Mexican Seafood

Album: Incesticide (1992)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is probably about yeast infections. It also could be about food poisoning or other illnesses. It was released on Incesticide, a Nirvana compilation of B-sides, outtakes and other oddities. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Matt - Millbrae, CA

Comments: 9

  • Alex W from UkMexican Seafood was considered tasty, though dangerous, in relation to eating it (due to contracting food poisoning from lower establishment joints) and was a cultural meme back in the day for getting sick when eating out, like, the main offender - no Diss on Mexican food, personally!). Like certain people that look appealing and tasty, though give you STDs. Felt like a good idea at the time, and you wanted it and liked it a lot, though caused you a lot of pain.

    "Oh well, it burns when I - it hurts when I pee Oh well, it hurts when I - it hurts when I see"

    Many of the common STDs make it sore to pee.

    Purely speculative, though I wonder if this was about getting an STD due to infidelity in an early relationship. "It hurts when I see": seeing who someone really is, after being so invested in them, then finding out who they actually were and you didn't mean as much to them as you'd hoped.

    INFPs are 'generally' very loyal people, and don't like to f--k people over, Kurt was sensitive and obviously had trust issues from childhood, so it stung extra bad when he was f--ked over.

    The latter parts of the lyrics go on to say "vomit cum" (presumably the unfaithful woman) and talk about someone going back to a flea infested, horrible bed. I think this could simultaneously be the anger he felt about the promiscuous woman (infested bed with all the men she sleeps with) who was throwing it about and a metaphor for their personality. There's a lot of anger in the verses, and a disjointedness, it's pretty messed up, and likely conveys his feelings of devastation and disgust with the person, who they really were and the way he was maybe treated. maybe a wish that they would suffer how he was emotionally, though physically, through having a vomit and a s--tting episode? They could also be metaphors for the words they had said to him, how much s--t they spoke, for him to get invested in liking them in the first place.

    "Oh well", is a minimising statement, like it isn't really an issue, where if infidelity was involved, the emotional pain would have been far superior to him, as he took relationships seriously.

    The "hurt" and the "burn" aren't about the physical pain, every time he takes a piss, the pain reminds him of the person he liked who f--ked him over, the hurt and burn are far greater inside. "Oh well" over the relationship too, from the woman's perspective, who has a different approach to relationships and is probably used to getting STDs.
  • Anonymousthe song is about his undiagnosed stomach pain. The line “cured by injection” is hinting towards heroin as he admitted that it was the only thing that stopped the constant pain he was in.
  • AnonymousDefinitely one of the most disgusting Nirvana songs, lyrics-wise.
    Kurt seemed to be obsessed with, or at least interested in, gross bodily functions and biology.
  • Zero from The Abyss, NjNope, it's on Incesticide.
  • Kyleigh from Belleville, OnI thought "Mexican Seafood" was on "In Utero"
  • Zero from Nowhere, NjI'm pretty sure the lyrics on this site are wrong. I think the chorus goes "it only hurts when I, hurts when I pee/It only hurts when I, hurts when I sing" I could be wrong though, I think at this point he was either making the words up as he was singing them or writing them just before he recorded them.
  • John from Richmond, VaThis could be a reference to Kurt Cobain's intense and ravaging stomach disease. Mexican seafood is notorious for food poisoning.
  • Tyler from Toronto, CanadaIncesticide is the best album.^^
    Mr.Nirvana
  • Andreu from Homer, NyBy far one of my favorite Nirvana songs with crazy disguisting lyrics about yes a yeast infection, but with subject matter aside an amazing tune and one of the best on Insecticide (a very underrated album)along with Beeswax and Hairspray Queen.
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