Greasy Hair and Green Cardigans: The Legacy of Nirvana’s ‘MTV Unplugged in New York’

In what now feels like a somewhat ironic omen, with Kurt Cobain’s raspy vocals crooning out the lyrics, “And I swear that I don’t have a gun,” just five months before his untimely passing, Nirvana swept their competition away with what became one of rock music’s most infamous live recordings.

MTV saw to the mission, still laying claim to being one of the largest outlets for music programming, to provide an audience with a program starring their favorite artists performing their catalogue of hits in a far more intimate setting.

Spanning more than a decade of episodes, MTV’s Unplugged debuted in 1989, featuring artists such as Aerosmith, Elton John, Poison and Sinead O’Connor among various others. These acoustic sets, alongside the stripped back performances from their respective artists, earned six Grammy nominations in association with the series and four wins overall.

Just 10 months post-taping of the episode, and five months post-Cobain, Entertainment Weekly music critic David Browne saw to the publication with an in-depth review of the recording, and just how impactful the session record had become in nearly a year. In his, “Music Review: ‘MTV Unplugged in New York,’” Browne calls attention to the guttural performance with a plentiful dose of hindsight.

“Hunched over his guitar, wearing an old-man cardigan and cracking a few self-deprecating jokes, Cobain didn’t exactly seem juiced to be alive that evening,” said Browne. “And we hardly expected him to be any other way – by then, his unhappiness with fame and success was practically part of the appeal, and that uneasiness drew us to him.”

Whereas it is said that people may seem to be the calmest before suicide, Nirvana’s Unplugged session was far from an exception. Rather, Cobain’s performance, while raw and emotional, drew his audience close in a time of economic despair for the working class and joined them in a unity of struggle.

“MTV Unplugged in New York – the first in an inevitable series of Cobain postsuicide albums – isn’t a suicide note, nor should it be read that way,” continued Browne. “But both music and singer have a hushed, resigned tranquility that, given what happened, suggests we all missed something important in what seemed to be a dutiful TV appearance.” Even in the presence of undeniable gripping emotion, Cobain and his bandmates drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic delivered what can only be described truly hypnotic.

The TV program, often graced with stripped back acoustics of official singles and radio hits, Nirvana was the very first group to challenge this norm. Instead, alongside two of their commercial hits (“Come As You Are” and “All Apologies”), they opted for tracks tucked away in the depths of Nevermind and In Utero, namely “Something in the Way,” “Pennyroyal Tea” and “Polly.” Browne, in a descriptiveness only characteristic to his own writing and a heavy-handed tribute to Cobain’s passing, described these tracks as “numbed-out chamber-grunge numbers.”

In a much vaster jump of history, set 25 years after the recording of Nirvana’s Unplugged set, longtime staff writer for The Ringer, Alan Siegel, details the history of one of the band’s best-selling albums in, “Three Feet From God: An Oral History of Nirvana ‘Unplugged,’” speaking with those present for the infamous performance.

“Nirvana’s appearance on the acoustic series proved something that close observers already knew: The loudest band on earth had a stunning amount of depth,” said Siegel. “The room’s haunting vibe later led the event to be described as sorrowful, but despite Cobain’s well-documented struggles at the time, the evening was far from dour. As the show progressed, those in attendance began to realize that what they were watching would become legendary.”

It becomes clear, through the words of simple onlookers and quiet observers, that what had been done in around an hour of television programming was set to rewrite an entire chapter of rock history to come.

As one who worked closely with Nirvana, former MTV executive Amy Finnerty said, “You knew for sure that history was being made. No doubt about it. You’re lucky if you get to be at something like that once in your lifetime.”

Siegel laid the chronological foundation of the performance more than two decades later, detailing the trust put forth towards Cobain and his creative direction, the potential mistake of having a band of such caliber perform an acoustic set on broadcast, the question of post-success and the atmosphere before, during and after the performance. With a catalogue of personal statements and a gripping storytelling narrative, Siegel painted a picture of what one can only imagine when watching grainy playback footage of the performance itself.

Within the year following the 25th anniversary of their Unplugged performance, Browne made a reappearance, taking to Rolling Stone to reflect on the time passed in-between articles and draw connection to the evolution of Nirvana’s stake in the music industry. Browne connected his initial review to an older and wiser rendition of his initial thoughts in, “In the Room at Nirvana’s ‘MTV Unplugged in New York.’”

“Since Nirvana had never performed without full-on electricity, the rehearsals were tense,” said Browne. “MTV brass weren’t thrilled when the promised guests turned out to be the Meat Puppets and not, say, anyone from Pearl Jam. Cobain was going through withdrawal that morning. There were even disputes between the band and network over the stage set. None of us knew that Cobain hadn’t washed his hair in more than a week.”

In all three recounting of the event, one idea remains abundantly clear, the strength and courage of current music’s most popular elevated what started as a mere television appearance to one of great mastery and industry gold.

“In that moment, Cobain’s mastery was in full view, along with a possible future for his career, with or without Nirvana: Any doubts that he had a limited musical future vanished instantly,” said Browne, in describing the closing song “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” “The entire performance made you feel as if Cobain would perhaps survive, that maybe this troubled but charismatic musician was stronger than the rumors had led us to believe and he would make it after all.”

Browne closed his thoughts in a similar fashion to his previous article, reflecting on Cobain’s memory within rock history and offering the reader solace in MTV’s most famous live performance.

A performance that has maintained its relevancy in the span of three decades, Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York continues to inspire and direct young artists down the path of authenticity and a showcase of talent and humility.

Where Cobain sang “I’m so tired I can’t sleep” and “I’m not like them / But I can pretend,” the listener can interpret its justifiable irony in a way that protects his legacy and lays to rest the quiet suffering of rock’s own.