The song was first performed live on June 23, 1989, at Rhino Records in Westwood, California. It was first recorded in the studio in August 1989 by Steve Fisk at Music Source in Seattle, Washington. The sessions were for a planned EP to coincide with the band's European tour, but only two of the five songs recorded, "Stain" and "Been a Son," were officially released, on the "Blew" EP later that year. On October 26, 1989, the band recorded a version during their first BBC "Peel Session", at Maida Vale Studios in London, England. The session, engineered by Ted de Bono, was originally broadcast on November 22, 1989.