About a Girl is one of Nirvana’s most beloved songs, a beautiful Beatles-recalling hymn to a fading relationship that stands in stark contrast to the muddy, nihilistic sonics found elsewhere on their 1989 debut, Bleach.
But when analysed further, the theory behind the song – which would become the opening track at the iconic MTV Unplugged show in 1994 – underlines Cobain’s gift for writing effective chord sequences instinctually.
On a Reddit thread in the r/musictheory SubReddit, user ’Nun-Much’ asked why the song – which orients its verse pattern around a rolling Em and G sequence – seems to imply an Em key, when the following ‘chorus’ section rolls through the chords C#, F#7, E5, A and C, which deviates from the chords that correspond with Em.
“How comes this sounds good? Like what’s the theory behind this that makes it sounds so good and unique? Is this a common phenomenon used in music? I really aim to understand this type of stuff so I can make unique progressions myself.” ‘Nun-Much’ asks.
