Lithium

by Nirvana

Lithium cover art
  • Type: Single
  • Released: 21 July 1992
  • Label: DGC
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 9:51
  • Community rating: 4.07/5 from 4 ratings

Artists on this release: Butch Vig, Andy Wallace

Album Notes & Community Reviews

An essential showcase of Kurt Cobain's loud-quiet-loud songwriting dynamic, driven by Butch Vig's crisp, booming production. The lyrics explore religion as a psychological coping mechanism akin to the mood-stabilizing drug lithium, reflecting Cobain's brief teenage phase living with a born-again Christian family. The recording famously broke down multiple times due to the band struggling to maintain its tempo, eventually inspiring the chaotic hidden track 'Endless, Nameless'.

Genres

Descriptors: alienation, melodic, distorted, loud, sludgy

Tracklist

  1. Lithium (4:19)
  2. Been A Son (2:33)
  3. Curmudgeon (2:58)

Credits

  • Nirvana - primary artist, engineer, music by, producer
  • Gary Gersh - a&r
  • Andy Wallace - engineer, mixed by, producer
  • Butch Vig - engineer, producer
  • Kurt Cobain - lyrics by, photography by

More from Nirvana: full discography