In 1993, Nirvana released their third and final studio album, In Utero. The last track on it: All Apologies – fragile, dark, and raw.

Five months after Kurt Cobain’s tragic suicide, a cover version of the song was released in September 1994 – sung by Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor on her album Universal Mother.

All Apologies speaks of despair, identity, and the absurd chaos of life. I think of that too whenever brilliant musicians leave us far too soon.

In July 2023, Sinéad O’Connor also passed away – at just 56 years old. Another uncompromising voice, constantly at odds with this world and its human abysses.

And sometimes, I imagine the two of them singing All Apologies together somewhere now. Unplugged. In heaven. And everything around them is quiet.