Synopsis

Nirvana perform in a shadowy, dreamlike space where water, shifting light and projected images repeatedly obscure their faces and bodies. The band appears both submerged and suspended in an unreal environment, while a variety of surreal inserts - including a chandelier, a fish tank and a floating gun - interrupt the performance footage. The hazy purple-and-red imagery gives the video a deliberately unstable quality, matching the song's mixture of intimacy, tension and ambiguity.

Factoids & Trivia

• Filming took place in Los Angeles between January 16 and 21, 1992. Locations included Wattles Park in the Hollywood Hills, a residence on North Spaulding Avenue and an Air National Guard hangar at Van Nuys Airport.

• Kurt Cobain specifically wanted the band's faces to be obscured. He also suggested an abundance of purple and red, while the finished video's impressionistic visual language was developed around those limitations.

• Outdoor footage of the band was shot at Wattles Park several days before the main studio work. The images were later projected behind the group, creating the ghostly double exposures seen throughout the performance scenes.

• The falling-water effect was created by placing water between the camera and the band. It bends and blurs their outlines, visually echoing the song's underwater guitar sound.

• Cobain spent roughly an hour swinging from the chandelier seen in the video, resting on a ladder between takes. The spontaneous-looking shot became one of the clip's most recognizable images.

• The band took an active role in editing the finished video. They reportedly removed much of the more overtly goofy projection footage in favor of material they felt was more ethereal.