"Endless, Nameless" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Dave Grohl. It is the 13th and final song on the band's second studio album, Nevermind, released in September 1991.
This song was released as a hidden track, beginning approximately 10 minutes after the end of the album's final listed song, "Something in the Way," and occupying the same track. It was first credited by name when it was re-released as a B-side on the album's second single, "Come As You Are," in March 1992.
On November 12, 2021, "Endless, Nameless" was released as a 7-inch single included on the 30th-anniversary reissue of Nevermind.
Origin and recording
Early history
The earliest known live performance of "Endless, Nameless" was at the No More Wars anti-Gulf War benefit show on January 18, 1991 at the Evergreen State College Library 4300 in Olympia, Washington.
Nevermind
The song was first recorded in the studio during the recording sessions for the band's second album, Nevermind, in May 1991 at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California. It was recorded following a failed attempt at recording the future Nevermind single "Lithium," with a "frustrated" Cobain instructing producer Butch Vig to continue recording while he, Grohl and Novoselic began playing "Endless, Nameless." As Vig recalled, “the rage and frustration in [Cobain's] voice was fuckin’ scary to hear, because he kind of lost it.” Vig remembered Cobain being "really pissed off, thrashing and screaming" during the take.
Unlike the rest of Nevermind, the song was recorded live, with no overdubs added afterwards. Cobain's vocals and guitar were recorded in the middle of the room, with Cobain singing into a Shure SM57 microphone designed for conversation and not music. Vig recalled that "we had tremendous bleed from the bass and drums all pouring into Kurt's microphone." Cobain smashed his guitar during the recording, which halted recording for the day after the band realized it was the only left-handed guitar available. According to the 1993 Nirvana biography Come As You Are by Michael Azerrad, the sound of Cobain smashing the guitar can be heard around 19:32 on the track. A photograph of the destroyed guitar, a black Japanese Fender Stratocaster and not a Mosrite as claimed by Vig, appears in Come As You Are.
Post-Nevermind
On September 3, 1991, the song was recorded during a John Peel session for the BBC by Dale Griffin at Maida Vale Studios in London, England. This version of the song featured Cobain briefly singing part of "Turning Japanese," the 1980 single by English rock band the Vapors. The full session, which also included versions of the Nevermind song "Drain You" and future In Utero song "Dumb", was first broadcast on November 3, 1991.
When played live, "Endless, Nameless" was usually performed last, with the band members frequently destroying their instruments and the stage during the end. The final live performance of the song was on December 13, 1993 at Pier 48 in Seattle during the Live and Loud concert, filmed for MTV. The original broadcast of the performance, on December 31, 1993, only included a noise jam at the end of the recognizable song that was not credited as "Endless, Nameless." However, the jam was included as part of the song when the full show was released on DVD in September 2013.
Composition
According to Come As You Are, Cobain himself was unsure of what he was singing during the performance, but believed the lyrics included the lines, "I think I can, I know I can."
Release and reception
According to author Chuck Crisafulli, the song's placement on Nevermind was in part inspired by the use of hidden tracks by the Beatles, such as "Her Majesty" on their 1969 album, Abbey Road.
In a 1991 interview with ICE, Geffen Records’ vice president of marketing Robert Smith explained that using the song as a hidden track "was kind of a joke for the band to do, as in we're not going to list it in the packaging, or mention it exists. It's for that person who plays the CD, it ends, they're walking around the house and ten minutes later... Kaboom!" In the 1992 promotional interview CD, Nevermind: It's an Interview, Grohl theorized that "the original reason for [the song's placement] was because 'Something in the Way' is sort of a slow song. It's the last song on the record and most likely to be listened to by someone who would have a carousel player. So, why not screw up their little carousel deal?"