Lithium (song)

"Lithium" is a song by the grunge band Nirvana. It originally appeared on their breakthrough album Nevermind. It would later appear on their live album From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah and their greatest hits album Nirvana. The lyrics were written by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

The name of the song is often attributed to the metal lithium's tendency to be found in mood stabilisers such as lithium carbonate and lithium orotate; because of this the lyrics are often interpretted as describing bipolar disorder. Nonetheless, there is much of disagreement about the exact meaning and interpretation of it.

One possible interpretation involves an individual who uses religion as a way of overcoming depression (though it is possible that the character in the song has other mental problems as well): The character claims to be happy because he has found religion to stablize his life. According to this view, the chorus (through the repetition of "I'm not gonna crack" every other line) gives a clue that the character is not actually that stable, and is instead merely forcing himself to believe that his religion has cured his problems.

Others argue that the lyrics are not at all associated with religion, and the mention of god in it is metaphorical (perhaps referring to the medication itself), ironical or otherwise unsignificant. The chorus line previously mentioned is sometimes though to indicate that the illness the character is actually suffering is a bipolar disorder, as opposed to unipolar.

One memorable performance of the song was when Nirvana performed at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. MTV had wanted the band to play "Smells Like Teen Spirit", but the band wanted to play a new song called "Rape Me". MTV was appalled at the idea of a song called "Rape Me", and eventually agreed that the band could play "Lithium" instead. When the band began their performance, Kurt strummed the first few bars of "Rape Me", giving the MTV execs a solid shock before jumping into "Lithium".

Single

The following songs appeared on the single:

1. "Lithium" [LP Version] (Cobain) - 4:19
2. "Been a Son" [live] (Cobain) - 2:33
3. "Curmudgeon" (Cobain, Nirvana) - 3:00

Chart positions

1992    Lithium          The Billboard Hot 100              No. 64
1992    Lithium          Mainstream Rock Tracks             No. 16
1992    Lithium          Modern Rock Tracks                 No. 25