On a Plain

"On a Plain" was recorded in the key of D Major, with Cobain's guitar tuned to drop D. The song starts with a noise intro played by Cobain, with an audible handclap. After a short pause the main riff comes in with the power chords D5-G5-F5-E5-F5-E5-D5 played twice then followed by the power chords D5-C5-B5-A5 followed by the first progression again. The chord progressions are played twice for all verses followed by the power chords D5-Gsus2-Bbsus2 for all choruses. After the second chorus a bridge is played with the power chords F5-E5-A5-G5. The song then goes onto the third verse followed by a final chorus which is treated as the outro with the words, "I'm on a plain/I can't complain" being repeated multiple times until all instruments and main vocals start fading out until the last thing that's heard is the repeating, wordless vocal harmony from the chorus.[6][7]

In a 1993 interview with Jon Savage, Cobain said that the song was about "classic alienation, I guess," although he then noted he had to change his explanation every time he was asked about the meaning to his songs, saying that his lyrics were largely taken from "pieces of poetry thrown together," and that his poetry was "not usually thematic at all."[3]

The lyric "Don't quote me on that" was a reference to a running joke at Sound City around the time it was written. As Grohl explained to biographer Michael Azerrad, "Someone would say something like, 'Where's the mayonnaise?' And someone else would answer, 'It's in the fridge, but don't quote me on that.'"[8]

In his 1993 book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Azerrad wrote that the lyric "My mother died every night" was a reference to an abusive relationship Cobain's mother was in while Cobain was a teenager.[9] Azerrad also suggested that the "black sheep" in the song was a reference to Cobain himself.[10]

The lyric "One more special message to go" referred to the fact that "On a Plain" was the last song on Nevermind that Cobain had to complete lyrics for.[9]

Emily Parker of the NME described "On a Plain" as "Kurt's most meta moment: a song written about writing a song."[10]

"On a Plain" was listed at number 26 on Rolling Stone's 2015 ranking of 102 Nirvana songs.[12]

In 2017, to mark what would have been Kurt 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 "On a Plain" was ranked at number 10.[13]