Swap Meet Lyrics
They live a lifestyle that is comfortable
They travel far to keep their stomachs full
They make a living off of arts and crafts
The kind with seashells, driftwood and burlap
They make a deal when they would come to town
The Sunday swap meet is a battleground
She loves him more than he will ever know
He loves her more than he will ever show
[Chorus]
Keeps his cigarettes close to his heart
Keeps her photographs close to her heart
Keeps the bitterness close to the heart
[Verse]
They live a lifestyle that is comfortable
They travel far to keep their stomachs full
They make a living off of arts and crafts
The kind with seashells, driftwood and burlap
They make a deal when they would come to town
The Sunday swap meet is a battleground
She loves it more than she will ever know
He loves her more than he will ever show
[Chorus]
Keeps his cigarettes close to his heart
Keeps her photographs close to her heart
Keeps the bitterness close to the heart
[Verse 2]
They live a lifestyle that is comfortable
They travel far to keep their stomachs full
They make a living off of arts and crafts
The kind with seashells, driftwood and burlap
They make a deal when they would come to town
The Sunday swap meet is a battleground
She loves it more than she will ever know
He loves her more than he will ever show
[Chorus]
Keeps his cigarettes close to his heart
Keeps her photographs close to her heart
Keeps the bitterness close to the heart
About
“Swap Meet” is the ninth track on Bleach, written circa 1988, according to liveNIRVANA.com’s archives.
In 2019, Rolling Stone published its definitive ranking of every Nirvana song, placing “Swap Meet” at #51:
This Bleach track is one of the most tempestuous and restless in Nirvana’s catalogue. The guitar playing is as anxious as sweaty hands, and Chad Channing’s drums race ahead of the action like he’s late for a meeting. The feeling fits the content, in which Cobain sets the scene of two hometown losers too busy exchanging ‘arts and crafts’ to shut up and have sex already. Cobain wasn’t known as a storyteller, but he was known as a Seattle thrift-store fiend […] This caustic snapshot of life back home, then, works like a snapshot jotted down from one such swap meet, the outsider judging the insiders from the periphery. As Nirvana’s reputation grew, this small-town send-up seemed to fall out of favor, with the band playing it less than almost any song released on an official studio album. Too bad: It’s a musical fistfight.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 1.Blew
- 3.About a Girl
- 4.School
- 5.Love Buzz
- 6.Paper Cuts
- 8.Scoff
- 9.Swap Meet
- 10.Mr. Moustache
- 11.Sifting
- 12.Big Cheese
- 13.Downer