Underneath the bridge
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
It's okay to eat fish
'Cause they don't have any feelings

Something in the way
Mm
Something in the way, yeah
Mm
Something in the way
Mm
Something in the way, yeah
Mm
Something in the way
Mm
Something in the way, yeah
Mm

Underneath the bridge
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
It's okay to eat fish
'Cause they don't have any feelings

Something in the way
Mm
Something in the way, yeah
Mm
Something in the way
Mm
Something in the way, yeah
Mm
Something in the way
Mm
Something in the way, yeah
Mm
Something in the way
Mm
Something in the way, yeah
Mm


Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by LHGL, ELVIS PRESLEY BITE OF 87 XXXFREE

Something in the Way Lyrics as written by Kurt Cobain

Lyrics © DistroKid, BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Something in the Way song meanings
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298 Comments

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  • +14
    General Comment
    'The “something in the way” was Kurt. He felt like he was just something in the way. The song details the time he supposedly lived under a bridge. (He never actually did live under a bridge, but told people that he had.) The song is essentially about being discarded by those around you and made to feel like a burden. It’s a pretty personal song.' –The Amazing Atheist
    Psychonomalyon December 16, 2012   Link
  • +10
    General Comment
    Actually it's about when his parents kicked him out and he was living under a bridge.
    King Nothingon April 05, 2002   Link
  • +10
    General Comment
    Through reading Charles Cross's Kurt biography it's been found from a number of reliable sources (family and friends of the time) that the story of running away and sleeping uner the bridge in aberdeen is untrue - the people that say that it isn't true (His aunt and two friends I think) explain it in a really good way - they say that "Kurt never let the facts get in the way of a good story" I like to think of him that way - he wrote these amazing songs and although we dont have to read them as though they are all autobiographical, they still hold so much poetic imagery and beauty! Bye4now!
    CaNiS mAjOron April 18, 2002   Link
  • +6
    General Comment
    Too bad he never actually did live under a bridge.
    StephM168on June 15, 2002   Link
  • +4
    General Comment
    hey thats really cool... [adds washington bridge to places to go before i die]
    Punker829on August 13, 2002   Link
  • +3
    General Comment
    Man, lol. Some people have it right on here some people don't. 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.
    OnTheMantleon March 01, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    WRONG
    KurtCobain2727on July 08, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    You guys keep arguing about what he specifically talks about in this song. But usually when someone writes a song/poem. They dont use a specific memory, situation, etc. Ok lets say someone was feeling sad, and wanted to write a sad song, they don't neccasirly draw from one experience. Because that makes the song one sided. And kind of makes it hard for everyone to relate. In away everyone is right, he could of been drawing from being under a bridge or a rock star. Personally, the song is one of my favorite songs mainly because you have to listen to what Cobain says. He makes it very hard to listen to his lyrics, on purpose. Personally I think he did what he did because he felt he sold out. But that's another subject. But I pull from the song a intimate feeling of loneliness and isolation,..
    Bigpapapumpon February 14, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    I think 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."[
    olivertheredon July 14, 2013   Link
  • +2
    My Opinion
    After hearing this many many times it made sense it's okay to eat fish because they don't have any feelings. Kurt was a Pisces aka a fish and he didn't have any feelings because he was numb. I know the song is just a song nothing really real happened but it's depression and my thoughts about Pisces and not having feelings (Kurt not everyone who's a Pisces ) makes sense.
    jamesgang90on March 01, 2016   Link

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