Originally recorded by The Meatpuppets, popularised by Nirvana's Unplugged cover version.
This is primarily a review of that version, although reference will be made to the original. I like The Meatpuppets, but for me the Nirvana recording is definitive.
The song is delivered in a pretty interesting way in the video above. As suggested by the title, the song is sung from the perspective of someone focused on themselves. In the original interpretation, a self-mocking or ironic perspective is suggested by the lead singer's drawling delivery. This is emphasised by the discordant instrumental arrangements and key change. This aligns well with the lyrics, which can be read as a critical exploration of narcissism or self-involvement.
This allows an interesting (hopefully) contrast with the Nirvana Unplugged version. The arrangement and vocal delivery are stripped down in comparison to the original, and completely free of irony. The song can then be interpreted a kind of hymn to creativity. Cobain delivers the lyrics with perfect sincerity, despite the apparent self aggrandisation of lines like;
"I don't have to think
I only have to do it
The results are always perfect
But that's old news
Would you like to hear my voice
Sprinkled with emotion
I invented at your birth
I can't see the end of me
My whole expanse I cannot see
I formulate infinity
And store it deep inside me"
Here is where I expose myself, and what the song means to me. I often find it hard to write, or keep writing once I have begun. I remember reading once, I think in Stephen King's "On Writing", something about asking yourself why someone would read your story, and being disheartened to realise that I couldn't answer the question. I often read work where the writer has taken risks, or innovated, and as I admire what they've done I sometimes think "I wouldn't dare to do that". Criticality is sometimes inimical to creativity, see the paradox of structure.
Now when I listen to Oh Me, I think of the first writer whose name we have, Enheduanna, the Ornament of Heaven. Thousands of years ago she sang and wrote her "Exaltation of Innana" and in reference to her own work she said,
"This filled me, this overflowed from me, Exalted Lady, as I gave birth for you. What I confided in you in the darkness of night, shall be sung for you in the brightness of day".
In her "Temple Hymns" she addresses her father, the king, and says "Something has been created that no one has created before".
And these things always help me to write.
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This one is for Nally, we went through a bit of a phase with this album.