I'll start this off
Without any words
I got so high
I scratched 'till I bled

I love myself
Better than you
I know it's wrong
So what should I do?

The finest day
That I've ever had
Was when I learned
To cry on command

I love myself
Better than you
I know it's wrong
So what should I do?

I'm on a plain
I can't complain
I'm on a plain

My mother died
Every night
It's safe to say
Quote me on that

I love myself
Better than you
I know it's wrong
So what should I do?

The black sheep got
Blackmailed again
Forgot to put
On the zip code

I love myself
Better than you
I know it's wrong
So what should I do?

I'm on a plain
I can't complain
I'm on a plain

Somewhere I have heard this before
In a dream my memory has stored
As a defense I'm neutered and spayed
What the hell am I trying to say?

It is now time
To make it unclear
To write off lines
That don't make sense

I love myself
Better than you
I know it's wrong
So what should I do?

And one more special
Message to go
And then I'm done
And I can go home

I love myself
Better than you
I know it's wrong
So what should I do?

I'm on a plain
I can't complain
I'm on a plain
I can't complain
I'm on a plain
I can't complain
I'm on a plain
I can't complain
I'm on a plain


Lyrics submitted by bonj

On a Plain Lyrics as written by Kurt Cobain

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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On a Plain song meanings
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130 Comments

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  • +7
    General Comment

    The song is about a heroin high and the effects of heroin and drug use on life. If you've ever been on any opiate, you'd know the feeling this song describes. I have proof too...

    "i got so high, i scratched till i bled"-THis isn't uncommon to heroin or morphene addicts. Scratching feels good.

    "Love myself, better than you."-Heroin produces an incredible feeling of euphoria.

    "My mother dies everynight"-THis is jsut refers to his mom being upset about it.

    "What the hell am I trying to say. It is now time to make it unclear.To write off lines that don't make sense"- I believe that a few of the lines like this, don't directly follow the song by do express feelings he had relating tot he drug use. Also i htink he did it to show how displaced you become on heroin. your life becomes chaos, sorta of like the the song does as it progresses.

    that's what i feel the song means...

    jhk655on March 20, 2003   Link
  • +7
    General Comment

    Fuck all you all... I listen to this song when I'm flying on the airplane.

    ultjeron June 12, 2005   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I think this song is about drugs and getting high. "On a plain, I can't complain" means that he's wasted as fuck and he doesn't care.

    PS: Smoke weed

    trevoron July 01, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Actually if anything this song is more about heroin use/addiction got so high i scratched till i bled=heorin makes you itchy he must of been pretty high crying on command crying makes one feel better so would heroin I love myself bettter than you i get more satisfaction shooting smack than i do being with you "hedonism"

    "I'm on a plain" ive had enough smack that im high enough to not complain i could be higher but i cant complain cause im high enough its a pretty standard high it's plain

    then the what the hell am i trying to say part it the heroin making it hard to speak making you incoherent

    then the part about nothing making sense goes back to heroin does anything have to make sense to anyone when youre loaded the only people who drugs make sense to are those who've done it themselves then back to i love my self its wrong that the heroin treats him better than his girl but really what can he do

    jorge1993on March 28, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    heres what I think. I see depression alot of the lyrics, but tht might just be the way i feel. " Start this off without any words, got so high i scratched till i bled" obviously a drug user. "love myself better than you" that part i guess relates to the fact that when youre a druggie, in the end you do what it takes to get your fix no matter what. you want to feel that for yourself more than helping or pleasing anyone else, including those closest to you. "finest day ive ever had... cry on command". perhaps the day when one realizes and accepts their depression and can go on, however its always there and you can "cry on command". Im on a plain, i cant complain.. that can mean hes on a certain place, or stage (a plain if you will) of his life thats not so great, but it can always be worse. "my mother died every night" perhaps a mother who also suffered from depression, and he (whomever the song may be about) saw his mother in a sense die, every night. Black sheep got..forgot to put on zip code" this line makes me think of someone who feels they can never do anything right. theyre the black sheep and once again theyve screwed up by forgetting the zip code. (my favorite part of the song)"Somewhere i have heard this before" When you havent felt very much in a very long time and you get that tiny spark of an old feeling that you once felt somewhere before... "In a dream my memory is stored" You scan your memory trying to remember where youve felt that feeling before.. "as defense im neutered and spayed".. The world kicking you down again, just as youre about to make sense of things.(or life) "what the hell am i trying to say?" Society tells you that you make no sense and tells you to get over it, once youve heard this enough, you begin to question yoursef. "It is now time to make it unclear.write of lines..make sense." nothin really makes sense anymore, youre unable to sort out b.s. from fact. "One more message.. then i can go home" Theres just one more thing to take care of before you can check out.... sorry for that being so long. just had to put my ideas out there.

    Guitarist3on August 09, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    A song about his feeling of unfulfillment and frustration with his life, but his inability to express his feelings in any way other than this song.Eg, I'm on a plain I can't complain. I really connected with this song.

    FrankDahmeron May 14, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Here's what it means:

    I'll start this off without any words -he's deciding how to start the song.

    I got so high that I scratched 'til I bled -i don't know, he got wasted.

    I love myself better than you -he didn't really love himself, i thought i'd make a note of that.

    I know it's wrong so what should I do? -he needs help, guidence.

    The finest day that I ever had Was when I learned to cry on command -to get attention, and when he learned to do it whenever he could get more attention

    I love myself better than you I know it's wrong so what should I do?

    I'm on a plain I can't complain I'm on a plain

    My mother died every night -referring to a boyfriend his mom had who beat her

    It's safe to say don't quote me on that I love myself better than you I know it's wrong so what should I do?

    The black sheep got blackmailed again

    • referring to how his parents used him to get back at one another

    Forgot to put on the zip code

    I love myself better than you I know it's wrong so what should I do?

    I'm on a plain I can't complain I'm on a plain

    Somewhere I have heard this before -he knows he heard the bridge somewhere else, but he can't remember where

    In a dream my memory has stored -he guesses he heard it in a dream

    As a defense I'm neutered and spayed

    What the hell am I trying to say -he's just writing whatever comes into mind

    the rest is just more nonsense. its a really great song, with lots of hidden meanings. he wrote it right before they recorded it.

    NoseDragonon August 21, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i love this song. i think its just statements thrown together that explain how he felt at the time. its like when you try to say what you feel but no one understands it but you. RiP Kurt.

    cut in half 13on June 21, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Yeah, there's many ways too interpret songs, but I think this one is definitely based on Kurt's own narcissism; obviously he didn't care that he only cared about himself because he wrote the song himself. "Love myself better than you, I know it's wrong, so what should I do?" Saying he doesn't really care about someone than asking for their opinion, only to disregard it.

    "Finest day I've ever had, is when I learned to cry on command" -so he could get what he wanted. (These lyrics aren't necessarily fact, they could just be supporting the ideals of a narcissist.)

    "I'm on a plain, I can't complain" -Narrator has no reason to be understood because no one wants to listen (can't complain), he's by himself, on a desolate "plain".

    "My mother died, every night, it's safe to say, don't quote me on that." Narrator secretly wants people to spread the tragic gossip and pathetically get sympathy.

    "The black sheep got blackmailed again/ forgot to put on the zip code" 'Forgot to put on th zip code' is the deceptive excuse for unintentionally doing something wrong to benefit one's self. Intriguing play on words: Zip code and black MAIL.

    "Somewhere I have heard this before/ In a dream or memory stored" Someone's telling him something for the second time and he wasn't paying attention the first time.

    "As a defense I'm neutered or spayed/What the hell am I trying to say?" -His own excuses for fucking other people over don't even make sense to him.

    Love my interpretation better than yours, I know it's wrong, so what should I do?

    Bunny_on_iceon February 22, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    "My mother died Every night It's safe to say Don't quote me on that"

    I don't know why I think this verse is so hysterical.

    Crane42on August 22, 2013   Link

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