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Smells Like Teen Spirit

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"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, and the first track and lead single from the band's 1991 breakthrough album Nevermind. Written by Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl and produced by Butch Vig, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is commonly regarded as the song that brought alternative rock and grunge music to prominence worldwide, and served as an anthem for Generation X.[1]

"Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Song
B-side"Drain You"/"Even in His Youth"/"Aneurysm"

The band's first and biggest hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" reached #1 on charts around the world in 1991. "Teen Spirit" reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it topped the magazine's Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was voted best single of the year in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll. The video for the song has received heavy airplay and won the band "Best New Artist" and "Best Alternative Group" awards at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.[2] Over the years, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has been acclaimed by listeners and critics as one of the greatest rock songs ever.

Origins and recording

In a January 1994 Rolling Stone magazine interview, Kurt Cobain admitted that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was an attempt to write a song in the style of the Pixies, a band he greatly admired. Cobain said:[3]

I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band — or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.

Cobain had only started writing the song a few weeks before recording was due to start on their second album, later to be titled Nevermind.[4] When he first presented the song (which at that point only consisted of the main riff and the chorus vocal melody)[5][6] to his bandmates, bassist Krist Novoselic commented he thought it was "ridiculous"; Cobain consequently made the band play it repeatedly for "an hour and a half".[3] Novoselic recalled in 2001 that after playing the riff over and over again, he said "'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".[7] As a result all three band members are credited as songwriters.

Cobain got the song name when friend Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of the riot grrrl punk band Bikini Kill at the time, spray painted "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on his wall. Since they had been talking about anarchy, punk rock and similar topics, Cobain took it to be a slogan in that vein. The meaning, however, was that Kurt smelled like "Teen Spirit", the deodorant that Tobi Vail, Hanna's bandmate and Kurt's then-girlfriend, wore. Cobain claimed that he did not know it was a brand of deodorant until months after the single was released.[8]

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was, along with "Come As You Are", one of a few new songs to be recorded during the Nevermind sessions.[9] Nirvana recorded "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at Sound City recording studio in Van Nuys, California with producer Butch Vig in May of 1991.[10] Prior to recording, the band had given Vig a rough cassette demo recording of "Teen Spirit". Vig suggested some minor arrangement changes to the song, such as moving a guitar ad lib into the chorus and trimming down the chorus length.[11] The band recorded the basic track of the song in three takes, keeping the second one.[6]

Composition

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is written in the key of F minor, with the main riff constructed from four power chords, (F-Bb-Ab-Db), played in a syncopated 16th note strum. 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.[12] The US rock critic Dave Marsh has noted that the famous opening riff of the song resembles the celebrated riff from the 1963 cover version by The Kingsmen of Richard Berry's song "Louie Louie."[13] Comparisons have also been made by listeners to Boston's 1976 hit "More Than a Feeling".[14] Cobain himself held similar opinions, saying that it "was such a cliched riff. It was so close to a Boston riff or 'Louie Louie.'"[3]

While melodically and harmonically simple, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is structured around an alternating loud/quiet dynamic that shifts from minimalistic, moody verses to loud chorus sections. The song begins with Cobain strumming the main riff solo, adding distortion when the rest of the band joins in. During the verse Cobain plays a sparse two-note guitar line over Novoselic's eight-note bassline pulse, which outlines the chord progression. The band builds up to the chorus as Cobain begins to play the same two notes on every beat of the measure and repeats the phrase "Hello, hello, hello, how low?" The band then launches into an explosive chorus where Cobain resumes the main guitar riff and screams the lyrics. After the second chorus, Cobain plays a guitar solo that resembles his vocal melody from the verse. The band extends the third and final verse and chorus as Cobain sings the refrain "A denial" repeatedly. The song ends with the feedback of the guitar.

Release, success, and acclaim

The "Smells Like Teen Spirit" single was released on September 10, 1991 as the lead single from Nevermind. The song was not expected to be a hit. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was meant to be the base-building alternative rock cut, while the subsequent single "Come As You Are" was expected to be the song that could cross over to other radio formats. However, campus radio and modern rock radio stations picked up on the song and put it into heavy rotation. Danny Goldberg of Nirvana's management firm Gold Mountain said "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."[15] The video received a world premiere on MTV's late-night alternative rock program 120 Minutes, but soon proved so popular the channel began to air it during its regular daytime rotation.[16] As a result, Nevermind began selling thousands of copies a week, culminating in the album knocking Michael Jackson's Dangerous album from the top spot on the Billboard charts in January of 1992.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" received much critical acclaim. It topped the 1991 year-end polls for the Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll and Melody Maker magazine, and reached number two on Rolling Stone's list of best singles of the year. The single topped out at #6 on the singles chart the same week Nevermind reached #1;[17] it also hit number one on the Modern Rock Tacks chart and has since been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.[18] The single also topped numerous charts worldwide. Still, many American Top 40 stations at the time were reluctant to play the song in regular rotation due to its sound and restricted it to nighttime play.[19]

In the wake of Nirvana's success, Michael Azerrad wrote in a 1992 Rolling Stone article that "'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."[20] Nevertheless, the music media eventually awarded the song "anthem-of-a-generation" status and with it Cobain became a reluctant spokesman for Generation X.[21] The band grew uncomfortable with the success of the song and in later shows often pointedly excluded it from show setlists.[22] 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."[3]

Since its release, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has continued to garner critical acclaim. In 2002 NME magazine ranked the song number two on its list of "100 Greatest Singles of All Time."[23] In 2003, VH1 placed "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at number one on its list of "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years."[24] The song also ranked third in a Q Magazine poll that year.[25] Rolling Stone ranked "Smells Like Teen Spirit" ninth in its list The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, describing the song's impact as "A shock wave of big-amp purity, [it] wiped the lingering jive of the Eighties off the pop map overnight."[26] In the 2006 VH1 UK poll The Nation's Favourite Lyric, the line "I feel stupid and contagious/here we are now, entertain us" from song's chorus was ranked as the third-favorite song lyric among the over 13,000 voters from the United Kingdom.[27]

Song meaning

The lyrics to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as Cobain sang them were often difficult for listeners to decipher, both because of their nonsensicality and Cobain's guttural, slurred speech. This problem was compounded by the fact that the Nevermind album liner did not include lyrics for the song, simply random lyrical fragments. As a result of the confusion, MTV prepared a version of the video that included the lyrics running across the bottom of the screen, which aired when the video was added to heavy rotation.[28] Lyrics for the album (some from earlier or alternate versions of the songs) were finally released in the liner notes of the "Lithium" single.

The song is widely interpreted to be about a teen revolution, an interpretation reinforced by the song's music video.[29] When discussing the song in Michael Azerrad's Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Cobain said, "I felt a duty to describe what I felt about my surroundings and my generation and people my age."[30] The book Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song describes "Teen Spirit" as "a typically murky Cobain exploration of meaning and meaninglessness."[31] 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."[32]

In Heavier Than Heaven, Charles Cross' biography of Kurt Cobain, an argument is made that the song is a reference to Cobain's break-up with Tobi Vail.[33] This argument is backed up by lyrics which were present in earlier drafts, which can be seen in Cobain's Journals, such as "Why don't you cry when I'm away / Oh yeah we want what's best for you" and "Who will be the King & Queen of the outcasted [sic] teens" He also referred to the preppy teens at his highschool, who "always sat at on the heater complaining about the heat....one of there names were Jeanine...the bitch" He said "they just pissed me off and I wanted to let them know."[34]

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."[35] 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."[36]


CHRISTIAN TWIST ON THE MEANING:

A popular interpretation of the song circulated in Christian circles was the “Satanic Puppet” twist on the meaning. The interpretation assumes Cobain may have written the lyrics in a manner that was to be interpreted by the Christian community and therefore meaningless to anyone else. Strangely, from a Christian doctrinal view the lyrics could have a very ominous meaning.

In this view the lyrics in “Smells like Teen Spirit” are believed to be a climax play on the Biblical book of Revelations Chapter 12 verse 9 in particular[1]. The Chapter deals with “Satan and his angels” being cast down to the earth as a prelude to the end of the world.

The lyrics “here we are now, entertain us, I feel stupid and contagious” being interpreted as Satan and his fallen angels using Cobain as a puppet to announce their arrival and fulfillment of the Rev. 12 prophecy.

Interestingly Cobain was known for attempting to get a reaction out of the Christian community. Cobain is quoted as saying he wanted to “get stoned and worship Satan” (op. cit. Sandford, p. 42). It is unlikely Kurt was into any type of real Satanic worship, but most likely motivated by a desire to get a reaction from the Christian community.

Pastor Joe Schimmel a well known Christian author that deals with the connection between rock and Satanism states that “While Cobain may have influenced some for evil through graffiti on churches, it was through his music that millions of people would be influenced by the satanic beings that used him like a pawn in a much bigger game.” [2]

To expand on this interpretation the two note guitar line is thought to be the two notes of the classic doorbell, hence Satan using the band to “ring earth‘s doorbell“ via the band. The line “a mulatto An albino A mosquito My Libido” is thought to mention the three members of Nirvana but give credit for the songs intensity or power to “Satan and his angels” who are simply using the band for puppets. The line “with the lights out it’s less dangerous” is thought to describe the hidden nature contained within meaning of the tune. The ending line “oh well whatever never-mind” is thought to play on the double meaning of “never mind” driving home the point that although Satan is now confined to the earth his rebellion will never cease “until the end.” The line "it's fun to lose and to pretend" also seems to fit in with this interpretation. The book of Revelations is the source of the infamous “666” being the number of the devil, although Cobain makes no direct reference to the number.

This type of lyrical interpretation is well known in the rock world and actually started as far back as Elvis Presley being declared a “puppet for the devil.” John Lennon of the Beatles ran into trouble once with the Christian community when he stated in an interview “it’s as if the Beatles are more popular than Jesus Christ.” Although he meant no insult the statement resulted in some radical Christian elements calling for the burning of Beatles records. It was thought that this resulted in other groups intentionally taunting Christians with lyrics playing especially into Revelations Chapter 12. The Rolling Stones being among the first to really play on this reaction. It is not far fetched that Cobain may have wished to continue this established rock tradition in a enigmatic manner thus giving this Christian interpretation some merit.

Music video

Like the song itself, the music video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has been highly popular and acclaimed. The video for the song won the band "Best New Artist" and "Best Alternative Group" awards for Nirvana at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2000 the Guinness Book of World Records named it the Most Played Video on MTV Europe.

The music video was the first for acclaimed director Samuel Bayer, who would later go on to direct videos for such notable rock acts as Green Day, The Ramones, Metallica, and The Smashing Pumpkins. Filmed on a soundstage in Culver City, the video featured the band playing at a pep rally in a high school gym, surrounded by 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 video's conclusion was the result of genuine discontentment. The extras that filled the bleachers had been forced to stay seated for the entire afternoon of filming, and had sat through numerous replays of the song. Cobain talked Bayer into having the extras come down 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.[37]

Cobain disliked Bayer's final edit and personally oversaw a re-edit of the video to the version that finally saw rotation. One of his 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.[38] Recently, Bayer's original edit of the video surfaced on YouTube[3].

The music video was parodied at least two times: in Weird Al Yankovic's music video for "Smells Like Nirvana" and in Bob Sinclar and Cutee B's 2006 music video for "Rock This Party".

Live performances

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was first performed live on April 17, 1991 at the OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington. The performance can be found on the DVD of the 2004 boxset With the Lights Out, with shorter clips included in the Nevermind Classic Albums DVD and 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 recorded version of the earlier version appears on With the Lights Out and again on Sliver: The Best of the Box .

A memorable performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" occurred on BBC's Top of the Pops, during which frontman Kurt Cobain sang in a deliberately low, mournful tone, and altered numerous lyrics in the song (for example, "Load up on guns, bring your friends" became "Load up on drugs, kill your friends"). He would later claim he was trying to sound like former Smiths frontman Morrissey.[39] 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.[40] This performance can be found on the 1994 home video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!.

Nirvana often altered the song's lyrics and tempo for live performances. Most 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 From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by numerous artists, including Tori Amos on her Crucify EP (which Cobain referred to as "a great breakfast cereal version"),[41] the jazz band The Bad Plus, The Melvins and the industrial act Xorcist. The Japanese Beatboxer Dokaka also made his own beatboxed cover version for it. In 2005, it was covered as a swing song by 1950s star Paul Anka. The song was also sampled by Germany's Atari Teenage Riot in their song "Atari Teenage Riot," from their 1997 album Burn, Berlin, Burn! An instrumental cover version was produced by World Championship Wrestling as the entrance music for wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, with clips of DDP's voice dubbed in from time to time. The song was also performed in a cabaret style in the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge!.

In 1992, the song was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Smells Like Nirvana", a song about Nirvana itself. Weird Al's parody was about how it was difficult to understand Cobain's lyrics and their meaning. The music video for the song even went as far as using the same set, costumes, and members of the cast from the original "Spirit" video. Yankovic has said Kurt Cobain told him he realized that Nirvana had "made it" when he heard the parody.[42] In 1995, the queercore band Pansy Division recorded a parody of the song called "Smells Like Queer Spirit" for their "Pile Up" album.

Formats and track listing

The version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on the release is the single edit that was featured in the music video, which removes approximately thirty seconds from the album version. In particular, two repetitions of the main riff have been removed from the beginning of the song, as has the repeat of the first section of the guitar solo.

The UK CD Single falsely lists the length of "Even in His Youth" as 4:20. The US CD Single correctly lists the song length at 3:03.

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1991 Official New Zealand Singles Chart No. 1
1991 Official Belgium Singles Chart No. 1
1991 Official Irish Singles Chart No. 1
1991 Official Spanish Singles Chart No. 1
1992 Official French Singles Chart No. 1
1992 Official Norway Singles Chart No. 2
1992 Official German Singles Chart No. 2
1991 Official Sweden Singles Chart No. 3
1991 Official Holland Singles Chart No. 3
1992 Official Italian Singles Chart No. 3
1992 Official Australian Singles Chart No. 5
1992 The Billboard Hot 100 (US) No. 6
1992 Official Switzerland Singles Chart No. 6
1991 Official UK Singles Chart No. 7
1992 Official Austrian Singles Chart No. 8
1992 Official Finland Singles Chart No. 9
1992 Hot 100 Brasil No. 9
1991 Modern Rock Tracks (US) No. 1
1992 Mainstream Rock Tracks (US) No. 7
1992 Hot Dance Music/Club Play (US) No. 14
1992 Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales (US) No. 27
1992 Hot 100 Airplay (US) No. 41
1992 French Airplay Chart No. 1
1991 Triple J Hottest 100 No. 1
1992 Poland Airplay Chart No. 2
1992 Slovakian Airplay Chart No. 9
1992 Canadian National Airplay Chart No. 17
1994 Latvian Airplay Chart No. 18

Samples

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References

  • Azerrad, Michael. Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday, 1993. ISBN 0-385-47199-8
  • Crisafulli, Chuck. Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song. Carlton, 1996. ISBN 0-684-83356-5

Notes

  1. ^ Sold On Song Top 100. ""Smells Like Teen Spirit"". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved October 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ ""Past Winners Database"". Los Angeles Times. 2006. Retrieved October 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c d Fricke, David. "Kurt Cobain: The Rolling Stone Interview." Rolling Stone. January 27, 1994
  4. ^ Azerrad, Michael. Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday, 1993. ISBN 0-385-47199-8, pg. 175
  5. ^ Azerrad, pg. 176
  6. ^ a b "Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit." Rolling Stone. December 7, 2000.
  7. ^ Cross, Charles. "Requiem for a Dream". Guitar World. October 2001.
  8. ^ Azerrad, pg. 211-12
  9. ^ Azerrad, pg. 167
  10. ^ Cross, Charles. "The Stories Behind the Songs". Rolling Stone. November 14, 2002
  11. ^ di Perna, Alan. "The Making of Nevermind". Guitar World. Fall 1996.
  12. ^ Chappell, Jon. "Nirvana's Music". Guitar magazine. June 1993.
  13. ^ Marsh, Dave. Louie Louie, University of Michigan Press, 2004 ISBN 0-472-03023-X
  14. ^ Azerrad, pg. 176
  15. ^ Azerrad, pg. 227
  16. ^ Azerrad, pg. 199
  17. ^ "Nirvana Achieves Chart Perfection!" Billboard. January 25, 1992.
  18. ^ Basham, David (2001). "Got Charts? No Doubt's Christmas Gift; Nirvana Ain't No Beatles" (http). MTV.com. Retrieved October 19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Ross, Sean. "Nirvana Receiving Less-Than-Spirited Airplay." Billboard. February 1, 1992.
  20. ^ Azerrad, Michael. "Inside the Heart and Mind of Nirvana". Rolling Stone. April 16, 1992.
  21. ^ Garofalo, Reebee. Rockin' Out: Popular Music in the USA. Allyn & Bacon, 1997. ISBN 0-205-13703-2, pg. 447
  22. ^ Crisafulli, Chuck. Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song. Carlton, 1996. ISBN 0-684-83356-5, pg. 38
  23. ^ "NME's 100 Greatest Singles of All Time Unveiled" (http). nme.com. 2002. Retrieved October 22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ ""VH1's 100 Greatest Songs"" (http). cbsnews.com. 2003. Retrieved October 19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "U2's One named 'greatest record'" (http). bbc.co.uk. 2003. Retrieved October 22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ ""Smells Like Teen Spirit"" (http). rollingstone.com. 2004. Retrieved October 19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ ""U2 cop nation's favourite lyric"" (http). itv.com. 2006. Retrieved October 22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ Azerrad, pg. 199
  29. ^ Chrisafulli, pg. 38
  30. ^ Azerrad, pg. 211
  31. ^ Chrisafulli, pg. 37
  32. ^ Azerrad, pg. 213
  33. ^ Cross, Charles. Heavier Than Heaven. Hyperion, 2001. ISBN 0-7868-6505-9, pg. 169
  34. ^ Cobain, Kurt. Journals. Riverhead Books, 2002. ISBN 1-57322-232-1
  35. ^ Azerrad, pg. 213
  36. ^ Azerrad, pg. 214
  37. ^ Azerrad, pg.190-91
  38. ^ Azerrad, pg. 191
  39. ^ Cross, pg. 208
  40. ^ ""Top of the Pops" shows" (http). observer.guardian.co.uk. 2006. Retrieved October 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  41. ^ Azerrad, pg. 257
  42. ^ "Weird Al Yankovic Dishes On James Blunt, Discusses His Role As the Whitest, Nerdiest Rock Star Ever" (http). rollingstone.com. 2006. Retrieved October 21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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