Serve the Servants

"Serve the Servants"
Song

"Serve the Servants" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. It is the first song on their 1993 album, In Utero. The lyrics address a number of issues, including the divorce of singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain's parents ("That legendary divorce is such a bore"), the negative media treatment suffered by his wife, Courtney Love ("If she floats then she is not/ A witch, like we had thought"), and his strained relationship with his father ("I tried hard to have a father/ But instead, I had a dad"). Cobain also seems to address the band's fame with the opening couplet, "Teenage angst has paid off well/ Now I'm bored and old." The song stands apart from the rest as Nirvana's standard method of soft verse/loud chorus is reversed. A truncated acoustic demo version appears on the band's 2004 box set, With the Lights Out.

William Burroughs, who collaborated with Cobain on the "Priest" they called him, upon hearing the song claimed Cobain to already be dead.

Trivia

• At exactly 2 minutes and 41 seconds into the song, Kurt Cobain coughs into the microphone. The cough was never edited out and remains in the song.

Accolades

• Ranked #15 in NME's "Top 20 Nirvana Songs" (2004)