Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” is the opening track and lead single from the band’s 1991 breakthrough album Nevermind.
The song is written by Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl and produced by Butch Vig.

The unexpected success of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” propelled Nevermind to the top of the charts at the start of 1992, often marked as the point where alternative rock entered the mainstream.
“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.

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.

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit Lyrics

Load up on guns
Bring your friends
Its fun to lose
And to pretend
Shes overboard
Myself assured
I know I know
A dirty word

Hello (x 16)

With the lights out its less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now
Entertain us
A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido
Yea

Im worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

Hello (x 16)

With the lights out its less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now
Entertain us
A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido
Yea

And I forget
Just what it takes
And yet I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard
Its hard to find
Oh well, whatever, nevermind

Hello (x 16)

With the lights out its less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now
Entertain us
A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido
Yea

The music video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was the first for director Samuel Bayer, who would go on to direct videos for artists including Green Day, Metallica, and The Smashing Pumpkins.
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.

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit Song Info and Review

Released September 10, 1991
Recorded May 1991 at Sound City, Van Nuys, California
Genre Grunge
Length 5:01 (album version) and 4:30 (single version)
Label DGC
Writer Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic
Producer Butch Vig
Certification Platinum (RIAA)

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.

“Teen Spirit” is widely interpreted to be a teen revolution anthem, an interpretation reinforced by the song’s music video.
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.

source wikipedia.com

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at 10:42 am.