989 debut album Bleach, but "Love Buzz" was not included on the original 1989 UK version. In its place was "Big Cheese", the B-side to the US "Love Buzz" single. Therefore, the Blew EP was the first time that "Love Buzz" was officially released in the UK. However, "Love Buzz" was included on the 1992 UK re-issue of Bleach.
• "Been a Son" was later released on the 2002 "best-of" compilation, Nirvana. A different version appeared on the 1992 compilation, Incesticide.
• "Stain" was later released on Incesticide.

Nirvana

• Kurt Cobain – guitar, vocals
• Krist Novoselic – bass guitar
• Chad Channing – drums

Production

• Jack Endino – production for "Blew" and "Love Buzz"
• Steve Fisk – production for "Stain" and "Been a Son"

• Japanese musician Miyavi has covered the song.
• American pop-punk band The Ergs! covered the song on their Blue EP.
• Northern Irish alternative rock band Ash covered the song, releasing it on their Numbskull EP in 1999.
• Istanbul rock band Direc-t's singer Bilge Kosebalaban has covered the song.

• Experiencing Nirvana: Grunge in Europe, 1989

• Blew EP on Nirvanadiscography.com
• Live Nirvana Companion to Official Releases – Blew EP
• Live Nirvana Sessions History – September 1989