How 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' Changed the World
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- čas přidán 18. 04. 2018
- Why has all the seminal rock music disappeared from the charts? Rock is dead. Or at least that's what the music press have been telling us for the last half decade. There's not been a genre-defining rock act that has gripped the public consciousness in forever. Crunching guitar-based music is mostly gone from the charts. Hip-hop, day-glo pop and synths are the new dominating force. A lot of these RIP Rock articles envision a shake up. A new sound that is going to make "rock music" culturally relevant again. Simply put: We need another Smells Like Teen Spirit. But what made Teen Spirit so essential anyway?
Music used in the video:
• 7 Nation Army for Viol...
Seven Nation Army - Rob Landes
• Nirvana - Smells Like ...
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Aston
• The Hipster Orchestra,...
Lithium - The Hipster Orchestra
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You need to listen to some Natalie Findlay songs!
That hair band stuff wasn't garbage, dude. The 1980s had the best music. I love Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane" and Def Leppard's "Animal." I love Nirvana but it's too emo and self-loathing. 80s music was shallow but fun. And it aged better.
czcams.com/video/3byhih7HzQA/video.html
@@ThePatman1980 I beg to differ. 80s hair bands are seen as corny and sure, people listen to their music, but it's mostly people my parents' age. Nirvana is more culturally relevant than any of those bands can and will ever be.
@@ThePatman1980 80s music definitely didn't age better either. Nirvana's discography is much more resemblant of today's music.
Rock isn't dead but it isn't alive either.
KEEF IS STOOPID It's a zombie?
@@TokyoBlue587 I think it is a ghost.
Rock is sleeping until someone figures out how to wake it up
come back Zombie Kurt!!
like i always say to my pals “rock ain’t dead, but you may be”
music is too clean now we need some dirt
i would say my music has dirt...
listen to underground XXXTENTACION
And Facelift too!
Music is dead budy
Brojob
"We need another smells like teen spirit"
*this is the truest thing ive ever heard*
Seven Nation Army?
@@rowboat5294 No, it didn't make the same level of waves teen spirit did, although it has become an anthem all over the world for soccer.
I don't think we do. You need to discover other songs & albums which even surpassed Nirvana. Imo, Faith No More's 'Epic' song and album had a greater reach than 'smells like teen spirit'.
@@grubbybum3614 Why has everyone heard of smells like teen Spirit then?
@@RJA what's your point? Popularity doesn't mean something is influencial.
He makes it seem like he doesn’t care about the lyrics, but if you read his diary he really did care, he just kinda kept that “i didn’t care” vibe
Precisely. He always downplayed how much he cared about things, and acted like stuff just came together randomly. But in reality he cared and had alot of drive
He was 24/7 under Drugs, so i cant take his Words serious. You shouldnt either. Smells like a teen Spirit is a sick Rock song that will never get overrated. Has always a place in my Playlist.
@@ElectronicHouseFlash You don't have to care about his words. If you study his songs and lyrics, those are anything but random. The music is deceptively simple on the surface, but there's actually tons of things happening and it's really creative in the good way. The lyrics are also much more complex, and more revealing, than is usually given credit for.
It's kind of sad how Nirvana is so remembered about this song, while it certainly is magical on it's ability to create raw animalistic angst, I think it's just about average Nirvana song. It's a song that hooks everyone, and again it gets that adrenaline rush, but I don't think there are many true Nirvana fans that rate it as their favorite.
@Mariana D'Amelio In Kurt Cobain's case I think that "I don't care lyrics that much" is mixture of multitude of things. But I think Kurt sort of planned the mythic state for the band. It's much more effective to let the people decipher how amazing the lyrics actually are than explain it away for them.
On the other hand I think he meant that words are not so important, it's the emotion etc. that is important. Words are just placeholders for actual real things like emotions. And to communicate something metaphysical you have to play with words that are inherently crappy at doing just that. But Nirvana managed to achieve that.
why tf did you read his diary
tbh we realy need rock to go back to mainstream its about time.
we really don't. wouldn't you feel cooler if you were listening to 6-7 super rad bands that nobody else gave a fuck about? get a tee shirt from some act nobody cares about and watch people figure out that you're plugged in. who gives a shit if it's commercially successful? you can help smaller, more interesting bands develop a loyal, adoring fanbase.
Good luck finding bands like the 15 great bands from the early to mid 90s lol. It will never happen again. Nirvana Soundgarden Pearl Jam Alice In Chains STP, smashing Pumpkins Red hot chili pepper, Tool, Radiohead.....all at the same time? And there are more lol. It will never happen again. As much as i love Nirvana, it wasnt just Nirvana. Plus other bands like GNR and Metallica were still making great music. Use your illusion 1 and 2 are fucking masterpieces and still get forgotten because of the new wave coming right after their release. REM was still around too. Rock is dead and its not coming back
@@brianwilliams5662 but it's not. it may not be as much of a commercial force but seriously. amazing new rock records come out every week. it's your fault if you're too lazy to find some.
@@nicholasromig5506 Oh please stfu, you're acting like success is a bad thing! we should all strive for that. MAINSTREAM IS NEEDED IN ROCK. You're one of those dickheads who doesn't wanna see growth
Why, so we can have garbage like most of the 80s again?
Rock is not dead. you just cant smell what he is cooking.
Rock is defenetly not dead. There plenty of great bands making great music out there. The thing is that now days not everybody likes rock. I love rock but i cant force everyone to listen to something just because i say so.
@@dominusalbaniae7812 you didnt get the reference
"If you smeeellll what the rock is cooking"
@@dominusalbaniae7812 you didnt get the comment
Lol
When Kurt died something happened to Rock
@@FetishonyoutubeURL hmm .no ..it's sad for Chester obviously but his death didn't have the same impact.
Alejandro yes and to the world. Society isn't the same without him.
It got better - he he he he
@@BoccanNino troll
and chris cornell
Even my dad, who grew up listening to the Beach Boys and was almost 40 when Nevermind came out, heard Smells Like Teen Spirit and thought that it was a big deal and bought the album shortly after its release.
did he like Van Halen, cause Sammy Hagar was already 40 during that time
Yet before kurt took of his head , he wanted to quit
That makes it corny. You don’t want your parents liking your music. Has to have a rebellious element.
@@miamitten1123 But what if your parent is rebellious?
I t was my dad that played nirvana for me and he don't really like rock he's a blues and Country fan but nirvana imprinted on him and he had to share with his music loving sons
It's time for another Kurt Cobain to explode into the scene and save us!!!
I mean they're not the same genre as Nirvana,but Nothing but Theives is a cool band.
Music won't be the same every generation, we got a lot of artists who control the majority of creativity in their music or do everything themselves: Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), Grimes, Baths, Snail Mail, etc.
there not exactly a grunge band but Car Seat Headrest are epic and the best thing happening to rock music at the moment
Listen to Lil PEEP whole different World but has a similar position for the current teenage generation
TheJerryFilms no, just no
What's funny is I knew the song. And one day I was with my girlfriend and she needed deodorant (and other things), so we went to the store. I went down the aisle with her, and I saw that deodorant called 'teen spirit' and said "oh that's funny, the deodorant is named after the nirvana song...clever". She said "no, that deodorant has been around longer, I think". So I thought "no, the song can't possibly be based on a deodorant" lol. I love little epiphanies like that. :) great video!!
lol
T Timeler well, the song was kinda named after the deodorant. Kurt was at a party, and he had a hangover. When he woke up, he saw,”Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit,” on the wall, and he loved the phrase so much that he decided to name the song after it.
Nerfe 75 Thank you, we watched the video.
Better Art Just trying to be helpful
This is like when I thought Little Nemo the animated movie was "based on the Nintendo game by Capcom" and I was like, 10 or something, and I had never heard of Windsor McCay. I literally thought the movie was made because of the Nintendo game. To be fair, Little Nemo the game was released in 1990. The animated movie wouldn't see a release for another 2 years because of it being delayed.
"... and a small blonde man hollering like he's exorcising a demon" That line got me lol
me too its so accurate
Smells like teen spirit was one of Kurt’s song’s he hated most!! 😢
I understand him. The success that song had really seems an accident. Nirvana had a lot of better songs.
People need to stop saying that, he didn't hate it he was just tired of singing it
He didn’t hate the song itself, he just hated how popular it was.
Hello Skinny which ones
Ironic
Blame the music industry not the music.
Blame the people not the music industry they decide what's popular
Blame the music industry and the people
@@lookatmyplaylists9848 Very accurated
@@niared260 i think the music industry has more of a say in it than the people because i feel like theres a lot of bands like nirvana that are brilliant but the music industry just ignores them in favor of pop and hip hop bands
@@lookatmyplaylists9848 blame the parents who made those peoples
There was something almost magical about “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. As a longtime lover of music, it’s one of just a handful of tunes in which I distinctly remember the first two times I heard it. The first two times I heard it was on Tulane University’s student-run radio station WTUL. It was in either late August or early September 1991. Both times I was in my car driving very close by Tulane U on Broadway. When I heard it I thought it was the musical equivalent of my generation. Honestly, that’s exactly how it struck me. After the 2nd time I went right into a nearby indie record store (The Mushroom) and described the song for Mike. He knew exactly what I had heard. He said “Yeah man that’s Nirvana. They’re out of Seattle. Album is called Nevermind.” And he put on “Come As You Are”. That was it for me - I was hooked.
Ivan Lendl it's so interesting to me to hear people's first times hearing Nirvana. Must've been so enlightening and magical
@@tommie42 it was revolutionary,the "generation x" finally had something to relate to...
Was was a young Marine in Southern California driving in my car in which I had just had a stereo installed (Back in 1991, you could buy a new car without a stereo), when Smells like teen spirit came on the radio. I was astounded, like wtf was that I just heard?? It blew my mind. Then, just a few years later, driving that same car, I heard on the radio the news about Kurt Cobain’s death. And again I was stunned.
@@julioernestomoretacastillo2366 In UK and Europe we had acid house in the late 80's early 90's, which originated in Chicago in 1985. So Acid house. Rave and House music were also music for Gen X. I also agree with you Nirvana were definitely for Gen X too and kicked grunge into the mainstream.
That honestly so dope man, Nirvana is just so unique. I can’t really pinpoint it but even the members of the band are so cohesive and perfect for each other and Kurt is just wildly interesting and talented, I’ve never been captivated by a voice, energy, and personality like I am of Kurt. It’s something about him I haven’t seen in any artist since.
I still insist that “here we are now, entertain us” is the most prescient rock lyric ever written. View it now in the context of youth culture today. Astonishingly relevant.
It's something Kurt would say upon arrival at parties.
You sound so pretentious. What sort of wannabe are you?
Wow Kurt really nailed the lyrics to “more than a feeling”.
It was krist, not kurt.
Why do people keep calling Kurt small he was 5'10! Damn that's not tall but it's not small
Rotisserie Chiggen Kurt stood next to Krist Novoselic all the time. Anyone would be considered short if they stood next to Krist.
At least Kurt was taller than me.
krist is like a tree
Certainly hit a nerve with someone :)... A nerveana
As we all know, people under 5’12 are dwarfs
I remember being completely dumbfounded when I first saw the video. It was like nothing I had ever seen. Anyone who thinks it wasn't game changing simply wasn't there, or was too stoned to notice. Look at the musical landscape before Nevermind, then look at it after. Nothing in music was the same after September '91.
I dunno the 90's was a weird time to grow up. Personally I don't remember hearing much Nirvana at the time. Guns N Roses were massive I can remember hearing Sweet Child of Mine playing on the radio all the time way more than Smells Like Teen Spirit. Metallica were pretty huge pretty much everyone knew about them even if they didn't know any of their songs.
I can remember everyone talking about Oasis and how they were going to be huge the next Beatles. And for a while they were absolutely huge. When Firestarter by The Prodigy came out and media was freaking out about it they were in hysterics about them being bad influences or whatever.
Nirvana was really just a small subset of everything else that was happening at the time. Then the mythos around them just kind of grew, probably because of Kurt's death, everyone started talking about how they were game changers and how influential they were but at least from my point of view looking back they were a small subset of everything else happening in music at the time.
For people like me who had gotten into Indie music since 1985, Smells Like and Nirvana were nor unusual.
Mainstream commercial success and acceptance is what was amazing. Indie music had tapped on the door of the mainstream but with one hit wonders.
The Cure, the Cult and Goth band the Sisters of Mercy all were just on the outside. The Clash never made it. Ironically, Depeche Mode massively broke into the mainstream in 1992-93. with their album Songs of Faith and Devotion.
Depeche Mode were called techno grunge.
Their massive 1992 - 94 world Devotional tour literally almost killed them. A founding member left mid-term, their engine room and lead singer ended up with massive alcohol and drug addictions.
Nirvana due to the enduring success of Nevermind saved them.
Had Kurt lived he would have ended up like Layne Stalley, unable to tour due to his addiction. Had he cleaned up, he would have no drive to write songs.
@@1norwood1 it's an America vs UK problem. If you are American, then Nirvana were the last big thing in rock. In Britain, Oasis kept rock in the spotlight.
@@FrostedSeagull is that why its better to burn out than fade away...
@@FrostedSeagull Finally someone mentioning Depeche Mode and how big they were in early 90s. It's sad that the band is mostly unknown by common (and young) folks nowadays. People recognize their songs but just can't put a name on it:(
Rock, punk, grunge, metal
Or in other words: any bands like led zeppelin, greenday, nirvana or metallica will never die, even if we need to wait 20+ for it, we will alwats get another one
Well it’s been 29 years since Nirvana. I really want a new banned to revive rock and grunge.
IvanGames101 I’m trying
IvanGames101 check out Greta Van Fleet
greenday sucks ass and will never be like nirvana ever was
@@Amal-db2xh yup when you hear their whining emo core and pop punk it's shit better listen to rage against the machine
One of the most genre defining songs ever was about deodorant
Hehehe
ummm his girlfriend got her deodorant all over him
It is funny how people always seem to say "(whatever) is dead." Yes the way Nirvana influenced society will never happen again as it is unique to the concurrent circumstances. However, music will never "die." Rock is alive and well and people twenty years from now will look back and say "man rock is dead, they don't make them like they used to." Our brains love nostalgia and place the past on a pedestal, sometimes deserved and often times not.
Bad excuses and wrong. If it was nothing but nostalgia then how do I love music from before I was even born? I heard songs in the past week that are some of the greatest things I have ever heard. They were hits before I was even born, and I didn't even hear them until recently.
The Internet Killed Music His theory of rosy retrospection makes more sense than your theory of the Internet killing music, especially when you refer to discovering music from before you were born which I imagine you discovered in the past through the internet.
If you’re going to call others wrong, make sure you’re not a target first
kevin dooley Rock is not dead. I think it never will be, as long as people have beating hearts.
Do some reading on the concept of nostalgia
If rock is not dead, then name a few relavant contemporary rock bands.
The thing about "smells like teen spirit" is that it's kind of just like a big joke on the idea of a rock pop song. It's deconstruction of the genre is so effective as to be invisible, in short term at least. Today ppl don't even know what rock music was, or why people loved it. Cobain came from a generation that was able to witness incredible performers in concert at their prime. But now it's all just a blank slate at this point...
“People don’t even know what rock music was”. I’m pretty sure they do.
You sound like a pseudo-intellectual
What's wrong with the 2000's rock operas? American Idiot and The Black Parade, great songs with fantastic narrative.
well aren't you depressing. Greta Van Fleet isn't a blank slate
I have no idea what you're trying to say or why people upvoted this comment.
People don't seem to recognize how complex Kurt's Melody writing is. There is no way to teach an ear for Melody like that. It's both easy to play and impossible to create
"We need another smells like teen spirit."
No, we need a new artist to revolutionize the sound
That person is me. My name is Victor Nila JR, and I'm a power pop multi-genre musician. I mainly focus on nursery rhymes, or applying a childlike dynamic to my music. This is because of my miracle baby sister, and my fascination with the very first stages of life. Moreover, I am a Kemeticist, and that refers to the revival of ancient Egyptian religion. In Kemeticism, some of the gods are actually babies. Hereupon, I have given spiritual birth to seven more nurslings: three boys and four girls. Abydos, Chiron, and Orion are the boys. Abike, Babette, Eulalia, and Ocyrhoe are the girls. They protect me, heal me, and give me ideas for my musical work. Please tell everyone you know, my friend. My CZcams channel will always be family-friendly, and sure to enliven your spirit. My name is Uncle Vic JR, and I just can't wait to be your new best friend.
@@NBP123 what the hell
@@NBP123you should take less acid.
ROCK/GRUNGE IS GONNA COME BACK !!
Look up Lunch With the Devil by ElectricSol I think that will be the new sound
I think the xxxtentacion fans/generation will be inspired to mess with foreign sounds. I really hope change happens, x's music was a little rock (slipknot, one minute and 777) which I think will definitely inspire the youth. I myself am trying to learn the guitar and hope to write my own songs.
Bobstar Bobby if you ever make songs and upload them you gotta let me know😂
@@brooklyn8386 😂 for real, I've been at it. Learning theory of music and reading hella books. I'll release them one day 👍😂
@@alex.b755 any link? I can't find it on youtube
Nirvana changed the world...☮️
Kelli Jenkins-Iles in a bad way
Orange Lover i think you meant good way :)
Good way
@@porteraldred4204 nope, good way
Im gonna kill that person whoever says BTS or BLACKPINK change the world. Fk them.
How chief keef's "Love sosa" changed the world next
Deez bitches love sosa, oh, and I know it.
@@ppcasm_1278 wrong
Chief Keef > Nirvana
Who ??
justmillennialthings
I remember when it came out. Everything was SO. DANG. BORING. Then my husband turned on the radio and it started playing and we were both "YES!!! YES!!! FINALLY someone's singing what we want to hear." It was such a breath of fresh air. We were so grateful for it.
5:30
didnt Cobain also say that he joked with the media often?
Grimmlokd jager
all the time
Cobain was full of contradictions in his writings and in his interviews - some of it deliberate, some of it because he'd earnestly believe something one day, and just as earnestly believe the opposite a week from then. He died before he could finish defining himself as a person. All that's left is scraps he's left behind for people to extrapolate from, when in truth they're all pieces from totally different puzzles thrown all in the same box. He did not know his own mind, so how anyone else but his closest loved ones thinks they can is beyond me.
We are still waiting for another band to have that Nevermind impact. More Importantly will it happen? It has been nearly 30 years and no sign of anyone yet.
Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory came close though
SBells27 Classed as Nu Metal so never really had the same Impact.
Honestly, Blue October’s Foiled album was a masterpiece. Just like Nevermind, every song on Foiled was golden; in my opinion
Hefty Alan one day there will be a band called “wraiths” and they will blow the world away. I’m only 14 but me and my newly formed band will stop at nothing to kickstart a new generation of good music.
There are lots of good new rock bands but they aren’t famous so no one really knows them
Honestly I'm happy rock isn't in the charts. The underground gives way for way more cool innovation pop status wouldn't allow.
What?
True. And there will never be any rock group that impacts the world the same as Nirvana did because, nowadays, everything is pop. The underground never went back.
The underground was always there, at least for artists who weren't chasing pop stardom.
@@ja8ames exactly, and that's usually been where the most interesting stuff comes from.
Pop maybe popular, but rock has mature fans than the pop ones.
legendary bands like nirvana comes every 30 years
Beatles, Nirvana
It’s been 30ish years now
well i mean its been about 27 years since nirvana ended so lets wait and see
@oliviamaxw5136 the underground scene is already similar to what it was in the 80s so someone will be breaking out
@@Peter.the.tumblergive music recommendations from underground?
Really good video but just one thing..... ROCK WILL NEVER DIE!!!
Died long time ago
Teh3aZ
explian??
That is what has been said about many things
@@Teh3aZ ur mad
Jeffrey Woods How I’m mad? I’m a rock/metal head, but this is the truth whether you like it or not, radio now is full of pop/new school rap bullshit.
The thing ab Kurt that not many ppl understand is about how smooth his lyrics truly were. Like even if they don’t have a story behind it, if you rly listen and read between the lines, you can hear how creative each phrase is. It wasn’t his lyrics, it was his unique wordplay that nobody ever had.
I really felt when he sang, "I'm an albino mosquito "
7:26 I love how he puts Welcome To The Black Parade behind this brief point, effectively disproving it entirely
I’m the kid in my neighborhood growing up who was considered the outcast. Kurt defined me and a complete generation of outcasts, the weirdos and all of those in between in what he was and the music he made. He was the voice I was waiting for. Yes. We only had him a short while but he did so much for music and pop culture in that short period of time. I just wish I could thank him for what he did for me and countless others. He is among the greats now. Thank you for this video.
I like all types of music but Rock is my favorite. I want to see it big again, I want to see rock bands that knock your socks off come out again.
Same, after that, all that’s left is to take out the trash, k-pop...
Me too. I too listen to most genres. Rock need to come.
Same here. Rock and hiphop my faves
We need another Punk Rock. That's how we got to Smells like Teen Spirit. The journey of the 1980's American and UK underground is completely overlooked when we discuss Nirvana. The underground was the essential way to get from 1979 to 1991. Black Flag and Pixies aren't all that happened. Don't limit the story there.
why, what happened that contributed to Smells Like?
@@gregdahlen4375 I heard somewhere that when Nirvana was writing that song, they were trying to imitate Pixies.
Give me a few years.
Look at the video about the evolution of grunge…you will get your answers.
My dream when I grow up is to bring back this grunge and rock era for everybody. I would love to live in a world like this, with more amazing bands, though nothing can replace Nirvana.
Same
Same
Nahhh. Bring back the Ratt N Roll of the 1980s. Give me my hair metal back 🤘🎸
All the best you guys
It sounded like you were saying you'll bring it back for us 😂 if so, do it! Or birth it in new form
He gave us a voice and we adored him.... and we lived the life of alternative people. Thank you Kurt!
Nirvana is definitely the most punk influenced of the big 4 Seattle "grunge" bands.
i personally prefer pearl jam but nirvana is definitely the most influential
@Long duk dong Alice in Chains and Soundgarden were better. But AIC were leaning more on metal than garage rock. And even then Nirvana stole much of their sound from bands like Mudhoney and the Melvins.
@@rumblefish9 They all sounded fairly different, among the "Big 4," which was cool.
@Long duk dongits about taste
@Long duk dong
Nirvana and Alice 4 me are the bests
But 4 you Soundgarden
Yup, Nirvana taught me how to play guitar, moved onto Metallica/Korn, then Mudvayne, then Chimaira, etc-etc.
Same
I've started playing the guitar only to play Nirvana song's on it
dude i really love what you did with this video, almost brought a tear to my eye to see that someone else can describe the emotions and power in Kurts music the way i see it and feel it. Nirvana was a pandemic that pushed the world to open their eyes on how music can evolve, and I really like the way you displayed that! Music needs meaning to have purpose, and while Kurt may not admit he had meaning behind his music, there 110% was. Love your stuff man, if you haven't already you should make a video on Silverchair, they were Nirvana's apprentice and their music kept grunge alive when it started to die down.
It's the simplicity of the cords combined with the much more complicated melody that makes this song so genuinely sad rather than just angry.
Ahhh! what made Nirvana, Nirvana is lot of things... Many bands reached epic and legendary rock levels, but only Nirvana reached the nirvana.
Talent is obvious, each band member was exactly where he should've been at the right moment with the right attitude.
What really was outstanding is the global reach of 'Smells like teen spirit' and that is something that usually critics in the USA usually tend to undertone.
As somebody who grew up outside of the US in 90s i can tell you that the track has hit the world with cataclysmic magnitudes. All of a sudden you had people in India and China, people in Morocco and Nigeria, people in Spain and Russia, Argentina and Brazil .... all looking at this blond guy uttering words they don't understand and playing music they are not used to hear, yet, somehow they knew exactly what he was talking about because they could feel exactly what he was feeling.
So yeah, many are good and many are great, but only a select few reach this level, the level of Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Bob Marley and Sinatra... where music transcends race, culture, gender and borders.
Sappy
confuzler don't forget The Beatles
Beatles
confuzler well said.
Please, the song wasn't an international hit because other people could feel what he was feeling...as the video says the lyrics are gibberish and the song doesn't really mean anything...the reason it works all over the world is because the riff and production get your adrenalin pumping in a very primal way...just like the best dance music can get you dancing, or how a beautiful woman walking by can give you a boner...
Nirvana is so overrated. It really sucks that the first thing most people attribute to the Seattle Sound (I refuse to call it grunge) is Nirvana. When there were so many bands that were better. A lot better. Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees... heck Pearl Jam. What Nirvana was was a hype machine. Nirvana were media darlings who's talk to every magazine and TV station. Guys like Layne Staley didn't talk to any media. Kurt could never even in his wildest dreams come close to how awesome Layne was.
I don't know that there will ever be a moment like that again. Culture was homogenized into hair metal. It was like the 3 TV stations before cable garnering all the attention. Nirvana was like a singularity, everything changed and never went back. I was so looking forward to their career(s) in the coming decades. Imagine if the Beatles disappeared after Rubber Soul. Would we still be talking about The Beatles. Can't know, but I think Nirvana died before their full impact could be felt and Rock has drifted away ever since. Heroin destroyed more than we can fathom, and I'm not just talking about Kurt Cobain.
lots of great music has been - and still is - made by people on heroin. that's probably not a coincidence, destructive as it is.
@Reflex I agree.
Love how you got it playing in the background
Rock will never die Rock Doesn’t Fear The Reaper.
🍻
It's sad that so few people get the reference
at the time I first heard this song was weeks after it first came out and I was very into GNR, Metallica, Sepultura, 80's synth pop and all that stuff and this song was like nothing I have ever heard! It completely opened my mind as to how rock can sound, it was truly revolutionary! thanks so much Kurt and Nirvana for being part of my youth!
I live in Brazil and I just discovered your channel and I'm simply impressed, your narrative is incredible and simple.
Congratulations man
ps: I do not even want to be fluent in English but I understand a lot of what you say
your analysis is SO DEEP, man. all playlists are pure gold! watch, repeat
*insert other Nirvana song*
tHiS iS bEttEr tHAn sMeLLs LiKe TeEn SpiRiT
Francis Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle.
Aneurysm such a underrated song
My favorite Nirvana song is Song 2.
Damon albarn: im boutta ruin grunge’s whole career.
*WHOHOOO*
@KMS Tripitz nirvana’s last song was better.
Smells Like Teen Spirit is one of the few songs that I can vividly remember the first time I heard it. This song, and Nirvana in general, had a huge impact on the bands and styles of music I have enjoyed since hearing this song for the first time.
Thinking about those early 90s days still puts me in a trance, oh man what a magical time to be alive...
I just discovered your channel today and I really like it. Your videos are well-researched, seem lovingly put together and there is an endearing clarity to your narration. Well done and thank you.
Every day I wake up and thank God that Jack White is still alive
I wish I could hear it with fresh ears, as the first time I heard it was when I was probably 1991 or 1992 when I was 6. I was too young to realize the impact it had on rock music.
"gone from the charts"
Maneskin: hold my pasta!
I was looking for a comment about Måneskin! Maybe they're the beginning of a new rock revival and we're lucky to be here to witness it.
I believe everyone remembers what they were doing when they first heard Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Yeah, I was wondering why a song named after deodorant was getting so much praise.
Yeah, I actually do haha
SKELETON SLAPBOXING it was in 2016 cause I’m not a 90’s kid but I was unloading dishes
I am not 90's kid. I am 9 years old
t'was a ncie day in the living room
This was fantastic, good shit
Literal shit*
“In the end” by linkin park is up there as one of those songs...
I think Linkin Park has been the latest GREAT rock band, it’s a shame what happened to Chester. RIP
nah, not even close. nirvana changed the entire music industry for the short time they were around. even pop music radio stations that previously only played hip hop, rap and house music started playing rock 24/7. no other band since has made that much impact on pop music.
Not even. They are a different era.
That's a great summation man. Great job!
I guess that was late 1991 or very early 1992, when I first heard it. It was love at the first few chords. So... Isn't overanalyzing it pretty much futile? It's not about technique, not about ideology, not about lyrics (my English back then was awful anyway), it's all about emotions that music arises.
TotalRookie_LV Agreed. Nirvana weren’t successfull because Dave was a good drummer or because Kurt was a good singer and songwriter. They were successfull because they touched many young people emotionally with their songs. And this is also what music is about in general, at least for me.
I love the classic cover of the song in the background. I was wondering though... You've never mentioned R.E.M.
I love that you included a local band of mine (Downtown Boys) in the video
Love your videos man....Big inspiration for me!
Can you do more Nirvana and Joy Division and maybe a whole essay on punk rock culture in music basically a whole video on punk ahah 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Yes, Joy Division! I would also like to see an essay on how the JD members rallied post-Curtis to form New Order.
i also think it’s worth mentioning that a lot of teenagers and stuff discover nirvana and it changes their perspective on so many things so quickly and profoundly. even if slts is the only song they know, it still makes an impact. ik this because i’m a teen. and the first time i listened to nirvana (in 2019 i think and the first song i listened to was slts or lithium...not sure lol) i instantly liked them and finally found something that felt authentic and free and simple and also had good morals and opinions about the world.
nirvana’s impact is prevalent when you look at fashion trends too that are going on. (ironic considering that the whole “grunge” scene and everyone from it was so “anti fashion” and looked like attractive homeless people lmao) the e girl and grunge and etc etc even indie kid (sometimes) is just a modernized version of the original looks from the 90s.
no matter what you think about slts or nirvana, you simply cannot ignore the impact and longevity the band has had.
I just added a lot of bands that were shown here in my playlist thanks haha
After watching this video I found “Well Done” and “And Breeding”, played both of these songs a least 100 times in a 72 hour span, thank you for helping find new music.
I primarily listen to hip hop, and 90’s rock now I’ll have to find more gems like those. Great video 🤙🏾
Funny thing is Nirvana only got a record deal with Geffen Records because Sonic Youth suggested to sign on Nirvana to Geffen as they were already on the record label, and the reason why Nirvana wanted to be on Geffen Records is because they let Sonic Youth have the musical freedom to write the music they wanted, but Geffen Records never thought much or expected much out of Nirvana, so much so, that when Nirvana was recording the Nevermind album, Geffen never even went to check on what they were doing or how the record was being done, when Nevermind was released, Geffen only printed 50 000 copies of Nevermind world wide, almost not even enough to call it a indi band... but once the smells like teen spirit video was released on MTV, it changed every musical projection from the record companies stand point! Lmao crazy i was so bored i had the time to write all of this on youtube 😂 cheers to whoever reads this...
I was in college when this song was released. I went to many grunge concerts and Lollapaloozas. The internet was there but different. Finding lyrics on Usenet groups proved pointless. One night, we sat around in a dorm room trying to pick out the lyrics.
It's odd really...knowing the song didn't mean anything deeply philosophical yet it defined our generation.
Great vid thank you!
I remember first hearing this when I was younger and it was the only song I listened to for like a week straight. Love it
I remember back in 1995, i think, I was in line for a big haunted house on Halloween with a couple hundred other teenagers- I was probably 15 and Kurt was already gone. It was one of those big, corporate events, sponsored by the local alternative radio station. Anyway, as soon as SLTS came on the loudspeakers, the crowd broke out in a spontaneous mosh pit, complete with slam dancing and crowd surfing. The reaction was primal, and showed just how much that song touched a nerve with a whole generation of kids. That pit was a hell of a lot more memorable than the haunted house
It’s obviously younger generations that grew up believing Nirvana was the first band with grungy vocals and music, but oddly enough the Beatles hold a place for gritty vocals with heavy music with “Helter Skelter” in 1968.
Meanwhile, many others pumped out gritty music well before Nirvana, such as Led Zeppelin’s “Communication Breakdown”, Aerosmith’s “Nobody’s Fault”, Black Sabbath’s “Hole in the Sky”, “Disturbing the Priest” and many more. Nirvana’s music simply came at a perfect time, following the pretty glam-rock bands of the 80s. Yes, they obviously made an impact, but their music was not radical when compared to bands decades before them who sang mean gritty songs. In this regard, not innovation but Timing was everything.
Totally agree
This is probably the most impressive essay I've learned something from in a while.
We gotta be due an updated, deep dive version of this one!!! 👌👌
Love the background violin cover
7:02 best part ❤️
Being me to tears with Lithium in the back
I got goosebumps. Awesome video.
Way waaay late to this video, but I love that you brought up "Cherry Pie" by Warrant - because as a 20 year old when that song came out, I was so disgusted by it that I stopped listening to any of that kind of rock/hair metal altogether. It was such a turning point for me so I'm delighted you included it here!
not sure why freak scene by dinosaur jr was placed in the hair metal bands video montage but hey ho
I still remember 1991, the day before I heard 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', +80% of the music I listened to was Rap/Hip-Hop, the less than twenty percent was everything else. After hearing Nirvana for the first time, I went on a spree looking for anything that could provide that same feeling (mostly Punk and Alt Rock). To me Nirvana really did change music.
Love your videos !
Awesome video and explanation of the song..
im still just listening to that 90's seattle music then i will stop and just watch documentaries for a month,Smells like a nervous breakdown again
Rock is not dead!!! Rock is the reason why rap and hip pop is so popular
Rock is deader than dead
Shock is all in your head
Your sex and your dope is all that was fed
So fuck all your protest and put em to bed
gOd is in the TV
If old head’s werent so ignorant they’d realize just how punk Lil Peep and XXXTENTACION are LIKE Its the new punk/grunge of this decade all the acts are a hip/hop and punk duo made in heaven. If anyone wants to disagree with me I already know you’re ignorant so just do yourself a favor and go listen to
Lil Peep- Cry Alone
+Hesh9five * the singer looks and sounds more emo than punk or grunge
Joseph Caquias well yeah the genre is called emo trap or punk trap. Im not talking just look cuz he’s changed his look a ton Im talking the music listen to the punk influences, screaming vocals, 4 chord guitar riffs, the energy at their concerts. I study rock history like an addict and i produce music for these new genres and i pull ideas from 90’s alt, grunge, punk, etc when i write my guitar riffs. If you want a really heavy metal rising artist look up
Ghostemane- (d)rown
+Hesh9five * you write music?
I’m super toasted rn and discovered your channel. And I wanna say TGANK YOU
Seismic moment. The last great rock track? Had no idea about the "More than a feeling" thing. Another great video, Trash Theory.
Kurt is the voice of generation X which is 1990s and into the late 2000s kids.
Kurt Cobain was an amazing singer. He was also artist with the guitar, writing, painting and sculpture
Could never hold a candle to Layne Staley as a vocalist.
@@rumblefish9 but to be fair that’s Layne Staley not discrediting Kurt, they were all amazing vocalist but Layne will always be the best in my opinion
This is a brilliant video!!
With the lights out for sure RIP Kury
His wife killed him
Nothing has happened for rock in a long time because the underground bands are underground for a reason, let me explain: 1) they make music that sounds forced 2) they don't sound like something someone can relate to/ don't sound pleasing 3) their music is too far down some rabbit hole of obscurity being either political themes or artistic, kind of relating to point 1). Some people are saying most of them copy the big bands, but there probably are original bands out there. Nirvana and all the other hit groups gained popularity because it was something different from what was considered popular at the time (hair bands for example), but not different enough that you can't get the audience as the earlier bands or even a bigger one. As much as we all would like to see the return of the golden age of rock, it won't happen, not with the same sound at least. There must be a compromise that sounds relatable to listeners of the mainstream music (hip hop,pop) and in this case bring the essence of rock into that by little and then it just spirals out and cool stuff happens. Sorry I'm just bored of writing.
For the past 2 years rap has been getting distored beats and guitar backgrounds. The only thing making it "hiphop" is the extreme bass. Hell listen to 1Punch by Fukkit.
Listen to Heart Attack by Scarlxrd
Listen to Vengence by Denzel Curry
Listen to pretty much ANY Lil Peep song.
All of these "rappers" frequently make extreme metal influenced "rap"
k
Bruh we know
@Long duk dong so does rock
@@WoozieWookie well I also disagree with that person because there are SOME good rap artist just as there are SOME good rock bands but I mean rock does have more talent than having someone writing your lyrics or trying to mention fucking in every verse or rapping about what color you wear or having a gun but like I said there are some good rap artist and rock bands and some horrible ones
@@WoozieWookie 🤦♂️
Hadn’t seen this!!! Excellent!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Great analysis and tone. Well done. +1 sub
1:33 that sounds a lot like modern music rn, mainly Pop,Hip-hop & rap. *Its about to hit I know it, that band that smashes rock back into the mainstream is inevitable*