A live performance is included on the 1992 "In Bloom" single, another live performance can be seen on the 1994 home video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! (released on DVD in 2006), and a third live performance was included on the live album From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah in 1996. An early acoustic version would later appear on the 2004 box set With the Lights Out as well as on Sliver: The Best of the Box released in 2005.
A music video was made for "Sliver" as promotion for Incesticide in March 1993. The video starts with Kurt Cobain's daughter Frances Bean Cobain dancing to the opening bassline and the band in a small, dark, cramped room playing their instruments. Kurt sings to the camera and his movements change with the music, with Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl in the background of the room. In between shots there are scenes of the baby and a cymbal-banging monkey toy; similar to the battery bunny, which claps to the beat with its cymbals. The video ends with Cobain destroying objects in the room.
Sliver
Nirvana Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They dropped me off at Grandpa Joe's
I kicked and screamed, said please don't go
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Had to eat my dinner there
Mashed potatos and stuff like that
I couldn't chew my meat too good
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
She said, "Why don't you start your crying
Go outside and ride your bike"
That's what I did, I killed my toe
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
After dinner, I had ice cream
I fell asleep and watched TV
I woke up in my mother's arms
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
Grandma take me home!
I wanna be alone!
Nirvana's "Sliver" is a nostalgic song about a young child's experience being left at his grandparent's house while his parents went to a show. The child expresses his frustration and longing to be taken back home by his grandmother who he calls out to repeatedly throughout the song. The child talks about how he had to eat dinner which consisted of mashed potatoes, things he couldn't chew, and how his grandmother encouraged him to go outside and ride his bike. However, the child ends up injuring his toe and continues to cry out for his grandmother to take him home. The song ends with the child waking up in his mother's arms and exclaiming that he wants to be alone.
The song's lyrics seem to be a representation of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's own childhood experiences. Cobain was known to have a difficult and traumatic childhood, including his parents' divorce, moving back and forth between his mother and father's homes, and living with several relatives. He mentioned in interviews that much of his music was influenced by these experiences, and "Sliver" seems to be a vivid depiction of a moment from Cobain's childhood.
Additionally, there are several motifs and symbols present in the song that are characteristic of Nirvana's music. The sense of confusion and longing for escape is represented in the repeated refrain of "Grandma take me home," which becomes darker and more desperate as the song goes on. The child's injury to his toe is also reminiscent of Cobain's recurring theme of physical pain and self-harm. The line "I wanna be alone!" at the end of the song speaks to Cobain's fierce independence and desire to escape from the chaos and trauma of his life.
Line by Line Meaning
Mom and dad went to a show
My parents went out to see a performance
They dropped me off at Grandpa Joe's
They left me at my Grandpa's house
I kicked and screamed, said please don't go
I cried, protested and begged them not to go
Had to eat my dinner there
I had to have my meal there
Mashed potatos and stuff like that
I was served mashed potatoes and other similar food
I couldn't chew my meat too good
I had difficulty in chewing my meat
She said, "Why don't you start your crying
My grandma suggested that I cry
Go outside and ride your bike"
To calm me down, she asked me to go ride my bike
That's what I did, I killed my toe
I followed her suggestion and hurt my toe
After dinner, I had ice cream
For dessert, I enjoyed some ice cream
I fell asleep and watched TV
I was so tired that I fell asleep while watching TV
I woke up in my mother's arms
Later on, I woke up being held by my mother
I wanna be alone!
I wish to be alone
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Kurt Cobain
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@SuperWowstyle
those eyes are so pretty..makes me wanna cry :-(
@nophilter1642
I agree 2:06 is beautiful
@beastatrix9222
Phil Jefferson lol nice 1
@johnnysaldana1053
Stoooopid
@wild_burn
superWOWstyle! KURT COBAIN'S MICROPHONE
@IAmHomeless69
Nirvana wasn't about "how beautiful Kurt was" it was about music and raw emotions. He even tried to look and dress ugly so that people will not talk about his appearance.
@ashleymarie290
Fun fact: Kurt cut two armholes in a box so he could hold up frances bean and help her to dance like a baby go go dancer. lol
@crazysilly2914
was that his kid?
@ashleymarie290
@@crazysilly2914 Yes. Courtney was off doing something and he was at home with Frances the day the rest of the band came over to shoot the video. Kurt decided he wanted a set up that looked reminiscent to his old apartment and they sort of recreated that with a lot of random things that Kurt had stored away.
@crazysilly2914
@@ashleymarie290 I take it ‘Courtney' was his wife/girlfriend?