“Dumb” is the 6th track on the Nirvana’s third and final studio album
In Utero.
It reached #37 on the US Alternative National Airplay chart even though it was never officially released as a single.
It’s often a question as to whether the song is optimistic or ironic.
In 1993 in an interview with
Melody Maker
Singer/Songwriter Kurt Cobain said, “just about people who’re easily amused, people who not only aren’t capable of progressing their intelligence but are totally happy watching 10 hours of television and really enjoy it. I’ve met a lot of dumb people. They have a shitty job, they may be totally lonely, they don’t have a girlfriend, they don’t have much of a social life, and yet, for some reason, they’re happy.”
In a 2015 interview with
Rolling Stone
Francis Bean Cobain, Kurt’s daughter, said, “I cry every time I hear that song. It’s a stripped-down version of Kurt’s perception of himself – of himself on drugs, off drugs, feeling inadequate to be titled the voice of a generation.”
Nirvana “Dumb” 1993
