Nirvana, “The Man Who Sold the World” (Unplugged, 1994)

And there they were, unplugged and stripped down as most audiences had never heard them before. On the stage of MTV’s Unplugged, Nirvana performed an intimate show for fans that were blatantly unaware that in a few months the band would be no more, due to the tragic and untimely death of frontman Kurt Cobain. With “The Man Who Sold the World,” a David Bowie cover released as a leading single to this posthumous live album, it is easy to assume the death of Cobain had a hand in the song’s popularity. However, it likely something less. Or perhaps more.

This performance, captured live with microphone squeals and guitar booboos intact, allowed an intimate insight into the heart of the band, Kurt, and most of all, the music. Famous for the 90’s grunge sound of distorted crunch guitars, bar chords and angst-driven drum beats, this was a chance for acoustic guitars and bass, drums hit with bamboo sticks, and even a guest cellist.

“The Man Who Sold the World” has nothing to hide. It is a performance with heart on sleeve, and perhaps that was the appeal to heartbroken fans and music lovers crooning for a chance to get inside the head of their fallen hero. Twenty-five years later, with the death of David Bowie still somewhat fresh on the radar, this song and performance is still as relevant as ever. Perhaps even without context, this tune comes off with an airy and almost eerie vibe, as though for three minutes and forty seconds, you have actually come face to face with the man who sold the world. As Cobain sings lines like “I must have died, a long long time ago,” accompanied by a haunting and unwavering three-note guitar melody, it is difficult not to think that Kurt Cobain, a man who sold the world, may actually be singing about himself.

See below to watch the performance, recorded live off the floor: