The image of a baby swimming towards a dollar bill seems a blatant form of self-mockery while the band knowingly operate in the highly commercial context of the mainstream US music industry. This is an important point of contradiction. And musically speaking, the record incorporates several industry-standard production techniques and mainstream song-writing conventions that stand in stark contrast to the band’s DIY punk roots. The logo is printed for all to see on the back of the outer sleeve or CD booklet. Which had also put out Aerosmith, Whitesnake and Guns n’ Roses. Nevermind came out on a major label, David Geffen. The trouble with this interpretation is that it overlooks Nirvana’s participation in the same system that the cover seems to deride. Is the child tempted by materialistic fulfilment like a fish is baited by sustenance? The way the infant and dollar bill motifs replace the fish and bait suggests there’s a deeper meaning at play. One popular interpretation is that it’s a critique of corporate capitalist society and the principles of consumerism.

This enigmatic and playful reworking of a fishing scene is clearly open to multiple readings. In terms of the ensemble, it was Fisher’s idea to doctor the image to include a type of bait – the famous dollar bill hooked to the fishing line. But what this implies is a degree of wit through an awareness of the record’s status as a marketable and palatable product. There is an absurdist and shock-value element to Nirvana’s baby imagery, exposing the gap between realistic and socially sanctioned, or commercially acceptable, representations of nakedness.

Although baby imagery has been used before on the covers of major rock releases – Van Halen’s 1984 shows an angel child smoking a cigarette – the context is not the same.

What does nirvana nevermind cover mean