text: 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 . written by kurt cobain , krist novoselic , and dave grohl ( lyrics by cobain , music by nirvana ) and produced by butch vig , the song uses a verse - chorus form where the main four - chord riff is used during the intro and chorus to create an alternating loud and quiet dynamic . the sound of the song ( as cobain admitted ) is modeled after the sound of the pixies . the unexpected success of " smells like teen spirit " in late 1991 propelled nevermind to the top of the charts at the start of 1992 , an event often marked as the point where alternative rock entered the mainstream . " smells like teen spirit " was nirvana 's 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 . " smells like teen spirit " received many critical plaudits , including topping the village voice pazz & jop critics ' poll and winning two mtv video music awards for its music video , which was in heavy rotation on music television . the song was dubbed an " anthem for apathetic kids " of generation x , but the band grew uncomfortable with the success and attention it received as a result . in the years since cobain 's death , listeners and critics have continued to praise " smells like teen spirit " as one of the greatest songs of all time . origins and recording 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 . " composition " smells like teen spirit " follows a f – b ♭ – a ♭ – d ♭ chord progression , with the main guitar riff constructed from four power chords played in a syncopated sixteenth note strum by cobain . the guitar chords were double tracked because the band " wanted to make it sound more powerful , " according to vig . 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 . listeners made many comments that the song bore a passing resemblance to boston 's 1976 hit " more than a feeling " . cobain himself held similar opinions , saying that it " was such a clichéd riff . it was so close to a boston riff or [ the kingsmen 's ] ' louie louie . ' " however , rikky rooksby points out that " smells like teen spirit " and " more than a feeling " follow different chord progressions . " smells like teen spirit " uses a " somewhat conventional formal structure " consisting of four- , eight- , and twelve - bar sections that includes an eight - bar verse , an eight - bar first chorus ( pre - chorus ) , and a twelve - bar second chorus ( main chorus ) . musicologist graeme downes , who led the band the , says that " smells like teen spirit " illustrates developing variation . elements of the song 's structure are marked off with shifts in volume and dynamics , going back and forth from quiet to loud a number of times during the length of the recording . this structure of " quiet verses with wobbly , chorused guitar , followed by big , loud hardcore - inspired choruses " became a much - emulated template in alternative rock because of " teen spirit " . 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 . as the song moves closer to the choruses , cobain begins to play the same two notes on every beat of the measure and repeats the word " hello " . following the first and second choruses , cobain simultaneously sings the word " yay " and performs a unison bend on his guitar . after the second chorus , cobain plays a 16 - bar guitar solo that almost completely restates his vocal melody from the verse and pre - chorus . during the closing refrain , cobain sings " a denial " repeatedly ; his voice becomes strained and is almost shot from the force of yelling . release , success , and acclaim issued to radio on august 27 , 1991 , " smells like teen spirit " was released two weeks later on september 10 as the lead single from nevermind , the band '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 fanbase for the group . " smells like teen spirit " was not expected to be a hit , for it was merely intended to be the base - building alternative rock cut from the album . it was anticipated that the follow - up single " come as you are " would be the song that could cross over to mainstream formats . however , campus radio and modern rock radio stations picked up on the track , and placed it on heavy rotation . danny goldberg of nirvana 's management firm gold mountain later admitted that " 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 . " the video received its world premiere on mtv 's late - night alternative rock program 120 minutes , and proved so popular that the channel began to air it during its regular daytime rotation . 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 , its accompanying video , and the nevermind album had become hits . both the song 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 . " smells like teen spirit " became a critical and commercial success . the song 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 singles chart the same week that nevermind reached number one on the albums chart . " teen spirit " hit number one on the modern rock tracks chart , and has since been certified platinum ( one million copies shipped ) by the recording industry association of america . however , many american top 40 stations were reluctant to play the song in regular rotation due to its sound , and restricted it to night - time play . the single was also successful in other countries . in the united kingdom , " smells like teen spirit " reached number seven and charted for 184 weeks . the song was nominated for two grammy awards : best hard rock performance with vocal and best rock song . 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 . 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 . " nevertheless , the music press awarded the song an " anthem - of - a - generation " status , placing cobain as a reluctant spokesman for generation x. the new york times observed 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 , " and added , " as nirvana knows only too well , teen spirit is routinely bottled , shrink - wrapped and sold . " the band grew uncomfortable with the song 's success , and in later concerts often pointedly excluded it from the set list . 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 , " and observed , " there are no ' teen spirits ' on in utero . " 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 . " in the years following cobain 's 1994 death and the band 's breakup , " smells like teen spirit " has continued to garner critical acclaim , and is now 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 . in 2000 , vh1 rated the song at number forty - one on its " 100 greatest rock songs " list , while mtv and rolling stone ranked it third on their joint list of the " 100 greatest pop songs " . the recording industry association of america placed " smells like teen spirit " at number eighty on their 2001 " songs of the century " list . in 2002 , nme awarded the song the number two spot on its list of " 100 greatest singles of all time " , with kerrang ! ranking it at number one on its own list of the " 100 greatest singles of all time " . vh1 placed " smells like teen spirit " at number one on its list of " 100 greatest songs of the past 25 years " in 2003 , while that same year , the song came third in a q poll of the " 1001 best songs ever " . in 2004 , rolling stone ranked " smells like teen spirit " ninth on its list of " the 500 greatest songs of all time " , and described its impact as " a shock wave of big - amp purity , " noting that " [ it ] wiped the lingering jive of the eighties off the pop map overnight . " the song was placed at number six in nme 's " global best song ever poll " in 2005 . 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 as the third - favorite song lyric among over 13 , 000 voters . vh1 placed " smells like teen spirit " at number one on its list of the " 100 greatest songs of the ' 90s " in 2007 , while rolling stone ranked it number ten on its list of " the 100 greatest guitar songs of all time " . 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 ( it was first place previously in 1991 and 1998 ) . that same year , vh1 ranked the song seventh on its list of the " 100 greatest hard rock songs " . 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 , " time magazine later included it on its list of " the all - time 100 songs " in 2011 . 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 " . nme placed the song at number two on its list of the " 100 best tracks of the ' 90s " in 2012 , and at number one on its list of " the 500 greatest songs of all time " in 2014 . 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 . " smells like teen spirit " was re - released 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 " , a similar online campaign has been launched to promote the nirvana single 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 . a similar campaign was also launched in ireland to get the track to 2011 christmas number one in the irish singles chart . the campaign resulted in the song reaching number 11 on the uk singles chart , with 30 , 000 copies sold . lyrics and interpretation the lyrics to " smells like teen spirit " were often difficult for listeners to decipher , both due to their 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 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 . " 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 . 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 . " marsh , trying to decipher the lyrics of the song , 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 down for the official version of the facts . " " teen spirit " is widely interpreted to be a teen revolution anthem , an interpretation reinforced by the song 's music video . 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 . " as cobain did more interviews , he changed his explanation of the song and rarely gave specifics about the song 's meaning . when discussing the song in michael azerrad 's biography come as you are : the story of nirvana , cobain revealed that he felt a duty " to describe what i felt about my surroundings and my generation and people my age . " the book teen spirit : the stories behind every nirvana song describes " teen spirit " as " a typically murky cobain exploration of meaning and meaninglessness . " 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 . " in heavier than heaven , charles r. cross ' biography of kurt cobain , the author 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 [ sic ] teens . " 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 . " music video the music video for " smells like teen spirit " was the first for director samuel bayer . bayer stated he believed he was hired because his test - reel was so poor the band anticipated his production would be " punk " and " not corporate . " 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 film , over the edge , as well as the ramones ' film rock ' n ' roll high school . filmed on a soundstage in culver city , the video featured the band playing at a pep rally in a high school gym to an audience of apathetic students on bleachers , and cheerleaders wearing black dresses with the circle - a anarchist symbol . occasionally , the scene would cut to a janitor ( played by tony de la rosa ) wearing a navy blue jumpsuit and dancing with a push broom handle . the video ends with the assembled students destroying the set and the band 's gear . the demolition of the set captured in the video 's conclusion was the result of genuine discontent . the extras that filled the bleachers had been forced to stay seated through numerous replays of the song for an entire afternoon of filming . cobain convinced bayer to allow the extras to mosh , and the set became a scene of chaos . " once the kids came out dancing they just said ' fuck you , ' because they were so tired of this shit throughout the day , " cobain said . cobain disliked bayer 's final edit and personally oversaw a re - edit of the video that resulted in the version finally aired . one of cobain 's major additions was the next - to - last shot of the video , which was a close - up of his own face after it had been obscured for most of the video . bayer noted that unlike subsequent artists he worked with , cobain did not care about vanity , rather that " the video had something that was truly about what they were about . " the video had an estimated budget between $ 30 , 000 and $ 50 , 000 . like the song itself , the music video for " smells like teen spirit " was well received by critics . rolling stone writer david fricke described the video as looking like " the greatest gig you could ever imagine . " in addition to a number one placing in the singles category , " teen spirit " also topped the music video category in the village voice 's 1991 " pazz & jop " poll . the video won nirvana the best new artist and best alternative group awards at the 1992 mtv video music awards , and in 2000 the guinness world records named " teen spirit " the most played video on mtv europe . in subsequent years amy finnerty , formerly of mtv 's programming department , claimed the video " changed the entire look of mtv " by giving them " a whole new generation to sell to . " rolling stone placed the music video for " smells like teen spirit " at number two on their 1993 list of " the 100 top music videos " . mtv ranked the song 's music video at number three on its " 100 greatest music videos ever made " list in 1999 . vh1 placed the debut of the " teen spirit " video at number eighteen on its 2000 list of " 100 greatest rock & roll moments on tv " , noting that " the video [ ushered ] in alternative rock as a commercial and pop culture force . " in 2001 , vh1 ranked the video fourth on its " 100 greatest videos " list . the video has been parodied at least twice : in " weird al " yankovic 's music video for " smells like nirvana " and in bob sinclar 's 2006 music video for " rock this party ( everybody dance now ) " . live performances " smells like teen spirit " was first performed live on april 17 , 1991 at the ok hotel in seattle , washington . the performance is featured on the dvd of the 2004 box set with the lights out , while shorter clips are included on the nevermind classic albums dvd , as well as the documentary film hype ! as the song 's lyrics had not yet been entirely written , there are notable differences between it and the final version . for example , the first performance started with " come out and play , make up the rules " instead of the eventual opening of " load up on guns , bring your friends . " a recording of the earlier version appears on with the lights out and again on sliver : the best of the box . a similar early live performance of the song is found in the documentary 1991 : the year punk broke , filmed during a 1991 summer tour in europe with sonic youth . nirvana often altered the song 's lyrics and tempo for live performances . some live performances of the song had the line " our little group has always been " changed to " our little tribe has always been , " which can be heard on the 1996 live album from the muddy banks of the wishkah . rolling stone remarked that the wishkah version of " teen spirit " " [ found ] cobain 's guitar reeling outside the song 's melodic boundaries and sparking new life in that nearly played - out hit . " a notable alternate performance of " smells like teen spirit " occurred on bbc 's top of the pops in 1991 , during which the band refused to mime to the pre - recorded backing track and cobain sang in a deliberately low voice and altered numerous lyrics in the song ( for example , " load up on guns , bring your friends " became " load up on drugs , kill your friends " ) . cobain later said he was trying to sound like former smiths frontman morrissey . when top of the pops was cancelled in 2006 , the observer listed nirvana 's performance of " smells like teen spirit " as the third greatest in the show 's history . this performance can be found on the 1994 home video live ! tonight ! sold out ! ! . cover versions " smells like teen spirit " has been covered by numerous artists . one of the first cover recordings was an acoustic piano version by tori amos on her 1992 crucify ep , which cobain referred to as " a great breakfast cereal version " . the jazz trio the bad plus recorded the track for its cd these are the , the melvins recorded a version on the crybaby featuring former child star leif garrett , and the industrial act also released a tribute . the moog cookbook put out a synthesizer - based cover version on the moog cookbook and the japanese has recorded a beatboxed cover version . british group the flying pickets released an a cappella version of the song on their album the original flying pickets : volume 1 . covers of the song on tribute albums include blanks 77 on smells like bleach : a punk tribute to nirvana , and beki bondage on smells like nirvana ; both released in 2000 . in 2005 , " teen spirit " was covered as a swing song by 1950s star paul anka . in 2006 , the band flyleaf covered the song for yahoo ! ' s launchcast service . in 2007 , patti smith included a cover version , which incorporated a piece of her poetry , on her album of cover songs twelve . this was particularly a lyrical and melodic version of the song . a family - friendly barbershop quartet version was performed by beaker , link hogthrob , rowlf the dog , and sam eagle for the 2011 film the muppets and its soundtrack . a version appears on j * 's 2011 ep evil christian cop . robert glasper experiment covered the song on its grammy - award winning black radio album . in january 2015 , daniel johns performed an innovative live cover of the song at triple j 's beat the drum birthday celebration . the song has been adapted into other forms over the years . germany 's atari teenage riot sampled " smells like teen spirit " in the song " atari teenage riot " from their 1997 album , burn , berlin , burn ! dj balloon , a german techno dj , also used the sample in his song " " . an instrumental cover version ( slightly altered and named " self high - five " to avoid legal complications ) was produced by world championship wrestling as the entrance music for wrestler diamond dallas page . in addition to cover versions , " smells like teen spirit " has also inspired a few parodies . " weird al " yankovic parodied the song in 1992 with " smells like nirvana " , a song about nirvana itself . yankovic parodied the difficulty in understanding cobain 's singing as well as the lyrics and their meaning . yankovic has said kurt cobain told him he realized that nirvana had " made it " when he heard the parody . in 1995 , the queercore band pansy division recorded a parody of the song called " smells like queer spirit " for its pile up album . pansy division guitarist jon insisted that his band 's version of the song was not a parody but " an affectionate tribute " . formats and track listing charts and certifications personnel kurt cobain – guitar , vocals krist novoselic – bass dave grohl – drums