Smells Like Teen Spirit
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, Nevermind (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled Nevermind to the top of several albums charts at the start of 1992, an event often marked as the point when grunge entered the mainstream.[2] It was Nirvana's biggest hit, charting high on music industry charts around the world in 1991 and 1992, and was number one on the charts in Belgium, France, New Zealand and Spain. It was met with wide critical acclaim, and described as an "anthem for apathetic kids" of Generation X. Although Nirvana grew uncomfortable with the mainstream and commercial attention the song brought to them, listeners and critics continue to praise "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as one of the greatest songs of all time.
For the Vampire Diaries episode, see Smells Like Teen Spirit (The Vampire Diaries)."Smells Like Teen Spirit"
September 10, 1991
May 1991
- 5:01 (album version)
- 4:38 (single version)
- Butch Vig
- Nirvana[1]
- Craig Montgomery (mentioned)
The music video for the song is based on the concept of a high school pep rally which ends in chaos and riot, inspired by Jonathan Kaplan's 1979 film Over the Edge and the Ramones' film Rock 'n' Roll High School. It won two MTV Video Music Awards, and was in heavy rotation on MTV during the 1990s. In subsequent years Amy Finnerty, formerly of MTV's programming department, claimed the video "changed the entire look of MTV" by giving the channel "a whole new generation to sell to". In 2000, the Guinness World Records named "Smells Like Teen Spirit" the "Most Played Video" on MTV Europe.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2001, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ranked the song at number 80 on their Songs of the Century list. In 2002, NME ranked the song the number two on its list of "100 Greatest Singles of All Time", while Kerrang! ranked it at number one on its list of the "100 Greatest Singles of All Time".[3] In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked "Smells Like Teen Spirit" fifth on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[4] In 2017, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Music[edit]
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a grunge[20] and alternative rock[21] song. It was recorded in the original key of F minor and follows a F5 -B♭-A♭5 -D♭ chord progression,[22] with the main guitar riff constructed from four power chords played in a syncopated sixteenth note strum by Cobain.[23] The guitar chords were double tracked to create a "more powerful" sound.[24] 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.[23] The riff resembles that of Boston's 1976 hit "More Than a Feeling",[7] though it is not identical.[22] During the verses, Cobain used a Small Clone effect pedal to add a chorus effect.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" uses a "somewhat conventional formal structure" consisting of four-, eight-, and twelve-bar sections, including an eight-bar verse, an eight-bar pre-chorus, and a twelve-bar chorus.[25] Musicologist Graeme Downes, who led the band the Verlaines, says that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" illustrates developing variation.[26] Elements of the structure are marked with shifts in volume and dynamics, moving from quiet to loud several times. This structure of "quiet verses with wobbly, chorused guitar, followed by big, loud hardcore-inspired choruses" became an alternative rock template.[27]
During the verses, the band maintains the same chord progression as the chorus. Cobain plays a two-note guitar line over Novoselic's root-note eighth note bassline, which outlines the chord progression. Approaching the chorus, Cobain begins to play the same two notes on every beat of the measure and repeats the word "Hello".[22] Following the first and second choruses, Cobain simultaneously sings the word "Yay" and performs a unison bend on his guitar.[28] After the second chorus, Cobain plays a 16-bar guitar solo restating his vocal melody from the verse and pre-chorus.[25] During the closing refrain, Cobain sings "A denial" repeatedly; his voice becomes strained from the force of yelling.[24]
Lyrics and interpretation[edit]
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."[29] 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.[30] 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 Marsh 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."[31] Marsh, trying to decipher the lyrics, 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."[32]
The book Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song describes "Teen Spirit" as "a typically murky Cobain exploration of meaning and meaninglessness".[33] 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". Additionally, the "famously obscure couplet"—"A mulatto, an albino / A mosquito, my libido"—is, according to Azerrad, "nothing more than two pairs of opposites, a funny way of saying the narrator is very horny".[34] In Heavier Than Heaven, Charles R. Cross' biography of Cobain, Cross 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".[35][a]
"Teen Spirit" is widely interpreted as a teen revolution anthem, an interpretation reinforced by the music video.[36] 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."[11] In Michael Azerrad's biography Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Cobain said he felt a duty "to describe what I felt about my surroundings and my generation and people my age".[15] He also 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."[34] As Cobain did more interviews, he changed his explanation of the song and rarely gave specifics about the meaning.[11] Grohl 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."[37]
Release and reception[edit]
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released to radio on August 27, 1991. On September 10, it was released as the lead single from Nevermind, Nirvana's major label debut on DGC Records. The song did not initially chart, and it sold well only in regions of the United States with an established Nirvana fanbase.[38]
The single was intended to be a base-building alternative rock cut from the album, and was not expected to be a hit; the follow-up "Come as You Are" was planned as the single that could cross over to mainstream radio formats. However, campus and modern rock radio stations placed "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on 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."[39]
The video received its world premiere on MTV's late-night alternative rock program 120 Minutes on September 29,[40] and proved so popular that the channel began to air it during its regular daytime rotation.[30] 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, music video, and the Nevermind album had become hits. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" 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.[41]
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was also a critical and commercial success. It 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 Hot 100 singles chart the same week that Nevermind reached number one on the albums chart.[42] "Teen Spirit" hit number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and has been certified platinum (one million copies shipped) by the Recording Industry Association of America.[43] However, many American Top 40 stations were reluctant to play the song in regular rotation and restricted it to night-time play.[44]
The single was also successful in other countries. In the United Kingdom, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released on November 18, 1991, reaching number seven on the UK Singles Chart and charting for 184 weeks.[45][46] The song was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal and Best Rock Song.[47] 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.[48] Outside the United States, the song topped the charts of Belgium, France, New Zealand, and Spain. It charted within the top five of several European countries and reached number five in Australia. It appeared on several year-end charts, including number 10 in New Zealand, number 17 in Belgium and Germany, and number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Chart.[49]
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."[50] Nevertheless, the music press awarded the song an "anthem-of-a-generation" status, placing Cobain as a reluctant spokesman for Generation X.[51] The New York Times wrote 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 ... as Nirvana knows only too well, teen spirit is routinely bottled, shrink-wrapped and sold".[52]
Nirvana grew uncomfortable with the song's success and, in later concerts, often excluded it from the set list.[36] 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 ... There are no 'Teen Spirits' on In Utero."[53] 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."[6]
Legacy[edit]
Dubbed an "anthem for apathetic kids" of Generation X,[77][78] in the years following Cobain's 1994 suicide and Nirvana's breakup "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has continued to garner critical acclaim, and is often listed as one of the greatest songs of all time. It was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll" in 1997.[79] In 2000, VH1 rated the song at number forty-one on its "100 Greatest Rock Songs" list,[80] while MTV and Rolling Stone ranked it third on their joint list of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs".[81] The Recording Industry Association of America placed "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at number eighty on their 2001 "Songs of the Century" list.[82] In 2002, NME awarded the song the number two spot on its list of "100 Greatest Singles of All Time",[83] with Kerrang! ranking it at number one on its own list of the "100 Greatest Singles of All Time".[3] VH1 placed "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at number one on its list of "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years" in 2003,[84] while that same year, the song came third in a Q poll of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[85] In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked "Smells Like Teen Spirit" fifth on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[86] The song was placed at number six in NME's "Global Best Song Ever Poll" in 2005.[87] In 2022, it was included in the list "The story of NME in 70 (mostly) seminal songs": Mark Beaumont wrote that with this song, Nirvana rejuvenated American rock, "honing the melodic roars of Husker Du, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth into an MTV friendly quiet-loud dynamic".[88]
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 the third-favorite lyric by over 13,000 voters.[89] VH1 placed "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at number one on its list of the "100 Greatest Songs Of The '90s" in 2007,[90] while Rolling Stone ranked it number ten on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".[91] In 2009, the song was voted number one for the third time in a row on the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in Australia[92] (it was first place previously in 1991[93] and 1998).[94] That year, VH1 ranked the song seventh on its list of the "100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs".[95] Despite previously proposing in its 2006 entry for Nevermind on "The All-TIME 100 Albums" that "'Smells Like Teen Spirit' ... may be the album's worst song",[96] Time magazine later included it on its list of "The All-TIME 100 Songs" in 2011.[97] That same year, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" kept its number nine ranking on Rolling Stone's updated list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time",[98] while in 2019, the magazine ranked it at number one in its list of "50 Best Songs of the Nineties".[99] NME placed the song at number two on its list of the "100 Best Tracks Of The '90s" in 2012,[100] and at number one on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2014.[101] In 2015, the song was also named the most iconic song of all time according to a study by Goldsmith's College, which analysed various songs featured in numerous 'all-time best' lists, using analytical software to compare their key, BPM, chord variety, lyrical content, timbral variety, and sonic variance – the result of which designated the title to this song.[102] In 2017, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[103]
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was rereleased as a limited edition 7-inch vinyl single in December 2011. In an attempt to emulate a successful 2009 Facebook campaign to promote Rage Against the Machine's song "Killing in the Name", an online campaign was launched to promote "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to 2011 Christmas number one in the UK Singles Chart in protest at the dealings of The X Factor television series with the children's charity Rhythmix.[104] A similar campaign was also launched in Ireland to get the track to 2011 Christmas number one in the Irish Singles Chart.[105] The campaign resulted in the song reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, selling 30,000 copies.[106] According to Nielsen Music's year-end report for 2019, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was the most-played song of the decade on mainstream rock radio with 145,000 spins. All of the songs in the top 10 were from the 1990s.[107] In June 2021, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" became only the second song from the 1990s to reach 1 billion streams on the Spotify platform.[108][109]
Covers and parodies[edit]
Tori Amos recorded the song and released it in 1992 on her "Crucify" EP single. Dave Grohl commented on Nirvana covers in 1996: "There are a few bands that go out there and do Nirvana covers and it's absolutely ridiculous, That's almost like desecration, that's what I think of it as. Tori Amos' take on it (Smells Like Teen Spirit) was fine. I mean that was pretty hilarious. She can do whatever the hell she wants."[110] "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied the song in 1992 with "Smells Like Nirvana", a song about Nirvana itself. Cobain quickly gave permission, but asked, "It's not about food, is it?" Yankovic answered, "No, it's about how nobody can understand your lyrics." Upon hearing the parody, Cobain and his bandmates laughed hysterically. Yankovic has said Cobain told him he realized that Nirvana had "made it" when he heard the parody.[111] In 1995, the queercore band Pansy Division released a cover version with altered lyrics titled "Smells Like Queer Spirit" on their 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".[26] In the 2011 film The Muppets and its soundtrack, one of the acts of the Muppet Telethon involves Rowlf the Dog, Link Hogthrob, Sam Eagle, and Beaker performing the song as a barbershop quartet, where unwilling special guest Jack Black accuses them of "ruining one of the greatest songs of all time".[112][113] The 2015 film Pan features a cover of the song performed by Hugh Jackman in character as the pirate Blackbeard and other members of the cast in a musical sequence that introduces the character and his crew. It was selected for the scene after other traditional pirate songs "just wasn't jelling" with the filmmakers during rehearsals.[114] A version recorded by singer Malia J is used in the opening credits sequence of the 2021 film Black Widow.[115]
Personnel adapted from Nevermind liner notes[1]
Nirvana
Technical personnel
† Appears in all release formats, except for UK 7" and some promos.
‡ Paired with the track "Even in His Youth" on CD and promo 12" only; also separately on UK 12" (picture disc).