In The Pines

No, Kurt Cobain did NOT write this song, though his Unplugged version is, in my opinion, the only song of his that makes any sense. His band also does a good job of playing the despair and anger that this song is about, with all of his screaming and what-not.

"In The Pines" was written sometime in the 1870's and Leadbelly made it famous when he recorded it in 1944 (and several other versions overs the next four years). Bill Monroe did the same thing for country music in 1952, though he conveniently left out all details of the "drivin' wheel" decapitation, and that whole issue of the missing body that makes the traditional version so powerful. The song is referred to by several different names - "In The Pines", "Black Girl", and "Were Did You Sleep Last Night"

PLAY: In The Pines - Leadbelly ('44)
PLAY: In The Pines - Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys ('52)
PLAY: In The Pines - The Grateful Dead ('65)
PLAY: In The Pines - The Seldom Scene ('92)
PLAY: Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Nirvana ('93)

On A Monday...

I think the Johnny Cash version, called I Got Stripes, is the most well known version of this song, but Leadbelly (aka Huddie Ledbetter, aka King of the 12-String Guitar) was the original outlaw and an even bigger bad-ass, and wrote the original words and music to On A Monday.

A little background from the Leadbelly Foundation:
In 1918, [Leadbelly] fought and killed a man in Dallas and was sentenced to thirty years to be served in the state prison in Huntsville, Texas. In 1925, he wrote a song asking Governor Pat Neff for a pardon. Neff, who had promised at his election never to pardon a prisoner, broke his promise and set Huddie Ledbetter free. In 1930, after a fight at a party, he was sentenced to another prison term in the infamous Angola Farm prison plantation in Louisiana. In a way, this was a stroke of luck, because he was discovered by folklorists John and Alan Lomax, who were recording prison songs for the Library of Congress.

PLAY: Leadbelly - On A Monday
PLAY: Johnny Cash - I Got Stripes