Leave it to Stephen Wilson Jr. to take one of the most popular grunge songs ever and turn it into an incredible, countrified cover.
Good lucking finding someone as talented and unique as up-and-coming country music artist Stephen Wilson Jr. He’s previously been referred to as “Death Cab for Country” since he draws inspiration from indie rock, grunge and obviously country music. And in this cover, he perfectly blends all of those together to deliver a stellar cover of the Nirvana song “Something in the Way.”
For a little bit of background information, the track “Something in the Way” was written by Kurt Cobain and featured on Nirvana’s second and most recognizable album: Nevermind. Released in 1991, the song was the final track listed on the album, and never really found space in the grunge band’s live concerts. The song benefited from a second wind when it was featured in the 2022 superhero film The Batman.
Now, it’s arguably getting a third life as Stephen Wilson Jr. adopts it and releases a studio version cover of the track. The talented 46-year-old artist had previously posted an acoustic cover of the song on his official YouTube page about a year ago… which had fans clamoring for a studio version.
Wilson Jr. was evidently listening to those requests, and surprised fans when he sent this announcement out earlier this week, along with a clip of a live version of the song that he and his band recently played at Red Rocks:
“Studio version of ‘Something in the Way’ øut Friday everywhere you listen to music.”
If you are familiar with the original rendition by Nirvana, one of the first things you’ll notice about Stephen Wilson Jr.’s version of “Something in the Way” is that it’s noticeably faster. That’s not a bad thing… it’s just a way that the country artist was able to put a personal touch on it and give an old song new life.
In a way, Stephen Wilson Jr. either accidentally or intentionally pays respect to the gravely vocals of the late, great Kurt Cobain. It’s only when you hear Wilson Jr. sing a Nirvana song that you notice the comparisons that can be made between he and Cobain’s vocal stylings.
That being said, Wilson Jr. and Cobain certainly approach this song differently. The Nirvana frontman has a whispery, slow-burn way of delivering the dark lyrics. On the flip side, Stephen Wilson Jr. brings a frenetic power to the song, which makes sense considering he decided to up the tempo a bit from the very start.
All in all, it’s an extraordinary cover, and a perfect cover in my mind. If you choose to cover another artist’s song – especially by a band like Nirvana that will go down in history as one of the best to ever do it – it’d be an injustice to just perform it the exact same way. Stephen Wilson Jr. honors Nirvana and Kurt Cobain with his studio version, and manages to make it his own in a way that makes it feel like the song fits right along with the rest of his catalogue.
Check it out:
And here’s the original version from Nirvana, in case you wanted to fire it up and compare:
