Smells Teen Spirit
🔞 ALL INFORMATION CLICK HERE 👈🏻👈🏻👈🏻
Smells Teen Spirit
What have the artists said about the song?
Did Kurt want this song to be popular?
Was there a chorus effect on Smells Like Teen Spirit?
Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love.
To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum
One of Nirvana’s biggest hits, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was the lead single from their second album, Nevermind . The song’s success and omnipresence in the early ‘90s brought the band unrivaled popularity. Eventually, Kurt grew tired of it and removed it from their live set as often as possible.
Rock history recalls Kathleen Hanna from Bikini Kill scrawling the phrase “Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit” in spray paint on a wall, from which Kurt took the title. Some say Kurt took it as a call for a revolution, in reference to the Bikini Kill-led riot grrl movement ; but according to producer Butch Vig , Kurt just thought the phrase “was stupid,” and it didn’t really mean anything at all. However, it was later revealed that Hanna was referring to the brand of deodorant worn by Kurt’s then-girlfriend and Hanna’s then-bandmate Tobi Vail .
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 [them] for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band—or at least in a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.
It was one of the last tracks written and recorded for the album, and the final version is comprised of the second take out of just three takes, according to Montage of Heck and other sources .
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” was voted #9 on Rolling Stone ’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time .
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” was Kurt Cobain’s ironic commentary on teenage/college party culture and how devoid of culture everyday life had become. It was meant to poke fun at the jocks and the meatheads, however, as the song began to reach critical acclaim, they started coming to shows to see them perform the song anyways. At first Kurt found this funny, all of the yoked out athletes jumping up and down and screaming the words to a song meant to criticise them, but with time he just became sick of being asked to perform it.
In a January 1994 Rolling Stone 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:
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 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 band Bikini Kill, wrote “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 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.”
If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.
Videos you watch may be added to the TV's watch history and influence TV recommendations. To avoid this, cancel and sign in to YouTube on your computer.
An error occurred while retrieving sharing information. Please try again later.
0:02 / 5:01 • Watch full video Live
Suggested: The Academic - Don't Take It Personally (One Take)
If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.
Nirvana on Vevo - Official Music Videos, Live Performances, Interviews and more...
Nirvana - Lithium (Live At Paradiso, Amsterdam/1991)
Videos you watch may be added to the TV's watch history and influence TV recommendations. To avoid this, cancel and sign in to YouTube on your computer.
An error occurred while retrieving sharing information. Please try again later.
The Academic - Don't Take It Personally (One Take) by TheAcademicVEVO 2,247 views
0:41 / 4:35 • Watch full video Live
Music video by Nirvana performing Smells Like Teen Spirit (Live At The Paramount, Seattle / 1991). © 2011 UMG Recordings, Inc.
http://vevo.ly/3W0sMn
Nirvana, AC/DC, Green Day, and more
Nirvana, AC/DC, Green Day, and more
Suggested: The Academic - Don't Take It Personally (One Take)
If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.
Nirvana on Vevo - Official Music Videos, Live Performances, Interviews and more...
Nirvana - Lithium (Live At Paradiso, Amsterdam/1991)
Videos you watch may be added to the TV's watch history and influence TV recommendations. To avoid this, cancel and sign in to YouTube on your computer.
An error occurred while retrieving sharing information. Please try again later.
The Academic - Don't Take It Personally (One Take) by TheAcademicVEVO 2,247 views
0:41 / 4:35 • Watch full video Live
Music video by Nirvana performing Smells Like Teen Spirit (Live At The Paramount, Seattle / 1991). © 2011 UMG Recordings, Inc.
http://vevo.ly/3W0sMn
Nirvana, AC/DC, Green Day, and more
Nirvana, AC/DC, Green Day, and more
Dana Delany Exit To Eden
Hardcore Milf Pussy
Deepfake Porn Tube