Nirvana: Something In the Way Meaning

Song Released: 1991

Something In the Way Lyrics

Underneath the bridge
The tarp has sprung a leak
And the animals I’ve trapped
Have all become my pets
And I’m living off of grass
And the drippings from the ceiling
It’s okay to eat fish
’cause they don’t have any...

1. anonymous

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   Nov 1st 2009 !⃝

   Kurt used to go down to a bridge and apparently according to my brother he had an imaginary friend,the bloke was a creep. Favourite song of all time!
2. anonymous

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   Oct 15th 2009 !⃝

   From what I heard, Kurt had actually "lived" underneath a bridge over a river call Wishkah River during his younger years when his mom kicked him out and he could find no where else to stay. You can see how the lyrics can form then. Though, Krist did mention that is was impossible to live under there with the high tides going up and down. But, Krist also said he used to hang around there.
3. anonymous

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   Jul 26th 2009 !⃝

   I'm not going to get into it. I personally was raised in Aberdeen.
   
   "Underneath the bridge" obvious
   "Tarp has sprung a leak" again obvious
   
   "And the animals I've trapped have all become my pets"
   
   This is where it gets crazy. Kurt Cobain had a dog named female German Shepard named Poly. The dog was mistreated and taken away from him at the age of nine. This was a very difficult thing for him at such a young age, and he never forgave his parents to this day. He was merely saying while alone he would pretend to have nowhere to go. He would catch animals thinking to eat them but never could bring himself to it and became attached.
   
   "Living off of grass"
   
   He very often smoked marijuana to help forget about the world (it wasn't horrible for him or anything but something made him feel less apart of the world than anyone else for some reason)
   
   "And the drippings from the ceiling"
   
   If anyone has been to that bridge you've seen the water. We actually used to push kids in it on the way back from school (which I do not condone. Try living with it). Kurt would not drink the water so he would drink water collected from the tarps, obviously.
   
   "It's okay to eat fish, cause I don't have any feelings."
   
   This is simply (and I'm sorry to crush your dreams) battle of the munchies. He once was hungry to the point that he caught a small fish, after having said he could never hurt an animal. He ate the fish and never forgave himself for it. This is understandable because he was in a lot of self pity and began to blame himself for all the problems he had with at home. He ate the fish because he felt he wasn't himself.
   
   "something in the way"
   
   He is referring to "something" as his true self saying it wasn't right to harm something.
   
   Sometimes he would cry when the subject of animal hunting. The thought of an animal being put on this earth, and it's whole life going by so precisely, to be at the exact place and at the exact moment of it's death by a hunter.
   
   This is all just what I know. I really would hate to crush your interpretations but I watched this song happen. I apologize sincerely.
4. Achtung

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   Apr 19th 2009 !⃝

   He is talking about teenage struggles of being homeless. He is talking about the everyday problems that teens face with find their place in the world
5. GrungyJohnn

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   Jan 22nd 2009 !⃝

   It was a story Kurt made up about a man who was living under that same bridge. Yes, it was unlivable, but when he was homeless, he used to go down there to hang out all the time. In the story the man literally has nothing, so he's trapping animals to eat, but then he becomes emotionally attatched to them, so he can't bear to kill them for food. "Living off of grass" indicates that he can't really find anything else to eat, so he's eating the grass and weeds that grow everwhere, and he's drinking the water that drips off from the ceiling. "Its okay to eat fish, cause they don't have any feelings", this means that he was having a moral dillema, but because this man thinks they don't have any feelings, he doesn't feel as bad about eating them for food.
   
   Other than that, I think it was just a story, and a slight introspective look on Cobain's psyhology.
6. anonymous

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   Dec 31st 2008 !⃝

   The story that Kurt lived under the bridge is fabricated, but in all senses bares a metaphoric truth. The repressive, empty lyrics of the song signifies an emptiness felt as a teenager living in Aberdeen, with his parents often arguing and on the virge of divorcing, Kurt's childhood became barren and hollow. The chorus "Something In The Way" is used to express that there was something prevent his fulfillment of life, an obstacle if you will, being that "Something In The Way"
7. anonymous

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   Dec 7th 2008 !⃝

   I just wanted to add that this was not this was not originaly Kurt's song...I dont know if any of you heard of the Beatles, but they were also very famous for a song called "Something in the Way" and thats were Kurt realted to his earlier life...I just think the Beatles desrve some credit for something.
8. anonymous

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   Dec 3rd 2008 !⃝

   i belive its when you are alone no one care about you.he feel like an animal so the animal became is pet. its ok to eat fish beacose they dont have feelings mean he feel like he is eaten by the sociaty and the sociaty dont care about feelings of unlucky person.
9. anonymous

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   Nov 24th 2008 !⃝

   I thought this song was about the gap between earth and heaven.
   underneath the bridge-> we're all stuck underneath the bridge that connects heaven to earth.
   tarp has sprung a leak-> rainstorms= pain, depression that hits us as nature takes its course.
   the animals are trapped, all become my pets-> god saying he's trapped us and has us as pets.
   living off of grass and drippings from the ceiling-> barely keeping alive
   its ok to eat fish cause they don't have any feelings-> catholics can only eat fish on fridays (out of respect for christ) but still there's something in the way of us getting to that bridge.
   i'm probably wrong, but I thought he was kind of making a point about religion and how some of the things we do to try and close that gap down are kind of silly(its ok to eat fish cause they don't have any feelings) but there's still something in the way between us and that bridge. I'd rather think of it that way than to think it was just a story of a day or two he spent under a bridge
10. anonymous

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    Nov 11th 2008 !⃝

    i think the last poster is right
    
    also to the person that said polly was recorded with a five string guitar without the high e, the reason you dont hear it is because it is not used, read a tab.
    
    the line underneath the bridge most likly refers to the exageration of him living under the bridge but it could also refer to the bridge of his guitar and how he used music as an escape and expresion. just a thought
11. anonymous

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    Nov 10th 2008 !⃝

    ... Jeez. I bet you guys think "Polly" was about Kurt's needy pet parrot from when he was a kid. No imagination. None of these interpretations equal the depth of the man who wrote the song. Yes, he was depressed. Yea, he didn't like his mom / dad. Yea, he was homeless for a while. No, I don't think any of these lyrics are supposed to represent exactly what is said.
12. yeaitsfingme

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    Sep 16th 2008 !⃝

    Something is in the way of him getting a job...probably his emotional life. So he continues to be homeless.
    
    Well to me at least cause I've been jobless for a year and I feel like there's just something in the way emotionally that keeps me wanting to find a job or people hiring me.
13. paja713

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    Dec 4th 2007 !⃝

    If any of you guys have seen, Classic Albums: Nevermind, you would know that Butch Vig (I think it was), said this song was about being alienated, the feeling every teenager experiences at least once.
14. camjones12345

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    Nov 27th 2007 !⃝

    I watched a documentary and it said that Kurt never actually lived under a bridge so I dunno.. He probably just made it up but it has very good lyrics. :)
15. anonymous

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    Sep 9th 2007 !⃝

    I'm from Kurt's hometown and a huge fan. He spent some time under the young street bridge in Aberdeen Washington, skipping school and what not. He did not live under the bridge, but spent a lot of time under there it is actually a great view and a great place to write music!
    
    You can check it out on Youtube look up Aberdeen Washington, it's one of the first ones.

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