Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' Turns 27 Today

Just wanted to give a shoutout this behemoth of a track on its 27th birthday. TWENTY-SEVEN! Man, how the years have gone by.

‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is the opening track of ‘Nevermind’, Nirvana’s second album (released in 1991), and it didn’t take long for it to play a major role in ushering in a new era of rock n’ roll music. Grunge is often credited with the death of metal as a genre, and as a gigantic fan of both, I don’t really have a horse in the race, but if any song in-particular could be credited with that feat, it’s this one.

From Kurt Cobain’s screaming, angst-filled and almost incoherent lyrics, to Dave Grohl’s EXPLOSIVE, wildcard drum track, all the way to Krist Novoselic’s brooding bass line, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is undoubtably one of the greatest songs ever written, and one of the most influential as well. Cobain’s quotes about writing ‘Teen Spirit’ are pretty hilarious in hindsight, as he claims he was just trying to rip off the Pixies and write a “generic pop song”…

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.

…and initially, it wasn’t too well received by the other members of the band – specifically bassist Krist Novoselic – who called it “ridiculous” before playing the song for nearly 90 minutes straight, eventually getting digging into and discovering the slow, zombified groove we hear today. Because it took so long to compromise and get to a point where everyone in the band was happy with the finished product, it’s the only track on ‘Nevermind’ where all three members of Nirvana are credited as writers.

Personally, I’ve got so many great memories of playing this song with pretty much everyone I’ve ever jammed with, because it’s one of those songs – that, as a musician – you have to learn right away. It’s inevitable to come up at band practice at SOME POINT, and trust me, you’re not gonna want to be standing there like an idiot while everyone else is headbanging their face off. But yeah, from high school friends, to my middle school band, to just my brother and uncle, all the way to Pup Punk, there’s nobody I haven’t shared this work of art with musically, and I wouldn’t have that any other way.

Thank you, Kurt, Dave, and Krist – for bringing this track into our lives on this day in 1991. May it live on forever.