Nirvana: Lithium Meaning

Song Released: 1992

Lithium Lyrics

I'm so happy. Cause today I found my friends.
They're in my head. I'm so ugly. But that's ok.
'Cause so are you. We've broke our mirrors.
Sunday morning. Is everyday for all I care.
And I'm not scared. Light my candles. In a daze cause I've...

1. Lamarcus

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   Jan 3rd 2006 !⃝

   Indeed, Lithium is an alkali metal, and it's the lightest one at that. But that's not what this song is about.
   
   This song is titled after Lithium drug, used to treat several mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. A famous user of Lithium was boxer Mike Tyson.
   
   Though most people believe this song is about bipolarism, I think it's about schizophrenia. For those who don't know, in short it's a condition where people hear voices. "I'm so happy 'cause today I found my friends / They're in my head" refers to voices in your head. It goes through emotions very quickly, like "I love you" and "I'd kill you." This is a symptom of both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
2. anonymous

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   Jan 1st 2006 !⃝

   Oh shut the fuck up miss rockysara, he did not kill himself! If you were even a big fan of Nirvana you would know that he was murdered!

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
3. rockysara1234

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   Dec 31st 2005 !⃝

   OMG, how can you not say that he didn't kill himshelf . The man was deeply depressed. He did try to kill himshlef before with a bottle of champagne and pain killers. The man was not happy. HE WAS NOT MURDERED. ARGGH...
4. spasticewok

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   Dec 29th 2005 !⃝

   Anonymous, you said the same thing like six times, make up your mind. In your first blog you said that Kurt says "No I don't have a gun", well you're wrong, that is said in Come As You Are.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
5. anonymous

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   Dec 22nd 2005 !⃝

   On another note, it couldn't be proven that Kurt killed himself nor that he was murdered by Courtney and the male nanny, but it sounds more like he was murdered so STOP SAYING HE KILLED HIMSELF.
6. anonymous

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   Dec 13th 2005 !⃝

   Lithium is used to treat bipolar disorder. It is believed that Kurt had bipolar and thus this song is about dealing with it. Notice the different feelings he claims to be. 'I'm so happy' 'I'm so excited' 'I'm so lonely.' and so on. He's talking about the ups and downs of bipolar and how he's dealing with them saying that he isn't sad or scared probably because of the lithium.
7. anonymous

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   Nov 6th 2005 !⃝

   Ugh. Let's straighten some things out.
   1) Lithium is both an element and a drug used to treat Manic Depression.
   2) It is speculated that Kurt was bi-polar but he was never diognosed nor did he take drugs for his depression.
   3) Kurt stated that this song was a reflection of his time spent with the Reed family after he moved out of his house. During this time he briefly became religious before renouncing God. Of course, I'm sure the themes of this song run deeper.
8. anonymous

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   Oct 15th 2005 !⃝

   Kurt Cobain was not bipolar, but was very depressed. He could have had bipolar systems, however, as he rollercoastered through drug-induced highs and depression lows.
9. anonymous

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   Sep 26th 2005 !⃝

   While lithium IS a basic periodic element which reacts with water, it is also the name of a drug used to treat mania. Not sure about whether Cobain was diagnosed with bipolarity.
10. Random Fan

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    Sep 26th 2005 !⃝

    This was a song Kurt wrote whilst dating Tracy, but he changed the lyrics after their break up. He blamed himself for the break up and the lyrics reflect this.
11. anonymous

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    Sep 20th 2005 !⃝

    Apparently, lithium was used as a cure for madness, but gave them short hallucinations. Kurt is desribing one of these hallucinations in this song.
12. anonymous

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    Sep 18th 2005 !⃝

    IDIOTS!
    
    First of all, Kurt was never diagnosed with bipolarism. Secondly, LITHIUM IS NOT A DRUG! It is an element that has explosive reactions when introduced to water (don't believe me? Get ahold of a tablespoon of lithium and mix it with a tablespoon of water, then hope you survive the explosion.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
13. porcelina

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    Jun 12th 2005 !⃝

    This song is clearly about Kurt Cobain's manic depression. Kurt took Lithium because he was suicidal and depressed a lot of his life. While he was on the drug "Lithium" I am sure this song was what he felt like and went through while taking it. "I'm so happy 'cause today I've found my friends... They're in my head", this tells of his hallucinating tendencies. His self hatred can be found here: "I'm so ugly, but that's okay, 'cause so are you... We've broken our mirrors". He's clearly trying to convince everyone he's not sad and he's not gonna crack, because he's taking Lithium.
    
    This has an ironic twist because he killed himself in April of 1994. Kurt could convince everyone around him he was better and he was ok, but he still hated himself, and needed to take the drug.
14. anonymous

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    Jan 31st 2005 !⃝

    Lithium is the name of one of the medications that people with Bipolar disorder can take. kurt Cobain was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, so I'm guessing that he took Lithium as his medication. The song is about what the medicine made him feel and how much different he felt when he was on it. And it was also about the feelings he had before he started taking it.
    
    "I'm so happy 'cause today I found my friends, they're in my head" (He didn't have that many friends growing up and nobody really understood him, so they really didn't take the time to get to know him just because he was different and didn't care what other people thought of him. so, he just talked to himself)
    
    "I love you I'm not gonna cry and I miss you I'm not gonna cry I love you I'm not gonna cry I'd kill you i'm not gonna... cry" (He had trouble dealing with his feelings because of being Bipolar and he had strange thoughts and he daydreamed a lot)
    
    "And I swear that I don't have a gun no I don't have a gun..." (He tried to convince a lot of peole that he wasn't suicidal) *Note: That is why it was such a shock when fans heard about what had happened to Kurt on that April afternoon in Seattle, WA. No one expected it at all.*
15. anavrin

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    Jan 10th 2004 !⃝

    A first person narrative of a nervous breakdown, or an update of the Marxist description of religion as 'Opiate of the masses'. An ode to disconnection.

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