Nirvana Album Cover Too Risque For Facebook

Is there anyone in the world that hasn’t seen the cover art that graced Nirvana’s 1991 breakthrough album Nevermind? The photo of a naked baby floating underwater while grabbing for a dollar bill is one of the most iconic images ever to emerge from the grunge moment and has been spoofed by such notables as “Weird Al” Yankovic and Bart Simpson.

The story goes that record company Geffen was uncomfortable about the photo of then three-month-old Spencer Elden because the infant’s penis was clearly visible. The label ended up prepping an alternative cover with Elden’s tiny todger airbrushed out, but Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain objected to the missing organ and the rest, as they say, is history.

Label execs recently posted the cover on Facebook as part of a publicity campaign for the album’s upcoming deluxe 20-year anniversary reissue. But the Facebook police objected, apparently because policy prohibits photos that contain “nudity, drug use, violence or other violations of the Terms of Use” according to E! Online.

The New York Press says the album cover photo was reposted after users complained. That explanation may not pass the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” test, but it does indicate that someone at Facebook might have had their “Lithium” prescription refilled.