Nirvana’s 1991 masterpiece Nevermind is such a classic album that even the non-singles are widely known and beloved. One such song is “Something In The Way,” which has gotten more attention lately thanks to its appearance in The Batman: When the movie’s trailer was released in August 2020, “Something In The Way” made its first appearance on a Billboard chart, hitting No. 2 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart.
The Batman was released this month, which has led to an increase in streams for the Nirvana tune. Now, that listening uptick is translating to some major chart success: On the new March 26-dated Hot 100 chart, “Something In The Way” debuts at No. 46. The song is now Nirvana’s fifth to appear on the chart and their first since “You Know You’re Right” in 2002. The band’s other three charting songs all come from Nevermind: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (which peaked at No. 6), “Come As You Are” (No. 32), and “Lithium” (No. 64).
.@Nirvana‘s “Something In The Way” debuts at No. 46 on this week’s #Hot100, thanks to gains following its appearance in @TheBatman.
It earns Nirvana its fifth career entry on the Hot 100, and first since “You Know You’re Right” in 2002.
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) March 21, 2022
In a 2021 NME interview, Nevermind producer Butch Vig said of recording “Something In The Way”:
“That was the hardest song to do by far on Nevermind. The other songs we tracked pretty quick — once we were set up, had the sounds and everything, they nailed everything in one or two, three takes tops. Then we go back and I get Kurt to overdub some guitars or double guitars or double some vocals and things. We tried doing ‘Something In The Way’ out in the studio and it just didn’t work; the drums were too big and loud. Kurt tried an electric guitar, he couldn’t play it on acoustic [at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California] because the room was just too loud. So out of frustration, he came into the control room and started playing it on the couch. And I said, ‘Hold on, let’s just record it right here.’ So I kicked everybody out of the control room, brought a mic in, turned the fans off, and unplugged the phone, and we recorded him on acoustic guitar there and then and built the song from it.”
Revisit “Something In The Way,” both the album version and the MTV Unplugged rendition, below.