Underneath the bridge
The tarp has sprung a leak
And the animals I've trapped
Have all become my pets
And I'm living off of grass
And the drippings from the ceiling
But it's okay to eat fish
'Cause they don't have any feelings
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Underneath the bridge
The tarp has sprung a leak
And the animals I've trapped
Have all become my pets
And I'm living off of grass
And the drippings from the ceiling
But it's okay to eat fish
'Cause they don't have any feelings
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
The tarp has sprung a leak
And the animals I've trapped
Have all become my pets
And I'm living off of grass
And the drippings from the ceiling
But it's okay to eat fish
'Cause they don't have any feelings
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Underneath the bridge
The tarp has sprung a leak
And the animals I've trapped
Have all become my pets
And I'm living off of grass
And the drippings from the ceiling
But it's okay to eat fish
'Cause they don't have any feelings
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Something in the way
Ummmmm
Something in the way, yeah
Ummmmm
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
–The Amazing Atheist
This song was written by Kurt as almost a stab at his parents and family, telling them that this is where they have sent him, 'underneath the bridge'. Also, it was a methaphor for isolation and lonliness that all of us feel as adolscents.
It is NOT a true story. Kurt could not sleep underneath the bridge that he is referring to, as the Wishkah rivers tide rises and would wash him away!
Also, as a sidenote, Kurt recorded the Nevermind version of this lying on his back in Butch Vigs recording studio, playing his old beat up stella I believe.
They couldn't get the song right, so Kurt walked up to Butch as said 'This is how it should sound' and layed down on his back and started playing/singing. But was like 'Whoa, whoa, wait wait' and turned off everything in the whole place, put mics all around Kurt, and let him go at it. And it worked out beautifully.
No matter how sad some think this song is, I always get a chuckle out of imagining Kurt lying on his back and singing it, heh.
Underneath the bridge
The tarp has sprung a leak
is literally, a bridge over troubled water.
and if you listen to the song that fits musically too, as the ending is in stark contrast to the first part of the song, and somewhat violent.
also
The album's title refers to the Wishkah River in Aberdeen, Washington, where Cobain claimed to have spent nights sleeping under the Young Street Bridge as a teenager (as referenced in the song "Something in the Way," from the band's 1991 release, Nevermind). This claim has since been refuted by Novoselic, who said, "He never lived under that bridge. He hung out there, but you couldn't live on those muddy banks, with the tide coming up and down. That was his own revisionism."[