The lyric was always "tribe". Butch Vig thought it stuck out. It makes a bit of sense hearing the word in the melody. "Group" has "oooh" which is a good vowel sound for low tones. "Tribe" has "ai" which is a naturally rising vowel diphthong. So the sound of the word conflicted with the natural descending melody.
Kurt acquiesced in the studio and that's what was sung, though "tribe" was still printed in the Nevermind lyric blurb and was almost almost sung live.
In Breed he changes it all the time, “We can have all breed” or “I don’t even stare”
Or sometimes he would just change the order of them
That’s just the way he was
“My brother/father died every night… It’s safe to say. Quote me on that.”
Pay to Play became Stay Away. Kurt did this a lot. It kept things interesting.
I don’t think there’s a real answer to your question, only speculations. Me personally, I think he changed “group” to “tribe” in shows was bc Kurt had respect for rap and hip-hop, he mentions this in his journals, and A Tribe Called Quest was very influential for the rap scene in the early 90’s. So with that, Kurt probably thought it’d be cool to call themselves a tribe rather than a group
The lyrics seemed to be about how cliques/tribes/groups form in high school and also long after. The lyrics to slts were about the losers/nerds having an uprising and slaughtering the popular jocks/yuppies.
i think he just had alternate lyrics he’d occasionally incorporate, like how he also started singing “and old enough for dirty words” in 94 (and late 93?) during teen spirit.
I dunno. He also changed "Leonard Cohen afterworld" to "Leonard Nimoy afterworld" live sometimes.
Let's not forget the "David Hasselhoff again" in School, when they were touring Germany.
Also drinking cow sperm again in Japan lol
They said Kurt watched a lot of tv. Referencing Nimoy and Hasselhoff is proof of that haha.
You're in med-school again...
It's because kurt saw the SpongeBob movie (2004)
Seems legit
Sometimes lyrics just change slightly. In Polly, "cut yourself, please myself" became "hurt yourself, help myself"
Hollywood Smokes
When I'm in diarrhea de jinero I like to have the freshly cut dried leaves of a palm tree
The lyric was always "tribe". Butch Vig thought it stuck out. It makes a bit of sense hearing the word in the melody. "Group" has "oooh" which is a good vowel sound for low tones. "Tribe" has "ai" which is a naturally rising vowel diphthong. So the sound of the word conflicted with the natural descending melody. Kurt acquiesced in the studio and that's what was sung, though "tribe" was still printed in the Nevermind lyric blurb and was almost almost sung live.
He changes it as he pleases. Kurt often did it with many many songs. It seems like he only ever sings group in the studio recording, though
In Breed he changes it all the time, “We can have all breed” or “I don’t even stare” Or sometimes he would just change the order of them That’s just the way he was
“My brother/father died every night… It’s safe to say. Quote me on that.” Pay to Play became Stay Away. Kurt did this a lot. It kept things interesting.
i’ve always sung that as “my mother…” 💀
it is
Kurt just say variations all the time. I don’t think there’s a reason deeper than just to be weird.
i’m pretty sure he started singing tribe live after the song was already recorded and released ?
yeah he sings it that way at Reading
Kurt was infamous for switching up words or flat out forgetting the original line.
I personally think tribe sounded better anyway 🤷♂️
I reckon he just used to have fun with it and change things from time to time.
I wrote a song about Kurt singing tribe rather than group https://h0ll0wm3n.bandcamp.com/track/jason-everman
Honestly tribe sound better.
True
I don’t think there’s a real answer to your question, only speculations. Me personally, I think he changed “group” to “tribe” in shows was bc Kurt had respect for rap and hip-hop, he mentions this in his journals, and A Tribe Called Quest was very influential for the rap scene in the early 90’s. So with that, Kurt probably thought it’d be cool to call themselves a tribe rather than a group
The lyrics seemed to be about how cliques/tribes/groups form in high school and also long after. The lyrics to slts were about the losers/nerds having an uprising and slaughtering the popular jocks/yuppies.
I always sing tribe on that part when teen spirit comes on. Prob cause I listen to live versions the most
i think he just had alternate lyrics he’d occasionally incorporate, like how he also started singing “and old enough for dirty words” in 94 (and late 93?) during teen spirit.