Rockschool Grade Pieces ‘Come As You Are’ Nirvana ‘Come As You Are’ | Nirvana ‘Come as You Are’ was the second single to be released from Nirvana’s second studio album, Nevermind. Following the success of the album’s debut single, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, there was some uncertainty as to which song should follow it, but with ‘Come as You Are’ making it to the UK’s top 10 it would seem the right decision was made. On its release songwriter and frontman Cobain had concerns over similarities between his composition and that of Killing Joke’s earlier release ‘Eighties’. On hearing both songs Nirvana’s producer, Butch Vig, felt con"dent that they should go ahead with the release of ‘Come as You Are’ as it was the most commercially appealing and so Cobain was convinced. Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker was reportedly angry about the release and felt a lawsuit should be taken against Cobain. However, no lawsuit ever materialised and so many now dispute the likeness between the two songs. ‘Come as You Are’ talks about how society expects people to act, with the lyrics o#en being contradictory and mimicking that of common opinions on how we should behave. Cobain was known for his struggle with acceptance, o#en feeling judged for his opinions and appearance, so this song tells the story of a world big enough for everyone. Looking back a#er Cobain’s passing, many of the lyrics seem much more sinister than they may have originally appeared and many believe his true mental state was evident in some of his writing. Nirvana were an American grunge band who formed in 1987, originally consisting of frontman Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic. Having gone through several drummers and never quite settling, the duo "nally became a solid trio when drummer Dave Grohl joined them in 1990. A#er making themselves known in the popular Seattle Grunge scene of the late 1980s the band "nally found themselves being signed to a major label in 1991 and released their album Nevermind. $e album achieved huge global success and sold over 30 million copies worldwide, seeing Nirvana described as the “%agship band” of Generation X and Cobain being branded the “spokesman of a generation”. Nobody could have foreseen the success that Nirvana would achieve, but their use of a strong dynamic shi# between verse and chorus drew the listeners in. Many believe them responsible for bringing Grunge to the mass market. Sadly, the band disbanded in 1994 following Cobain’s untimely death. $eir music continues to in%uence musicians to this day and remains popular k u with many generations. o c . r a t With over 75 million record sales worldwide, Nirvana are hailed as one of the best-selling rock bands of all time. Prior i u g to their mainstream recognition, alternative music was o#en con"ned to speciality sections within record stores and s e t many believe the success of Nevermind changed this forever. e p @ e t Nirvana’s success has resulted in an impressive number of award nominations and wins, and with six Grammy e p / nominations and a win for ‘Best Alternative Music Performance’, they really did bring Grunge to the masses. $e band h t were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at their earliest eligibility in 2014. i m S e t e P / 1 / 7 Song Info 6 0 5 Song Title: Come as You Are 6 0 5 Album: Nevermind 6 5 Released: 1992 4 2 7 - Label: Ge!en Records L S Genre: Grunge R By: Kurt Cobain Produced by: Butch Vig UK Chart Peak: 9 Acoustic Guitar Grade 1 Grade Guitar Acoustic 7 Come As You Are Session Style Nirvana Arranged by Nat Martin c 118 Grunge Intro F#m E # # & # 4 . œ œ œ œ P œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ #œ T A . B 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 . 2 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 . Verse F#m E F#m E # # œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ & # œ Œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ Œ J J J œ Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be, 2 # # & # « œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 [3] k u . o c . r a t F m E F m E i # # u g s # œ œ e # œ œ œ œ . œ œ œ t # œ Œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ Œ J J œ e & J p as a friend, as a friend, as an old mem - o - ry. @ e t e p / 2 j h t # # œ œ œ i # œ œ œ ‰ m & « œ œ œ S œ œ œ e œ œ œ œ t œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ e œ œ œ œ œ P / 0 0 1 0 0 / 1 1 2 2 7 6 0 0 2 2 2 0 2 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 5 6 [7] 0 5 6 5 4 Chorus 2 7 5 5 5 5 - F A F A L # # S # # œ œ R & # œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ Mem - o - ry. Mem - o - ry. 2 ### & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ « œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 Acoustic Guitar Grade 1 Grade Guitar Acoustic 2 2 2 2 2 [11] Words and Music by Kurt Cobain 8 Copyright © 1991 $e End Of Music and Primary Wave Tunes All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC All Rights Reserved Used by Permission 2 5 5 5 5 F# A F# A # # œ & # œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ Ó Mem - o - ry. 2 2 # # & # « « [15] Bridge B5 D5 B5 D5 # j ## Ó œ œ. œ. œ œ œ. œ œ Ó œ œ œ & J J J œ œ œ œ J Well,J I swear that I don’t have a gun. No,J I don’t 2 # # & # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ « œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ f 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 [19] k u . o c . 5 5 5 5 r B D B D a t i u # g # j j s # œ. Ó œ œ œ œ. e & œ œ œ œ t œ œ J œ œ e have a gun. 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RSL-724565065067 / 1 / Pete Smith / [email protected].