The 10 Best Acoustic Grunge Songs

Listening to somebody strumming an acoustic guitar is one of the most boring things in life.

Thankfully, Grunge bands were known for producing a wall of angst driven sound. But here are 10 songs where bands that faced near-impossible odds to produced brilliance.

#10. Neil Young – My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)

He is, after all, the Godfather of Grunge.

The line, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away,” was included in Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s suicide note in ’94. After Cobain’s death, Young vowed never to perform the song again, but reversed his stance at the request of the surviving members of Nirvana.

#9. Chris Cornell – Seasons

“It was written in a time when Seattle was moving so fast….. and I just wanted to slow it all down,” stated the late Soundgarden frontman. The song landed on the “Singles” soundtrack. The film, a romantic comedy centered on the precarious romantic lives of a group of twentysomethings in Seattle in the early ’90’s.

The soundtrack was considered to have helped open the door to the explosive popularity of the Grunge movement.

#8. Goo Goo Dolls -Iris

Written for the soundtrack of the ’98 film “City Of Angels,” it was included on the sixth Goo Goo Dolls album, “Dizzy Up The Girl.” No character named Iris appears in the film, and the song title is not heard in the lyrics.

#7. Pearl Jam – Black

 Despite pressure from Epic Records, the band refused to make it into a single, citing it as too personal and expressing fear that its emotional weight would be destroyed in a music video. Vedder stated that “fragile songs get crushed by the business.” 

#6. Nirvana – Dumb

Written by vocalist/guitarist Kurt Cobain with the cello part composed and played by Kera Schaley. “”I remember I heard ‘Dumb’ and then when Kurt came in, I looked at him and I said, ‘This is a really beautiful song'” remembered Schaley. “And I think he might’ve thought that was funny, but he was like, ‘Thank you.'” According to Schaley, the final cello line for the song was recorded in about three takes.

Bassist Krist Novoselic called “Dumb” “a beautiful song. A sweet pop song.”

#5. Pearl Jam – Daughter

This was the second single from the band’s second studio album, “Vs.” (1993). The lyrics were written by vocalist Eddie Vedder with the music written by band’s members.

Guitarist Stone Gossard used a wide-body acoustic guitar to write the music. Jeff Ament played an upright bass on the song.

#4. Stone Temple Pilots – Creep

 “That’s just the idea of being a young person somewhere, caught between still being a kid and becoming a young man,” offered singer Scott Weiland. “It’s that youth apathy, that second-guessing yourself, not feeling like you fit in.”

#3. Nirvana – The Man Who Sold The World

Most of the MTV Unplugged series yielded competent but hardly exceptional performances. Here’s the exception. Kurt Cobain said he was going to make a mistake playing this song – and even knew where. Not to worry. He nailed it.

The song was written and originally recorded by David Bowie.

#2. Alice In Chains – Your Decision

Yes, this was recorded and released outside the so-called “Grunge era.” That said, this song from the band’s fourth studio album, “Black Gives Way To Blue” (2009) was written and sung by guitarist Jerry Cantrell. It can be seen as an ode to the band’s original vocalist, Lane Staley, who couldn’t kick his addiction to drugs and died in ’02.

But it can also be a “song is all about choices and their consequences.”

#1. Smashing Pumpkins – Disarm

It was the third single from the Pumpkins second album, “Siamese Dream” (1993), and became a top-20 hit in the United Kingdom despite being banned due to the song’s lyrical content.

Frontman Billy Corgan stated the song reflects the shaky relationship he had with his parents while growing up.

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