
For a deep cut, Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” is a popular cover selection – it’s their seventh most popular ever. That’s likely because of its nature as a ballad, it’s a little more accessible. And it’s better known than so many deep cuts, featuring both on Nirvana’s biggest record and also on their MTV Unplugged.
Former AutoVaughn lead guitarist Stephen Wilson Jr. has been writing songs for Nashville for more of the last decade. Recently he’s started a career as a solo artist, releasing both his debut EP and LP last year. He performs country that is more than a little influenced by alternative and indie rock. (He’s also married to Sixpence None the Richer singer Leigh Nash, if you’re interested.)
It’s amazing how playing a chord progression can transform a song. Taking a cue, perhaps from Cobain’s picking at times during the MTV Unplugged performance of “Something in the Way,” Wilson Jr. aggressively picks the chords instead of strumming them, adding little fills as he goes. At least at first, he takes the vocal pretty much exactly the same, though the pace is faster, but the song feels entirely different due to his choice of how to play the guitar.
However, as the song progresses, he gets far more strident with the vocal than Cobain ever did, giving the chorus in particular a sound a lot closer to rock than a solo acoustic performance would suggest. Fitting of a song that was played on an unplugged album where the guitars were actually plugged in, Wilson Jr. adds some kind of percussive effect during the chorus.
He also builds the song to a big climax that is completely absent from the original by frantically strumming and vamping (backed by some kind of loop in the background) which further transforms the song.
It’s a remarkably distinct cover given how much Wilson Jr.’s vocal initially approximates Cobain’s original. Check it out below: