Smells Like Teen Spirit
Encyclopedia
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American grunge
band Nirvana
. It is the opening track and lead single
from the band's second album, Nevermind
(1991), released on DGC Records
. Written by Kurt Cobain
, Krist Novoselic
, and Dave Grohl
and produced by Butch Vig
, the song uses a verse-chorus form
where the main four-chord riff is used during the intro and chorus to create an alternating loud and quiet dynamic.
The unexpected success of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in late 1991 propelled Nevermind to the top of the charts at the start of 1992, an event often marked as the point where alternative rock
entered the mainstream. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was Nirvana's first and biggest hit, reaching number six on the Billboard
Hot 100
and placing high on music industry charts all around the world in 1991 and 1992.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" received many critical plaudits, including topping the Village Voice Pazz & Jop
critics' poll and winning two MTV Video Music Awards
for its music video, which was in heavy rotation on music television
. The song was dubbed an "anthem for apathetic kids" of Generation X
, but the band grew uncomfortable with the success and attention it received as a result. In the years since Cobain's death, listeners and critics have continued to praise "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
interview, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain revealed that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was an attempt to write a song in the style of the Pixies, a band he greatly admired. He explained:
Cobain did not begin to write "Smells Like Teen Spirit" until a few weeks before recording started on Nirvana's second album, Nevermind, in 1991. When he first presented the song to his bandmates, it comprised just the main riff and the chorus vocal melody, which bassist Krist Novoselic dismissed at the time as "ridiculous." In response, Cobain made the band play the riff for "an hour and a half." In a 2001 interview, Novoselic recalled that after playing the riff repeatedly, he thought, "'Wait a minute. Why don't we just kind of slow this down a bit?' So I started playing the verse part. And Dave [started] playing a drum beat." As a result, it is the only song on Nevermind to credit all three band members as authors.
Cobain came up with the song's title when his friend Kathleen Hanna
, at the time the lead singer of the riot grrrl
punk band Bikini Kill
, spray painted "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on his wall. Since they had been discussing anarchism
, punk rock
, and similar topics, Cobain interpreted the slogan as having a revolutionary meaning. What Hanna actually meant, however, was that Cobain smelled like the deodorant Teen Spirit
, which his then-girlfriend Tobi Vail
wore. Cobain later claimed that he was unaware that it was a brand of deodorant until months after the single was released.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was, along with "Come as You Are", one of a few new songs that had been written since Nirvana's first recording sessions with producer Butch Vig in 1990. Prior to the start of the Nevermind recording sessions, the band sent Vig a rough cassette demo of song rehearsals that included "Teen Spirit". While the sound of the tape was wildly distorted due to the band playing at a loud volume, Vig could pick out some of the melody and felt the song had promise. Nirvana recorded "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at Sound City recording studio in Van Nuys, California with Vig in May 1991. Vig suggested some arrangement changes to the song, including moving a guitar ad lib into the chorus, and trimming down the chorus length. The band recorded the basic track for the song in three takes, and decided to keep the second one. Vig incorporated some sonic corrections into the basic live band performance because Cobain had timing difficulties when switching between his guitar effects pedals. Vig was only able to get three vocal takes from Cobain; the producer commented, "I was lucky to ever get Kurt to do four takes".
of F minor
, with the main guitar riff constructed from four power chord
s (F5–B♭5–A♭5–D♭5) played in a syncopated
sixteenth note
strum by Cobain. The guitar chords were double tracked because the band "wanted to make it sound more powerful," according to Vig. The chords occasionally lapse into suspended chord
voicings as a result of Cobain playing the bottom four strings of the guitar for the thickness of sound. Due to being neither major nor minor, the occasional use of suspended chords also allows the chord progression
used in the riff to be thought of as a I–IV–♭III–♭VI major chord progression. The song's chord progression has been described as "an ambiguous, harmonically dislocated sequence," and "it is the asymmetrical nature of Cobain's riff [...] that makes it so great." Musicologist Graeme Downes, who led the band The Verlaines
, says that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" illustrates developing variation
. Listeners made many comments that the song bore a passing resemblance to Boston
's 1976 hit "More Than a Feeling
". Cobain himself held similar opinions, saying that it "was such a clichéd riff. It was so close to a Boston riff or[ The Kingsmen
's] 'Louie Louie
.'"
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" utilizes a "somewhat conventional formal structure" consisting of four-, eight-, and twelve-bar sections that includes an eight-bar verse, an eight-bar first chorus (pre-chorus), and a twelve-bar second chorus (main chorus). Elements of the song's structure are marked off with shifts in volume and dynamics, going back and forth from quiet to loud a number of times during the length of the recording. This structure of "quiet verses with wobbly, chorused
guitar, followed by big, loud hardcore
-inspired choruses" became a much-emulated template in alternative rock because of "Teen Spirit".
The song begins with Cobain strumming the main riff, adding distortion when the rest of the band joins in. During the verse Cobain plays a sparse two-note guitar line over Novoselic's eighth note
bassline, which outlines the chord progression. In the pre-chorus, Cobain begins to play the same two notes on every beat of the measure and repeats the phrase "Hello, hello, hello, how low?" Cobain then resumes the main guitar riff for the chorus, where the band plays loudly and Cobain yells the lyrics. The first and second choruses both end with a brief four-bar interlude where Cobain shouts "Yeah!" twice over a new riff. After the second chorus, Cobain plays a 16-bar guitar solo that almost completely restates his vocal melody from the verse and pre-chorus. The band extends the third and final verse and chorus as Cobain sings the refrain "A denial" repeatedly. At this point Cobain's vocals become strained and his voice is almost shot from the force of yelling. The song ends with the feedback of the guitar.
. The song did not initially chart, and it sold well only in regions of the United States with an established fanbase for the group. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was not expected to be a hit, for it was merely intended to be the base-building alternative rock cut from the album. It was anticipated that the follow-up single "Come as You Are" would be the song that could cross over to mainstream formats. However, campus radio
and modern rock
radio stations picked up on the track, and placed it on heavy rotation. Danny Goldberg of Nirvana's management firm Gold Mountain later admitted that "none of us heard it as a crossover song, but the public heard it and it was instantaneous [. . .] They heard it on alternative radio, and then they rushed out like lemmings to buy it." The video received its world premiere on MTV's late-night alternative rock program 120 Minutes
, and proved so popular that the channel began to air it during its regular daytime rotation. MTV added the video to its "Buzz Bin" selection in October, where it stayed until mid-December. By the end of the year, the song, its accompanying video, and the Nevermind album had become hits. Both the song and Nevermind became a rare cross-format phenomenon, reaching all the major rock radio formats including modern rock, hard rock, album rock, and college radio.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" became a critical and commercial success. The song topped the 1991 Village Voice "Pazz & Jop
" and Melody Maker
year-end polls, and reached number two on Rolling Stone's list of best singles of the year. The single peaked at number six on the Billboard singles chart the same week that Nevermind reached number one on the albums chart. "Teen Spirit" hit number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and has since been certified platinum
(one million copies shipped) by the Recording Industry Association of America
. However, many American Top 40 stations were reluctant to play the song in regular rotation due to its sound, and restricted it to night-time play. The single was also successful in other countries. In the United Kingdom, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" reached number seven and charted for 184 weeks. The song was nominated for two Grammy Award
s: Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal
and Best Rock Song
. Entertainment Weekly
would later name Nirvana's loss to Eric Clapton in the Best Rock Song category as one of the 10 biggest upsets in Grammy history.
In the wake of Nirvana's success, Michael Azerrad
wrote in a 1992 Rolling Stone article, "'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is an anthem for (or is it against?) the 'Why Ask Why?' generation. Just don't call Cobain a spokesman for a generation." Nevertheless, the music press awarded the song an "anthem-of-a-generation" status, placing Cobain as a reluctant spokesman for Generation X. The New York Times
observed that "'Smells Like Teen Spirit' could be this generation’s version of the Sex Pistols
' 1976 single, 'Anarchy in the U.K.
', if it weren’t for the bitter irony that pervades its title," and added, "As Nirvana knows only too well, teen spirit is routinely bottled, shrink-wrapped and sold." The band grew uncomfortable with the song's success, and in later concerts often pointedly excluded it from the set list. Prior to the release of the band's 1993 follow-up album In Utero, Novoselic remarked, "If it wasn't for 'Teen Spirit' I don't know how Nevermind would have done," and observed, "There are no 'Teen Spirits' on In Utero." Cobain said in 1994, "I still like playing 'Teen Spirit,' but it's almost an embarrassment to play it [. . .] Everyone has focused on that song so much."
In the years following Cobain's 1994 death, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has continued to garner critical acclaim. In 2000, MTV and Rolling Stone ranked the song third on their joint list of the 100 best pop songs, trailing only The Beatles
' "Yesterday
" and The Rolling Stones
' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
". The Recording Industry Association of America's 2001 "Songs of the Century
" project placed "Teen Spirit" at number 80. In 2002, NME
awarded the song the number two spot on its list of "100 Greatest Singles of All Time", while in 2003 VH1
placed "Smells Like Teen Spirit" number one on its list of "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years". The song came third in a Q
poll that same year. Rolling Stone ranked "Smells Like Teen Spirit" ninth in its 2004 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
", and described its impact as "A shock wave of big-amp purity, [it] wiped the lingering jive of the Eighties off the pop map overnight." In the 2006 VH1 UK poll The Nation's Favourite Lyric, the line "I feel stupid and contagious/Here we are now, entertain us" was ranked as the third-favorite song lyric among over 13,000 voters. In contrast, Time magazine proposed in its entry for Nevermind on "The All-TIME 100 Albums" from 2006 that "'Smells Like Teen Spirit' [. . .] may be the album's worst song."
noted comments by disc jockeys of the time that the song was "the 'Louie Louie
' of the nineties" and wrote, "Like 'Louie,' only more so, 'Teen Spirit' reveals its secrets reluctantly and then often incoherently." Marsh, trying to decipher the lyrics of the song, felt after reading the correct lyrics from the song's sheet music that "what I imagined was quite a bit better (at least, more gratifying) than what Nirvana actually sang," and added, "Worst of all, I'm not sure that I know more about [the meaning of] 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' now than before I plunked down for the official version of the facts."
"Teen Spirit" is widely interpreted to be a teen
revolution anthem, an interpretation reinforced by the song's music video. In an interview conducted the day Nevermind was released, Cobain stated the song was about his friends, explaining, "We still feel as if we're teenagers because we don't follow the guidelines of what's expected of us to be adults [. . .] It also has kind of a teen revolutionary theme". As Cobain did more interviews, he changed his explanation of the song and rarely gave specifics about the song's meaning. When discussing the song in Michael Azerrad's biography Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana
, Cobain revealed that he felt a duty "to describe what I felt about my surroundings and my generation and people my age."
The book Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song describes "Teen Spirit" as "a typically murky Cobain exploration of meaning and meaninglessness." Azerrad plays upon the juxtaposition of Cobain's contradictory lyrics (such as "It's fun to lose and to pretend") and states "the point that emerges isn't just the conflict of two opposing ideas, but the confusion and anger that the conflict produces in the narrator—he's angry that he's confused." Azerrad's conclusion is that the song is "alternately a sarcastic reaction to the idea of actually having a revolution, yet it also embraces the idea." In Heavier Than Heaven
, Charles R. Cross
' biography of Kurt Cobain, the author argues that the song is a reference to Cobain's relationship with ex-girlfriend Tobi Vail. Cross cites the line "She's over-bored and self-assured" and states the song "could not have been about anyone else." Cross backs up his argument with lyrics which were present in earlier drafts, such as "Who will be the King & Queen of the outcasted [sic] teens."
Cobain has said, "The entire song is made up of contradictory ideas [. . .] It's just making fun of the thought of having a revolution. But it's a nice thought." Drummer Dave Grohl has stated he does not believe the song has any message, and said, "Just seeing Kurt write the lyrics to a song five minutes before he first sings them, you just kind of find it a little bit hard to believe that the song has a lot to say about something. You need syllables to fill up this space or you need something that rhymes."
. Bayer stated he believed he was hired because his test-reel was so poor the band anticipated his production would be "punk" and "not corporate." The video was based on the concept of a school concert which ends in anarchy and riot. Inspiration was taken from Jonathan Kaplan
's 1979 movie Over the Edge
, as well as the Ramones
' film Rock 'n' Roll High School
. Filmed on a soundstage in Culver City
, the video featured the band playing at a pep rally
in a high school gym to an audience of apathetic students on bleachers, and cheerleaders wearing black dresses with the Circle-A anarchist symbol. The video ends with the assembled students destroying the set and the band's gear. The demolition of the set captured in the video's conclusion was the result of genuine discontent. The extras that filled the bleachers had been forced to stay seated through numerous replays of the song for an entire afternoon of filming. Cobain convinced Bayer to allow the extras to mosh
, and the set became a scene of chaos. "Once the kids came out dancing they just said 'fuck you,' because they were so tired of this shit throughout the day," Cobain said. Cobain disliked Bayer's final edit and personally oversaw a re-edit of the video that resulted in the version finally aired. One of Cobain's major additions was the next-to-last shot of the video, which was a close-up of his own face after it had been obscured for most of the video. Bayer noted that unlike subsequent artists he worked with, Cobain did not care about vanity, rather that "the video had something that was truly about what they were about." The video had an estimated budget between $30,000 and $50,000.
Like the song itself, the music video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was well received by critics. Rolling Stone writer David Fricke
described the video as looking like "the greatest gig you could ever imagine." In addition to a number one placing in the singles category, "Teen Spirit" also topped the music video category in the Village Voices 1991 "Pazz & Jop" poll. The video won Nirvana the Best New Artist
and Best Alternative Group
awards at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards
, and in 2000 the Guinness World Records
named "Teen Spirit" the Most Played Video on MTV Europe
. In subsequent years Amy Finnerty, formerly of MTV's Programming department, claimed the video "changed the entire look of MTV" by giving them "a whole new generation to sell to." VH1 placed the debut of the "Teen Spirit" video at number eighteen on its list of "100 Greatest Rock & Roll Moments on TV", noting that "the video [ushered] in alternative rock as a commercial and pop culture force." In 2001, VH1 ranked the video fourth on its "100 Greatest Videos" list. The video has been parodied at least twice: in "Weird Al" Yankovic
's music video for "Smells Like Nirvana
" and in Bob Sinclar
's 2006 music video for "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)
".
in Seattle, Washington. The performance is featured on the DVD of the 2004 box set With the Lights Out
, while shorter clips are included on the Nevermind
Classic Albums
DVD, as well as the documentary film Hype!
As the song's lyrics had not yet been entirely written, there are notable differences between it and the final version. For example, the first performance started with "Come out and play, make up the rules" instead of the eventual opening of "Load up on guns, bring your friends." A recording of the earlier version appears on With the Lights Out and again on Sliver: The Best of the Box. A similar early live performance of the song is found in the documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke
, filmed during a 1991 summer tour in Europe with Sonic Youth
.
Nirvana often altered the song's lyrics and tempo
for live performances. Some live performances of the song had the line "our little group has always been" changed to "our little tribe has always been," which can be heard on the 1996 live album From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah
. Rolling Stone remarked that the Wishkah version of "Teen Spirit" "[found] Cobain's guitar reeling outside the song's melodic boundaries and sparking new life in that nearly played-out hit." A notable alternate performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" occurred on BBC
's Top of the Pops
in 1991, during which the band refused to mime to the pre-recorded backing track and Cobain sang in a deliberately low voice and altered numerous lyrics in the song (for example, "Load up on guns, bring your friends" became "Load up on drugs, kill your friends"). Cobain later said he was trying to sound like former Smiths
frontman Morrissey
. When Top of the Pops was cancelled in 2006, The Observer listed Nirvana's performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as the third greatest in the show's history. This performance can be found on the 1994 home video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!
on her 1992 Crucify
EP, which Cobain referred to as "a great breakfast cereal version". The jazz trio The Bad Plus
recorded the track for its CD These Are the Vistas
, the Melvins recorded a version featuring former child star Leif Garrett
, and the industrial
act Xorcist
also released a tribute. The Moog Cookbook
put out a synthesizer-based cover version on The Moog Cookbook and the Japanese Beatboxer Dokaka
has recorded a beatboxed cover version. British group The Flying Pickets
released an a cappella
version of the song on their album The Original Flying Pickets: Volume 1
. Covers of the song on tribute albums include Blanks 77
on Smells Like Bleach: A Punk Tribute to Nirvana, and Beki Bondage
on Smells Like Nirvana; both released in 2000. In 2005, "Teen Spirit" was covered as a swing song by 1950s star Paul Anka
. In 2006, the band Flyleaf
covered the song for Yahoo!
's LAUNCHcast service. In 2007, Patti Smith
included a cover version, which incorporated a piece of her poetry, on her album of cover songs Twelve
.
The song has been adapted into other forms over the years. Germany's Atari Teenage Riot
sampled "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in the song "Atari Teenage Riot" from their 1997 album, Burn, Berlin, Burn!
DJ Balloon, a German techno DJ, also used the sample in his song "Monstersound". An instrumental cover version (slightly altered and named "Self High-Five" to avoid legal complications) was produced by World Championship Wrestling
as the entrance music
for wrestler Diamond Dallas Page
.
In addition to cover versions, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has also inspired a few parodies. "Weird Al" Yankovic
parodied the song in 1992 with "Smells Like Nirvana
", a song about Nirvana itself. Yankovic parodied the difficulty in understanding Cobain's singing as well as the lyrics and their meaning. Yankovic has said Kurt Cobain told him he realized that Nirvana had "made it" when he heard the parody. In 1995, the queercore
band Pansy Division
recorded a parody of the song called "Smells Like Queer Spirit" for its Pile Up
album. Pansy Division guitarist Jon Ginoli
insisted that his band's version of the song was not a parody but "an affectionate tribute".
UK 12" single (DGCT 5)
UK CD single (DGCTD 5)
UK picture disc 12" single (DGCTP 5)
US 7" single (DGCS7-19050)
US CD single (DGCDS-21673)
US cassette single (DGCCS-19050)
Grunge music
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
band Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
. It is the opening track and lead single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from the band's second album, Nevermind
Nevermind
Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
(1991), released on DGC Records
DGC Records
DGC Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and currently operates as an auxiliary label of Interscope Records.-Company history:...
. Written by Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
, Krist Novoselic
Krist Novoselic
Krist Anthony Novoselic II is a Croatian-American rock musician, best known for being the bassist and co-founder of the grunge band Nirvana. After Nirvana ended, Novoselic formed Sweet 75 and then Eyes Adrift, releasing one album with each band...
, and Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
and produced by Butch Vig
Butch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
, the song uses a verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form is a musical form common in popular music and predominant in rock since the 1960s. In contrast to AABA form, which is focused on the verse , in verse-chorus form the chorus is highlighted...
where the main four-chord riff is used during the intro and chorus to create an alternating loud and quiet dynamic.
The unexpected success of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in late 1991 propelled Nevermind to the top of the charts at the start of 1992, an event often marked as the point where alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
entered the mainstream. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was Nirvana's first and biggest hit, reaching number six on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and placing high on music industry charts all around the world in 1991 and 1992.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" received many critical plaudits, including topping the Village Voice Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics' poll and winning two MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
for its music video, which was in heavy rotation on music television
Music television
Music television is a type of television programming which focuses predominantly on playing music videos from bands, usually on dedicated television channels broadcasting on satellite or cable. Music TVs may host their own shows charts, award prizes. Examples are VIVA, Scuzz, MTV, JBTV, MuchMusic,...
. The song was dubbed an "anthem for apathetic kids" of Generation X
Generation X
Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...
, but the band grew uncomfortable with the success and attention it received as a result. In the years since Cobain's death, listeners and critics have continued to praise "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
Origins and recording
In a January 1994 Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
interview, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain revealed that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was an attempt to write a song in the style of the Pixies, a band he greatly admired. He explained:
Cobain did not begin to write "Smells Like Teen Spirit" until a few weeks before recording started on Nirvana's second album, Nevermind, in 1991. When he first presented the song to his bandmates, it comprised just the main riff and the chorus vocal melody, which bassist Krist Novoselic dismissed at the time as "ridiculous." In response, Cobain made the band play the riff for "an hour and a half." In a 2001 interview, Novoselic recalled that after playing the riff repeatedly, he thought, "'Wait a minute. Why don't we just kind of slow this down a bit?' So I started playing the verse part. And Dave [started] playing a drum beat." As a result, it is the only song on Nevermind to credit all three band members as authors.
Cobain came up with the song's title when his friend Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna is an American musician, feminist activist, and punk zine writer. In the early- to mid-1990s she was the lead singer and songwriter of Bikini Kill, before fronting Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s...
, at the time the lead singer of the riot grrrl
Riot grrrl
Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...
punk band Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill was an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington in October 1990. The group consisted of vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band is widely considered to be the pioneer of the riot grrrl movement,...
, spray painted "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on his wall. Since they had been discussing anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, and similar topics, Cobain interpreted the slogan as having a revolutionary meaning. What Hanna actually meant, however, was that Cobain smelled like the deodorant Teen Spirit
Teen Spirit (deodorant)
Teen Spirit is an anti-perspirant, originally sold by Mennen until the company was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive in 1992. The Teen Spirit line of products steadily lost popularity after its peak in the early 1990s...
, which his then-girlfriend Tobi Vail
Tobi Vail
Tobi Vail is an independent musician, DIY zinester, and feminist activist from Olympia, Washington, noted primarily as the drummer of the defunct punk band Bikini Kill. She formed one of her first bands as the drummer for The Go Team when she was 15, later collaborating in several other groups...
wore. Cobain later claimed that he was unaware that it was a brand of deodorant until months after the single was released.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was, along with "Come as You Are", one of a few new songs that had been written since Nirvana's first recording sessions with producer Butch Vig in 1990. Prior to the start of the Nevermind recording sessions, the band sent Vig a rough cassette demo of song rehearsals that included "Teen Spirit". While the sound of the tape was wildly distorted due to the band playing at a loud volume, Vig could pick out some of the melody and felt the song had promise. Nirvana recorded "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at Sound City recording studio in Van Nuys, California with Vig in May 1991. Vig suggested some arrangement changes to the song, including moving a guitar ad lib into the chorus, and trimming down the chorus length. The band recorded the basic track for the song in three takes, and decided to keep the second one. Vig incorporated some sonic corrections into the basic live band performance because Cobain had timing difficulties when switching between his guitar effects pedals. Vig was only able to get three vocal takes from Cobain; the producer commented, "I was lucky to ever get Kurt to do four takes".
Composition
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is written in the keyKey (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of F minor
F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. The harmonic minor raises the E to E. Its key signature has four flats ....
, with the main guitar riff constructed from four power chord
Power chord
In music, a power chord is a chord consisting of only the root note of the chord and the fifth interval, usually played on electric guitar, and typically through an amplification process that imparts distortion...
s (F5–B♭5–A♭5–D♭5) played in a syncopated
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
sixteenth note
Sixteenth note
thumb|right|Figure 1. A sixteenth note with stem facing up, a sixteenth note with stem facing down, and a sixteenth rest.thumb|right|Figure 2. Four sixteenth notes beamed together....
strum by Cobain. The guitar chords were double tracked because the band "wanted to make it sound more powerful," according to Vig. The chords occasionally lapse into suspended chord
Added tone chord
An added tone chord is a non-tertian chord composed of a tertian triad and an extra "added" note. The added note is not a seventh , but typically a non-tertian note, which cannot be defined by a sequence of thirds from the root, such as the added sixth or fourth...
voicings as a result of Cobain playing the bottom four strings of the guitar for the thickness of sound. Due to being neither major nor minor, the occasional use of suspended chords also allows the chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
used in the riff to be thought of as a I–IV–♭III–♭VI major chord progression. The song's chord progression has been described as "an ambiguous, harmonically dislocated sequence," and "it is the asymmetrical nature of Cobain's riff [...] that makes it so great." Musicologist Graeme Downes, who led the band The Verlaines
The Verlaines
The Verlaines are a rock band from Dunedin, New Zealand. Formed in 1981 by Graeme Downes, Craig Easton, Anita Pillai, Phillip Higham and Greg Kerr, the band went through multiple line-ups before going on an extended hiatus after their 1997 album Over The Moon. In 2003 a career retrospective, You're...
, says that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" illustrates developing variation
Developing variation
In music composition, developing variation is a formal technique in which the concepts of development and variation are united in that variations are produced through the development of existing material....
. Listeners made many comments that the song bore a passing resemblance to Boston
Boston (band)
Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists...
's 1976 hit "More Than a Feeling
More Than a Feeling
"More Than a Feeling" is a song by the rock band Boston, released as the lead single from their self-titled debut album on Epic Records in September 1976, with "Smokin'" on the flipside. The single peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100...
". Cobain himself held similar opinions, saying that it "was such a clichéd riff. It was so close to a Boston riff or
The Kingsmen
The Kingsmen is a 1960s garage rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the #2 spot on the Billboard charts for six weeks...
's] 'Louie Louie
Louie Louie
"Louie Louie" is an American rock 'n' roll song written by Richard Berry in 1955. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists...
.'"
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" utilizes a "somewhat conventional formal structure" consisting of four-, eight-, and twelve-bar sections that includes an eight-bar verse, an eight-bar first chorus (pre-chorus), and a twelve-bar second chorus (main chorus). Elements of the song's structure are marked off with shifts in volume and dynamics, going back and forth from quiet to loud a number of times during the length of the recording. This structure of "quiet verses with wobbly, chorused
Chorus effect
In music, a chorus effect occurs when individual sounds with roughly the same timbre and nearly the same pitch converge and are perceived as one...
guitar, followed by big, loud hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
-inspired choruses" became a much-emulated template in alternative rock because of "Teen Spirit".
The song begins with Cobain strumming the main riff, adding distortion when the rest of the band joins in. During the verse Cobain plays a sparse two-note guitar line over Novoselic's eighth note
Eighth note
thumb|180px|right|Figure 1. An eighth note with stem facing up, an eighth note with stem facing down, and an eighth rest.thumb|right|180px|Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together....
bassline, which outlines the chord progression. In the pre-chorus, Cobain begins to play the same two notes on every beat of the measure and repeats the phrase "Hello, hello, hello, how low?" Cobain then resumes the main guitar riff for the chorus, where the band plays loudly and Cobain yells the lyrics. The first and second choruses both end with a brief four-bar interlude where Cobain shouts "Yeah!" twice over a new riff. After the second chorus, Cobain plays a 16-bar guitar solo that almost completely restates his vocal melody from the verse and pre-chorus. The band extends the third and final verse and chorus as Cobain sings the refrain "A denial" repeatedly. At this point Cobain's vocals become strained and his voice is almost shot from the force of yelling. The song ends with the feedback of the guitar.
Release, success, and acclaim
Issued to radio on August 27, 1991, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released two weeks later on September 10 as the lead single from Nevermind, the band's major label debut on DGC RecordsDGC Records
DGC Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and currently operates as an auxiliary label of Interscope Records.-Company history:...
. The song did not initially chart, and it sold well only in regions of the United States with an established fanbase for the group. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was not expected to be a hit, for it was merely intended to be the base-building alternative rock cut from the album. It was anticipated that the follow-up single "Come as You Are" would be the song that could cross over to mainstream formats. However, campus radio
Campus radio
Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the radio station is based...
and modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
radio stations picked up on the track, and placed it on heavy rotation. Danny Goldberg of Nirvana's management firm Gold Mountain later admitted that "none of us heard it as a crossover song, but the public heard it and it was instantaneous [. . .] They heard it on alternative radio, and then they rushed out like lemmings to buy it." The video received its world premiere on MTV's late-night alternative rock program 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
, and proved so popular that the channel began to air it during its regular daytime rotation. MTV added the video to its "Buzz Bin" selection in October, where it stayed until mid-December. By the end of the year, the song, its accompanying video, and the Nevermind album had become hits. Both the song and Nevermind became a rare cross-format phenomenon, reaching all the major rock radio formats including modern rock, hard rock, album rock, and college radio.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" became a critical and commercial success. The song topped the 1991 Village Voice "Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
" and Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
year-end polls, and reached number two on Rolling Stone's list of best singles of the year. The single peaked at number six on the Billboard singles chart the same week that Nevermind reached number one on the albums chart. "Teen Spirit" hit number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and has since been certified platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
(one million copies shipped) by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. However, many American Top 40 stations were reluctant to play the song in regular rotation due to its sound, and restricted it to night-time play. The single was also successful in other countries. In the United Kingdom, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" reached number seven and charted for 184 weeks. The song was nominated for two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s: Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, for works containing quality performances in the hard rock music genre...
and Best Rock Song
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
would later name Nirvana's loss to Eric Clapton in the Best Rock Song category as one of the 10 biggest upsets in Grammy history.
In the wake of Nirvana's success, Michael Azerrad
Michael Azerrad
Michael Azerrad is an American author, journalist and musician. He grew up in the New York City area and received his BA degree from Columbia College in 1983...
wrote in a 1992 Rolling Stone article, "'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is an anthem for (or is it against?) the 'Why Ask Why?' generation. Just don't call Cobain a spokesman for a generation." Nevertheless, the music press awarded the song an "anthem-of-a-generation" status, placing Cobain as a reluctant spokesman for Generation X. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
observed that "'Smells Like Teen Spirit' could be this generation’s version of the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
' 1976 single, 'Anarchy in the U.K.
Anarchy in the U.K.
"Anarchy in the U.K." was covered by American thrash metal band Megadeth for their third album So Far, So Good... So What!, released in 1988.Notoriously, the song has incorrect lyrics...
', if it weren’t for the bitter irony that pervades its title," and added, "As Nirvana knows only too well, teen spirit is routinely bottled, shrink-wrapped and sold." The band grew uncomfortable with the song's success, and in later concerts often pointedly excluded it from the set list. Prior to the release of the band's 1993 follow-up album In Utero, Novoselic remarked, "If it wasn't for 'Teen Spirit' I don't know how Nevermind would have done," and observed, "There are no 'Teen Spirits' on In Utero." Cobain said in 1994, "I still like playing 'Teen Spirit,' but it's almost an embarrassment to play it [. . .] Everyone has focused on that song so much."
In the years following Cobain's 1994 death, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has continued to garner critical acclaim. In 2000, MTV and Rolling Stone ranked the song third on their joint list of the 100 best pop songs, trailing only The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Yesterday
Yesterday (song)
"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. The song first hit the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 cover versions, one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded...
" and The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
" Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Richards's throwaway three-note guitar riff — intended to be replaced by horns — opens and drives the song...
". The Recording Industry Association of America's 2001 "Songs of the Century
Songs of the Century
The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America , the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage" in American schools...
" project placed "Teen Spirit" at number 80. In 2002, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
awarded the song the number two spot on its list of "100 Greatest Singles of All Time", while in 2003 VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
placed "Smells Like Teen Spirit" number one on its list of "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years". The song came third in a Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
poll that same year. Rolling Stone ranked "Smells Like Teen Spirit" ninth in its 2004 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
", and described its impact as "A shock wave of big-amp purity, [it] wiped the lingering jive of the Eighties off the pop map overnight." In the 2006 VH1 UK poll The Nation's Favourite Lyric, the line "I feel stupid and contagious/Here we are now, entertain us" was ranked as the third-favorite song lyric among over 13,000 voters. In contrast, Time magazine proposed in its entry for Nevermind on "The All-TIME 100 Albums" from 2006 that "'Smells Like Teen Spirit' [. . .] may be the album's worst song."
Lyrics and interpretation
The lyrics to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" were often difficult for listeners to decipher, both due to their nonsensicality and because of Cobain's slurred, guttural singing voice. This problem was compounded by the fact that the Nevermind album liner notes did not include any lyrics for the songs aside from selected lyrical fragments. This incomprehensibility contributed to the early resistance from radio stations towards adding the song to their playlists; one Geffen promoter recalled that people from rock radio told her, "We can't play this. I can't understand what the guy is saying." MTV went as far as to prepare a version of the video that included the lyrics running across the bottom of the screen, which they aired when the video was added to their heavy rotation schedule. The lyrics for the album—and some from earlier or alternate versions of the songs—were later released with the liner notes of the "Lithium" single in 1992. American rock critic Dave MarshDave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
noted comments by disc jockeys of the time that the song was "the 'Louie Louie
Louie Louie
"Louie Louie" is an American rock 'n' roll song written by Richard Berry in 1955. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists...
' of the nineties" and wrote, "Like 'Louie,' only more so, 'Teen Spirit' reveals its secrets reluctantly and then often incoherently." Marsh, trying to decipher the lyrics of the song, felt after reading the correct lyrics from the song's sheet music that "what I imagined was quite a bit better (at least, more gratifying) than what Nirvana actually sang," and added, "Worst of all, I'm not sure that I know more about [the meaning of] 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' now than before I plunked down for the official version of the facts."
"Teen Spirit" is widely interpreted to be a teen
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
revolution anthem, an interpretation reinforced by the song's music video. In an interview conducted the day Nevermind was released, Cobain stated the song was about his friends, explaining, "We still feel as if we're teenagers because we don't follow the guidelines of what's expected of us to be adults [. . .] It also has kind of a teen revolutionary theme". As Cobain did more interviews, he changed his explanation of the song and rarely gave specifics about the song's meaning. When discussing the song in Michael Azerrad's biography Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana
Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana
Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana is a 1993 book by Michael Azerrad, covering the career of Nirvana from its inception. For the book, Azerrad met with the members of the band and conducted extensive interviews about the band and its members' histories.The book was completed in June 1993, and...
, Cobain revealed that he felt a duty "to describe what I felt about my surroundings and my generation and people my age."
The book Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song describes "Teen Spirit" as "a typically murky Cobain exploration of meaning and meaninglessness." Azerrad plays upon the juxtaposition of Cobain's contradictory lyrics (such as "It's fun to lose and to pretend") and states "the point that emerges isn't just the conflict of two opposing ideas, but the confusion and anger that the conflict produces in the narrator—he's angry that he's confused." Azerrad's conclusion is that the song is "alternately a sarcastic reaction to the idea of actually having a revolution, yet it also embraces the idea." In Heavier Than Heaven
Heavier Than Heaven
Heavier Than Heaven is the name of a 2001 biography of musician Kurt Cobain, the frontman of the grunge band Nirvana. It was written by Charles R...
, Charles R. Cross
Charles R. Cross
Charles R. Cross is a journalist and author of seven books based in Seattle. He was the Editor of The Rocket Magazine in Seattle for fifteen years during the height of the Seattle music mania. He is also the founder of Backstreets Magazine, a periodical for fans of Bruce Springsteen, and editor of...
' biography of Kurt Cobain, the author argues that the song is a reference to Cobain's relationship with ex-girlfriend Tobi Vail. Cross cites the line "She's over-bored and self-assured" and states the song "could not have been about anyone else." Cross backs up his argument with lyrics which were present in earlier drafts, such as "Who will be the King & Queen of the outcasted [sic] teens."
Cobain has said, "The entire song is made up of contradictory ideas [. . .] It's just making fun of the thought of having a revolution. But it's a nice thought." Drummer Dave Grohl has stated he does not believe the song has any message, and said, "Just seeing Kurt write the lyrics to a song five minutes before he first sings them, you just kind of find it a little bit hard to believe that the song has a lot to say about something. You need syllables to fill up this space or you need something that rhymes."
Music video
The music video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was the first for director Samuel BayerSamuel Bayer
Samuel David Bayer is an American commercial, music video and film director, and cinematographer.-Early life:Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York...
. Bayer stated he believed he was hired because his test-reel was so poor the band anticipated his production would be "punk" and "not corporate." The video was based on the concept of a school concert which ends in anarchy and riot. Inspiration was taken from Jonathan Kaplan
Jonathan Kaplan
Jonathan Kaplan is an American film producer and director.Kaplan was born in Paris, France. He is the son of film composer Sol Kaplan and actress Frances Heflin; the nephew of actor Van Heflin. He is the brother of actresses Nora Heflin and Mady Kaplan...
's 1979 movie Over the Edge
Over the Edge (film)
Over the Edge is a drama film directed by Jonathan Kaplan released in 1979. Due to the negative publicity surrounding a wave of recent youth gang films, Over the Edge had a limited theatrical release in late 1979...
, as well as the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
' film Rock 'n' Roll High School
Rock 'n' Roll High School
Rock 'n' Roll High School is a 1979 musical comedy film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Allan Arkush, and featuring the Ramones.The film starred P. J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, and Clint Howard...
. Filmed on a soundstage in Culver City
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
, the video featured the band playing at a pep rally
Pep rally
Pep rallies are events that occur primarily in the United States and Canada. A pep rally is a gathering of people, typically students of middle school, high school and college age, before a sports event. The purpose of such a gathering is to encourage school spirit and to support members of the...
in a high school gym to an audience of apathetic students on bleachers, and cheerleaders wearing black dresses with the Circle-A anarchist symbol. The video ends with the assembled students destroying the set and the band's gear. The demolition of the set captured in the video's conclusion was the result of genuine discontent. The extras that filled the bleachers had been forced to stay seated through numerous replays of the song for an entire afternoon of filming. Cobain convinced Bayer to allow the extras to mosh
Moshing
Moshing is a dance in which participants push or slam into each other. They also flail their limbs to breakdowns of hardcore punk and its sub-genres. It is most associated with aggressive music genres, such as hardcore punk and heavy metal...
, and the set became a scene of chaos. "Once the kids came out dancing they just said 'fuck you,' because they were so tired of this shit throughout the day," Cobain said. Cobain disliked Bayer's final edit and personally oversaw a re-edit of the video that resulted in the version finally aired. One of Cobain's major additions was the next-to-last shot of the video, which was a close-up of his own face after it had been obscured for most of the video. Bayer noted that unlike subsequent artists he worked with, Cobain did not care about vanity, rather that "the video had something that was truly about what they were about." The video had an estimated budget between $30,000 and $50,000.
Like the song itself, the music video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was well received by critics. Rolling Stone writer David Fricke
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
described the video as looking like "the greatest gig you could ever imagine." In addition to a number one placing in the singles category, "Teen Spirit" also topped the music video category in the Village Voices 1991 "Pazz & Jop" poll. The video won Nirvana the Best New Artist
MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist
The MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist is one of the four original general categories that have been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984...
and Best Alternative Group
MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video was first given out in 1992. Prior to its inception, though, this award was known as Best Post-Modern Video in 1989 and 1990...
awards at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
, and in 2000 the Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
named "Teen Spirit" the Most Played Video on MTV Europe
MTV Europe
MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...
. In subsequent years Amy Finnerty, formerly of MTV's Programming department, claimed the video "changed the entire look of MTV" by giving them "a whole new generation to sell to." VH1 placed the debut of the "Teen Spirit" video at number eighteen on its list of "100 Greatest Rock & Roll Moments on TV", noting that "the video [ushered] in alternative rock as a commercial and pop culture force." In 2001, VH1 ranked the video fourth on its "100 Greatest Videos" list. The video has been parodied at least twice: in "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
's music video for "Smells Like Nirvana
Smells Like Nirvana
"Smells Like Nirvana" is a parody of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" written and performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It helped to reenergize Yankovic's career, and Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain considered the parody a sign that they had "made it" as a band...
" and in Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar, originally spelled "Sinclair" - , is a French record producer, House music DJ, remixer and owner of the label Yellow Productions.- Career history :...
's 2006 music video for "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)
Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)
"Rock This Party " is a song by Bob Sinclar, co-produced by regular partner Cutee B and featuring Dollarman and Big Ali on vocals...
".
Live performances
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was first performed live on April 17, 1991 at the OK HotelOK Hotel
The OK Hotel was a bar and music venue located under the viaduct in Seattle's Pioneer Square district. The club's 15-year-plus life span came to an end with the Nisqually earthquake of February 28, 2001, which damaged numerous buildings in the historic district.Most widely recognized as a prominent...
in Seattle, Washington. The performance is featured on the DVD of the 2004 box set With the Lights Out
With the Lights Out
With the Lights Out is a box set, containing three CDs and one DVD, of previously rare or unreleased material, including b-sides, demos, rough rehearsal recordings and live recordings, from the American rock band Nirvana. It was released in November 2004...
, while shorter clips are included on the Nevermind
Nevermind
Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
Classic Albums
Classic Albums
Classic Albums is a documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.-Format:...
DVD, as well as the documentary film Hype!
Hype!
Hype! is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the steps of grunge, from its subversive inception in neighborhood basements, to its explosion as a pop culture...
As the song's lyrics had not yet been entirely written, there are notable differences between it and the final version. For example, the first performance started with "Come out and play, make up the rules" instead of the eventual opening of "Load up on guns, bring your friends." A recording of the earlier version appears on With the Lights Out and again on Sliver: The Best of the Box. A similar early live performance of the song is found in the documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke
1991: The Year Punk Broke
1991: The Year Punk Broke is a 1992 documentary directed by Dave Markey featuring American alternative rock band Sonic Youth on tour in Europe in 1991. While Sonic Youth is the focus of the documentary, the film also gives attention to Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr., Babes in Toyland, Gumball and The Ramones...
, filmed during a 1991 summer tour in Europe with Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
.
Nirvana often altered the song's lyrics and tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
for live performances. Some live performances of the song had the line "our little group has always been" changed to "our little tribe has always been," which can be heard on the 1996 live album From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah is a live album by the American grunge band, Nirvana. It was released on October 1, 1996 and features live performances recorded from 1989 to 1994...
. Rolling Stone remarked that the Wishkah version of "Teen Spirit" "[found] Cobain's guitar reeling outside the song's melodic boundaries and sparking new life in that nearly played-out hit." A notable alternate performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" occurred on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
in 1991, during which the band refused to mime to the pre-recorded backing track and Cobain sang in a deliberately low voice and altered numerous lyrics in the song (for example, "Load up on guns, bring your friends" became "Load up on drugs, kill your friends"). Cobain later said he was trying to sound like former Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
frontman Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
. When Top of the Pops was cancelled in 2006, The Observer listed Nirvana's performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as the third greatest in the show's history. This performance can be found on the 1994 home video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!
Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!
Nirvana: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! is a video album released by the grunge band Nirvana on laserdisc and VHS on November 15, 1994. The DVD version was released November 7, 2006. Kurt Cobain compiled much of the video himself, but did not complete it prior to his death...
Cover versions
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" has been covered by numerous artists. One of the first cover recordings was an acoustic piano version by Tori AmosTori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
on her 1992 Crucify
Crucify (song)
"Crucify" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the fifth single from her debut studio album Little Earthquakes. It was released on May 12, 1992 by Atlantic Records in North America and on June 8 by EastWest Records in the UK.-Background:The song served...
EP, which Cobain referred to as "a great breakfast cereal version". The jazz trio The Bad Plus
The Bad Plus
The Bad Plus are a jazz trio from the United States, consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King, originating from Minneapolis, MN.-History:...
recorded the track for its CD These Are the Vistas
These Are the Vistas
These Are the Vistas was the second studio album released by the jazz trio The Bad Plus, and the band's first album for a major label...
, the Melvins recorded a version featuring former child star Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett is an American singer and actor. He became famous in the late 1970s as a teen idol, but received much publicity in later life for his drug abuse and legal troubles.-Early life:...
, and the industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
act Xorcist
Xorcist
Xorcist is the name of an American musical group whose output has ranged from electro-industrial and ambient.-Background:Bat formed Xorcist in 1990 as a one-man act. By 1997, Xorcist grew to include Evoltwin.8...
also released a tribute. The Moog Cookbook
The Moog Cookbook
The Moog Cookbook is the name of an electronica band made up of Brian Kehew and Roger Joseph Manning Jr. as a parody/tribute to the novelty "Moog records" of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The duo performs exclusively on analog synthesizers, especially Moog synthesizers...
put out a synthesizer-based cover version on The Moog Cookbook and the Japanese Beatboxer Dokaka
Dokaka
Dokaka is a Japanese beatboxer who performs music solely by multitracking his own voice, generally with one instrument per track. He has distributed his recordings primarily as free downloads from his website; these include...
has recorded a beatboxed cover version. British group The Flying Pickets
The Flying Pickets
The Flying Pickets are a British a cappella vocal group, who had a Christmas number one hit in 1983 in the UK Singles Chart with their cover of Yazoo's track "Only You".-History:...
released an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
version of the song on their album The Original Flying Pickets: Volume 1
The Original Flying Pickets: Volume 1
The Original Flying Pickets: Volume 1 is an album by the original Flying Pickets line-up. As with all of their albums, it contains a cappella cover versions of popular songs.-Track listing:#"Under the Bridge"...
. Covers of the song on tribute albums include Blanks 77
Blanks 77
Blanks 77 is an American street punk band active from 1990–2001, and again from 2004 onward. Originally based in Hillside, New Jersey, they are currently located in Denville....
on Smells Like Bleach: A Punk Tribute to Nirvana, and Beki Bondage
Beki Bondage
Beki Bondage is a musician in the punk band, Vice Squad and was one of its founder members in 1978.She featured on the front cover of a number of influential music tabloids such as Melody Maker, NME, Smash Hits and Sounds.In 1983, she left Vice Squad to form the band Ligotage with Steve Roberts of...
on Smells Like Nirvana; both released in 2000. In 2005, "Teen Spirit" was covered as a swing song by 1950s star Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
. In 2006, the band Flyleaf
Flyleaf
Flyleaf is an American alternative metal band, formed in the Belton and Temple, Texas regions in 2000. The band has charted on mainstream rock, Christian pop and Christian metal genres. They performed around the United States in 2003 until releasing their eponymous debut album, Flyleaf, in 2005....
covered the song for Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
's LAUNCHcast service. In 2007, Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
included a cover version, which incorporated a piece of her poetry, on her album of cover songs Twelve
Twelve (Patti Smith album)
Twelve is an album by Patti Smith, released April 17, 2007 on Columbia Records. As the title suggests, the album contains twelve tracks, all of which are cover versions. It debuted on Billboard 200 at number 60, with 11,000 copies sold in its first week...
.
The song has been adapted into other forms over the years. Germany's Atari Teenage Riot
Atari Teenage Riot
'Atari Teenage Riot' is a German digital hardcore group formed in Berlin in 1992. The name was taken from a Portuguese Joe song 'Teenage Riot' from the 'Teen-age Riot' album, with the word 'Atari' added as an Atari ST computer was used to create compositions...
sampled "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in the song "Atari Teenage Riot" from their 1997 album, Burn, Berlin, Burn!
Burn, Berlin, Burn!
Burn, Berlin, Burn! is a compilation album released by Atari Teenage Riot in 1997. Initially released in the United States by the Beastie Boys' record label Grand Royal , the album is a collection of tracks from their first two albums Delete Yourself! and The Future of War...
DJ Balloon, a German techno DJ, also used the sample in his song "Monstersound". An instrumental cover version (slightly altered and named "Self High-Five" to avoid legal complications) was produced by World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
as the entrance music
Music in professional wrestling
Music in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
for wrestler Diamond Dallas Page
Dallas Page
Dallas Page , better known by his ring name "Diamond" Dallas Page , is an American retired professional wrestler, fitness instructor and actor...
.
In addition to cover versions, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has also inspired a few parodies. "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
parodied the song in 1992 with "Smells Like Nirvana
Smells Like Nirvana
"Smells Like Nirvana" is a parody of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" written and performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It helped to reenergize Yankovic's career, and Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain considered the parody a sign that they had "made it" as a band...
", a song about Nirvana itself. Yankovic parodied the difficulty in understanding Cobain's singing as well as the lyrics and their meaning. Yankovic has said Kurt Cobain told him he realized that Nirvana had "made it" when he heard the parody. In 1995, the queercore
Queercore
Queercore is a cultural and social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of punk. It is distinguished by being discontent with society in general and its rejection of the disapproval of the gay, bisexual, and lesbian communities and their "oppressive agenda"...
band Pansy Division
Pansy Division
Pansy Division is an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California in 1991. Featuring primarily gay musicians and focusing mostly on gay-related themes, Pansy Division is one of the more melodic-oriented bands to emerge from the "queercore" movement that began in the 1980s.-Early...
recorded a parody of the song called "Smells Like Queer Spirit" for its Pile Up
Pile Up
Pile Up is a compilation of singles, B-sides, and rarities by queercore band Pansy Division.The album includes numerous cover songs including "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other", "Real Men", "Jack U Off", and "Smells Like Queer Spirit" .-Track listing:#"I Can't Sleep" – 1:31#"Ring...
album. Pansy Division guitarist Jon Ginoli
Jon Ginoli
Jon Latimer Ginoli is an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of the band Pansy Division, which was founded by Ginoli and Chris Freeman in 1991. Pansy Division is known as one of the founding examples of the queercore genre of punk rock...
insisted that his band's version of the song was not a parody but "an affectionate tribute".
Formats and track listing
UK 7" single (DGC 5)- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 4:30
- "Drain YouDrain You"Drain You" is a 1991 song by American grunge band Nirvana and the eighth track from their breakthrough album Nevermind. It is most famous as a B-side on the band's most successful single "Smells Like Teen Spirit". However, a live version recorded in 1991 appeared on the live album From the Muddy...
" (Cobain) – 3:43
UK 12" single (DGCT 5)
- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 5:01
- "Drain You" (Cobain) – 3:43
- "Even in His Youth" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 3:03
- Features album version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
UK CD single (DGCTD 5)
- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 4:30
- "Drain You" (Cobain) – 3:43
- "Even in His Youth" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 3:03
- "AneurysmAneurysm (song)"Aneurysm" is a song by the American grunge band, Nirvana.-Studio versions:*"Aneurysm" was first recorded in the studio on January 1, 1991, by Craig Montgomery at the Music Source in Seattle, Washington. This version was first released as a B-side on the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" single later in...
" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 4:44
UK picture disc 12" single (DGCTP 5)
- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 5:01
- "Even in His Youth" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 3:03
- "Aneurysm" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 4:44
- Features album version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
US 7" single (DGCS7-19050)
- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 4:30
- "Even in His Youth" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 3:03
US CD single (DGCDS-21673)
- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 4:30
- "Even in His Youth" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 3:03
- "Aneurysm" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 4:44
US cassette single (DGCCS-19050)
- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 4:30
- "Even in His Youth" (Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic) – 3:03
Chart positions
| Chart (1991/1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
8 |
| French Singles Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
3 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
6 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
7 |
| US Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
6 |
| US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 7 |
| US Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| US Hot Dance Club Songs | 14 |
| US Hot Dance Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, established in 1985. It measures the sale of commercially released singles that deal with dance music and remixes... |
27 |