“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana started out in Kurt Cobain’s imagination as a tribute to Pixies and ended up as the soundtrack to the 1990s. There’s arguably no rock song more famous that’s been made since. And, frankly, all of the attention that drove its creator mad is warranted. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is, possibly, the greatest alternative rock song of the 1990s.
But how did Cobain know what teen spirit smelled like? What’s the deal with the video showing distressed high schoolers, and how did Weird Al choose to cover the song?
All of these questions are about to be answered shortly by none other than me.
Nirvana’s Journey to Making “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Nirvana was, by the early 1990s, a garage-rock band from Seattle trying to make ends meet. In that way, they were very much like nearly every other band in Seattle. Only Jimi Hendrix had escaped the city to find fame as a rocker, and nobody was placing money on anyone to repeat the feat.
But then, the near impossible happened. First, Soundgarden earned the attention of record labels through their psychedelic-tinged stylings, now dubbed “alternative rock.” Next, Alice in Chains scored a hit with “Man in the Box” and went on tour with Slayer.
Finally, a subsidiary of Geffen Records put out the “Nevermind” album, turning Nirvana into a rock sensation not seen since The Beatles. It’d been “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that had lit the flame.
The Meaning of the Lyrics to “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Nirvana’s sound has been attributed to the styles of punk, garage rock, heavy metal, or independent rock. But Kurt Cobain would’ve been just as comfortable calling it “pop.”
That’s what he said he was trying to write when he first presented “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl. “I was basically trying to rip off The Pixies.” Interestingly, he failed to mention the similarity between this song and Boston’s “More Than a Feeling,” but fortunately, Tom Scholz doesn’t like to sue people.
The name of the song and the lyrics confounded listeners for years. But the words are far less enigmatic than they may seem the first time that you hear the song.
The song title is inspired by a phrase written by Kathleen Hanna, legendary singer for Bikini Kill. She wrote “Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit” on Cobain’s wall after a night of running around town drunk and spray painting the walls of religious institutions.
Hanna later recalled: “We ended up in Kurt’s apartment and I smashed up a bunch of s–t. I took out a Sharpie marker and I wrote all over his bedroom wall – it was a rental so it was really kind of lame that I did that. I passed out with the marker in my hand and woke up hung over.”
Cobain took the gifted phrase as a kind of badge of honour. But little did he know that Teen Spirit was, in fact, a deodorant brand. Hanna had just come up with the best joke in alt-rock history without even meaning to do it.
And, in fact, by the time that the song hit the charts, “alternative rock” and “grunge” became household names, whereas before they were just phrases used by those obsessed with the musical underground.
If the lyrics have any meaning at all, they deal with apathy and detachment. Cobain later said that he was upset with his generation’s lack of idealism and laziness. The phrase “Oh well, whatever, never mind” tries to capture the attitude of the time.
There are other bits of information taken from the songwriter’s own life. A naturally shy Kurt Cobain would arrive at parties saying, “Here we are now, entertain us.“
Of course, when trying to decipher the meaning of Nirvana songs, one has to remember that Cobain also admitted that lyrics were the last of his concerns when recording a new song.
The Music Video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
It’s safe to say that the music video is the first thing that pushed the largely unknown Nirvana into the musical mainstream. While visually striking, Cobain and director Samuel Bayer had a very clear inspiration.
They were playing on the concept of the movie “Rock n’ Roll High School” featuring the pioneering punk band, Ramones. It was Cobain who suggested that the cheerleaders have anarchist symbols on their shirts and tattoos. He’d also suggested choosing overweight cheerleaders, but had the director shut him down.
MTV, the principal promoter of music videos, hesitated to air “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at first. However, when it did feature the video on 120 Minutes, the channel was inundated with requests to replay it.
The Legacy of Nirvana and “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” routinely tops lists recounting the best or most famous songs of the 1990s. It introduced Nirvana to the world, one of the most important bands of its era.
Drummer Dave Grohl, who’d recently joined the band, recalled that sudden jolt of fame when speaking to Mojo: “‘Teen Spirit’ definitely established that quiet/loud dynamic thing that we fell back on a lot of the time. It did become that one song that personifies the band.
But the video was probably the key element in that song becoming a hit. People heard the song on the radio and they thought, ‘This is great,’ but when kids saw the video on MTV they thought, ‘This is cool. These guys are kinda ugly and they’re tearing up their f–king high school.’ So I think that had a lot to do with what happened with the song.
But do I think it’s the greatest single of all time? Of course not! I don’t even think it’s the greatest Nirvana single.”
The song’s best covered brilliantly by Tori Amos and Patti Smith, and parodied, just as brilliantly by Weird Al Yankovic, who personally managed to obtain Cobain’s permission.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” reached number 7 on the Billboard charts. “Nevermind” has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. And, while Kurt Cobain’s early, famous passing was a tragedy, one would like to imagine that he’d smile at thinking how many people he inspired with his music.
