Nirvana – Dumb

General CommentI think this song is about a struggle to fit in.. Someone who is outcast from the "norm" and sacrifices his self worth and indivduality to be part of the pack.. Bad move.. but we've all been there.. It's called high school.

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  @maxpower114
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  WARNING!!!
  DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS COMMENTARY
  all the comments are either arguing back and forthon whether or not this song is about drugs ("omg, like that is so, like clichè and, like overly used, like what is like wrong with you? It's like obviously about soming really deep and profound, like loooovvveee..... no one writes songs about love anymore :( :p :@") or whether or not Kurt killed himself, completely with an extremely witty burn ("courtney love shld chng her nm 2 courtney HATE! coz thts wat sh ds, hate.... ppl...yeah....")
  let Kurt rest in peace, turn around, go back to your ipod/mp3/cdplayer/whatever and just rock on...
  
  ok ok... ps its actually safe until you get to floppy... then make sure you turn back (though it is kind of funny...)
  
  oh yea...pps maxxie, sorry I took up your reply space... but its been seven years...you don't mind, right?

  Flag randomRANCORon March 06, 2009  

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  check out Nirvana_in_Mystic on page four, beautifully eloquent... mine's just crude and idiotic...

  Flag randomRANCORon March 06, 2009  

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  Correct...its about not being a part of the rat race...not being a slave of the so called modern society !!!

  Flag riju100000on November 12, 2014  

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  @maxpower114 has anybody realized that this song kind of sounds like two of nirvana's other songs "On a Plain" & "Polly" ?

  Flag Mr.Stabbyon June 18, 2015  

My InterpretationI think this song has to do with how the only way to be happy is to also be somewhat "dumb" about certain things. For instance, you have to blind yourself from issues going on around you to numb yourself from that pain and move on from it. It also embodies medication because anti-depressants are known to clear your mind and leave you with a feeling of somewhat happiness but no personality (therefore, dumb.) "I'm not like them, but I can pretend" is a representation of this, showing how meds can help you go along with the crowd but the drugs/pills are not actually changing you, they are just helping you pretend. "My heart is broke, but I have some glue" abides by that theme as well, showing how you are still the same broken person but you can to some extent hide it and pretend you are okay.

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  @courtneydidit
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  @courtneydidit On the literal level, this song is about a drug trip, sure, to help numb yourself. But in the big picture, I agree with you completely. This song is about whether being "dumb" is a necessary ingredient to being happy. Something I quite often wonder myself.

  Flag adam101541on May 19, 2016  

General CommentThis is my opinion, and this is how i feel towards the song. This song is my bond to kurt, I feel exactly how he did.

I'm not like them, but I can pretend
-he knows he's different, so he's doing drugs feel like everyone else

the sun is gone, but i have a light
-a lighter for marijuana, something to stay up for, the high

the day is done, but i'm having fun
-being high is how he has fun

i think i'm dumb, or maybe just happy
-by doing drugs he knows he's either dumb for doing them, or happy because of them

i think i'm just happy
-he's high, he's happy

my heart is broke, but i have some glue
-he's sad and lonely, and drugs are his glue

help me inhale, and mend it with you
-he's doing drugs to make himself happy, to take his mind off his broken heart.

we'll float around, and hang out on clouds
-he's high, happy, up

then we'll come down, and have a hangover
-eventually, it goes away and he goes back to being sad and lonely

skin the sun, fall asleep,
-maybe referring to the hangover, he really loses me here, it makes him tired, cause weed really does.

wish away, the soul is cheap,
-refering to how drugs help his soul, and they cost money, and a soul should be priceless, but his only requires $20-$100 for weed

lesson learned, wish me luck,
-he learned something from his high? he's asking for you to wish he's happy?

soothe the burn,
-i always burn my fingers, he uses that as a metaphor, asking someone to soothe his burn from smoking weed, to help him so he doesn't need it anymore

wake me up,
-take him away from his false reality, make it so he doesn't need drugs anymore. he's asking for help, because he knows he is living a dream and he isn't really happy.

---then at the end----

i think i'm dumb, or maybe just happy
-he's reconsidering his life, his drugs

i think i'm dumb
-he realizes he's not really happy, he's stupid. he knows he is gaining nothing. he knows he's being stupid and killing himself, even if marijuana isn't fatal.



kurt is my role model, although not a very good one. i respect him as an amazing musician, and i have never read any lyrics like his. his lyrics all have hidden meanings, he uses metaphors. email me with your thoughts on my song meanings, and yes he was killed. he attempted suicide one month before, heroin overdose.

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  @NoseDragon
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  @NoseDragon This is almost spot-on to what my interpretation is.

  Flag ashquarter8on January 22, 2015  

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  @NoseDragon This is almost spot-on to what my interpretation is. Except I don't think it's mostly about marijuana. I think it's mostly about any drug.

  Flag ashquarter8on January 22, 2015  

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  @NoseDragon Kurt Cobain's drug of choice was heroin not weed

  Flag april10348on January 23, 2015  

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  @april10348 I believe he smoked weed as well and found more fun in it, but became physically addicted to heroin. Who knows though......

  Flag ashquarter8on June 17, 2015  

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  @NoseDragon heroin

  Flag SP93on January 16, 2016  

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  @NoseDragon so

  Flag Hudson Haywateron September 04, 2016  

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  @NoseDragon where to begin? First, Kurt is a great role model. Second, No. You don't know exactly how he felt. Third, this song is about how people can be lonley and live these painfully ordinary lives and still be happy. Not word for word but that's what Kurt said about the song himself.

  Flagged Hudson Haywateron September 04, 2016  

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  @NoseDragon And if I had to guess id say you're not a very well read person.

  Flag Hudson Haywateron September 04, 2016  

General CommentI didn't read all of the prior opinions but the ones I did read referenced low self-esteem and such and, though I can certainly see how the superficially self-denigrating "I think I'm dumb" could be seen as self-loathing, I think it is more meant to insult those whom the subject deigns as being in contrast with his more realistic expectations.
"I'm not like them but I can pretend" as far as I can tell referencing this realism (cynicism) and inability as a person of superior faculties of recognition (as I think this song is actually very self-laudatory) to generally concede to any degree of temporal (and unreasonable) optimism.
This song is, I believe, a serenade to such visceral, illogical, and ephemeral joy and the awareness that trusting it is perilous and "dumb."

"He who binds himself to joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sunrise" -- William Blake

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  @original_andi
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  @original_andi Yes. Kurt was asked about this song in an interview and this is basically what he said the song was about.

  Flag Hudson Haywateron September 04, 2016  

My InterpretationI understand I am on page 8, and that this probably won't be read, but I really want to get this off my chest:

I don't really have much to say about the first verse. The second one I believe is about finding your refuge in drugs.

"My heart is broke/I have some glue"
Depression, obviously.

"Help me inhale/mend it with you"
Inhaling glue apparently gets you high, I've never done it, but whatever. You also inhale cocaine, etc. Doing drugs helps his heart "mend."

Again, the third verse, I don't have much to say. The last verse is a repeat of the first, but with a little more on it.

"I think I'm dumb, maybe just happy," I've always seen as "Am I really happy, or am I just oblivious to all the terrible, hurtful things around me? (Dumb)" In the first verse, he claims that he's just happy. At the end, he comes to the realization that there is no possible way that he's happy, and that he's just "dumb" to the things around him. Songs like this really make you wonder why this man never recieved any help. It's a damn shame he killed himself. Poor man. :[

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  @BulletProofJewFro
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  you know why nobody helped him? it's because those selfish bastards knew he wouldn't make as good of music if he wasn't depressed.

  Flag camparsion September 17, 2010  

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  you know why nobody helped him? it's because those selfish bastards knew he wouldn't make as good of music if he wasn't depressed.

  Flag camparsion September 17, 2010  

General CommentThe song is so hauntingly, beautiful, I just want to go up to Kurt and bow.

The song is relatable and genius. "Dumbing" yourself down just to be like everyone else. To try to fit into everyone's happiness; thinking it will do the same to you. It's what we all do. Sometimes we become so ashamed of ourselves, that the very thought of us makes us sick.

"The sun is gone, but I have a light." There's nothing left of him, but if he uses this artificial, fake light, then he'll regain his somewhat "happiness." Which is fake. It's like also saying "I'm pretty dumb for doing this but whatever, if it means that I get to be somewhat "happy" and people will see that, then so be it." He's given up with honesty of himself. He's given up in general, I should say.

We've been there, even Kurt. He just couldn't handle it obviously. Like people say: "Sometimes you gotta fake it to make it."

God bless him.

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  @aleciathedog

General CommentI'm not sure what it means. I think it means that he hates his life, but the way for him to feel better is to do drugs.

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  @MissNuckinFutz

General Commentkurt didnt hate life, he might have been a depressed person for a while there but he loved life. he was a silly guy and always joked around. im not totally sure what the song is about.maybe every1 is right, its about trying to fit in, but maybe its about trying to live life to the fullest extenct you can. have fun. fuck everything and everybody that dissagres. follow your dream and never let any1 talk u out of what u belive in. DONT CHANGE FOR ANYBODY!!!

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  @kurtcobainchick
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  he was really funny and had a great sense of humor!

  Flag nevermind17on July 04, 2011  

General CommentSometimes when your actually happy, you feel dumb and giddy like a little kid. You sorta move away from your serious depressed state and become happy and dumb.

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  @Kegfloater
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  i totally agree with you. =]

  Flag greekbellaon November 27, 2008  

General CommentFirst of all, Kurt was murdered. Read the articles. The evidence is all there. There's no way he could have committed suicide. He was depressed and potentially suicidal but he was killed. The song is about not fitting in but fuck it cause he's happy anyway. But basically it's about how drugs offer an escape. Kurt didn't hate life. And he wasn't all that interested with fitting in, which was what made him awesome. He didn't buy into all the shit that the music industry offers. His "suicide" note was actually not a suicide note. It was explaining to fans why he was leaving the band.

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  @CourtneyKilledKurt
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  @CourtneyKilledKurt I totally understand where you're coming from with all the murder stuff cuz I have read anything and everything there is to read about it and I can't help but agree with the murder theory. However, the song meaning.... you're way off.

  Flag Hudson Haywateron September 04, 2016