Pop Song 333 of 500 'All Apologies' Nirvana 1993

Pop Song 333 of 500 'All Apologies' Nirvana 1993

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“All Apologies” is a song that Nirvana’s frontman and the track’s writer, the legendary Kurt Cobain, dedicated to his wife (Courtney) and daughter (Frances Bean). It details the expectations he faced in his relationship with them and the experiences he had as a result, culminating in him ‘apologizing’ for not being the ideal husband and to a lesser extent dad.

Verse 1
In the first verse, the lyricist is questioning what direction he should take in life. He is doing this not in the sense of actually requesting an answer but more rhetorically. He rather implies that every decision he makes yields some type of undesirable result. Cobain ultimately apologizes for this at the end of the verse.

Chorus
The prepositional phrase “in the sun” is repeated throughout the chorus. This phrase is actually said to be a reference to Nirvana’s hometown of Aberdeen, Washington. Aberdeen is noted for being extremely cloudy. Cobain longed to be somewhere other than the place. Apparently he desired to be somewhere warmer – somewhere sunny

The chorus ends with the line “married, buried”. This gives us the idea that Kurt was feeling strong discomfort in his marriage to Courtney Love and wanted to get out of it.

Verse 2
Some of the lines of the second verse, such as “choking on the ashes of her enemy” are difficult to interpret. However, within the setting of the paragraph and indeed entire song, sound as if they are referring directly to Courtney And being that Cobain and Courtney were in the most-intimate relationship possible, the audience may never know what he was referring to literally. However parts of the verse that are more easily understood include Cobain’s desire to be as carefree as the person he is directing the song to. In this verse, Cobain once again acknowledges his mistakes, though this time in an even more sarcastic tone than in the first verse.

Outro
The only line exclusively repeated in the outro is “all in all is all we are.” This would imply that Cobain acknowledges his own humanness, in addition to the person he is directing the lyrics to. In other words, he recognizes his own faults as well as those of his wife and basically resigns himself to the belief that that’s just the way ‘they are.’

What else should I be?
All apologies
What else could I say?
Everyone is gay
What else could I write?
I don't have the right
What else should I be?
All apologies
In the sun
In the sun, I feel as one
In the sun
In the sun
Married
Buried
I wish I was like you
Easily amused
Find my nest of salt
Everything is my fault
I'll take all the blame
Aqua sea foam shame
Sunburn freezer burn
Choking on the ashes of her enemy
In the sun
In the sun, I feel as one
In the sun
In the sun
Married
Married
Married
Buried
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
All in all is all we are