Everything about Old Age totally explained
"
Old Age" is a song recorded by the
American rock bands
Nirvana and
Hole. For years, it was known only as a Hole song, first appearing as a
B-side on their
1993 single "Beautiful Son," and again on their
1997 compilation album,
My Body, The Hand Grenade.
Then, in
1998, a
tape of the song being performed by Nirvana was leaked to
the Stranger, a
Seattle, Washington weekly newspaper. The tape was recorded in March
1991, as part of a boombox
demo for
record producer Butch Vig (who produced the band's second album,
Nevermind, later that year), and seemed to contradict the song's official standing as a
Courtney Love composition.
In a
Stranger article written by Kathleen Wilson following the leak of the tape, Nirvana bassist
Krist Novoselic confirmed that "Old Age" was indeed "a Nirvana song." In an interview with
UK music newspaper
Melody Maker in 1997, Love stated that
"Old Age" was "something somebody had a little bit of and I said 'let me have the rest of it', and I wrote this thing in it and tried to make it goth. I found it, wrote it, and recorded it in the same night".
Although, the song had been recorded a year before by Cobain, Love's lyrics were almost entirely different. Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson later clarified that the song had been given to Hole to re-write and record.
Nirvana's version
It is now believed that
Kurt Cobain, Nirvana's lead singer and guitarist, wrote "Old Age" in
1990 or early 1991, and later gave the song to Love (whom he married in
1992) after abandoning it himself.
It was attempted during the
Nevermind sessions, with a live instrumental take and scratch vocals being recorded, but Cobain never attempted formal vocal passes. This never-completed version was released on the Nirvana
box set,
With the Lights Out, in
2004, and on the band's compilation album,, in
2005.
At least one other version of the song is known to exist: a solo
acoustic home demo which first surfaced on the internet in
1999. Its authenticity was challenged at first, but in
2004, an
MP3 of the demo was sent by the website
Live Nirvana to "a panel of band associates" - including former Hole guitarist
Eric Erlandson - which confirmed that it is, indeed, a Cobain recording. Erlandson believes it was recorded as a demo for Love, who then reworked the song's lyrics in time for late 1992, when it was first recorded by Hole.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Old Age'.
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