If you're a big fan of Nirvana, or just love talking about music in general, I highly recommend becoming a Middle 8 Member. You'll have exclusive access to VIP Video Previews, an exclusive Discord Club, Digital Vinyl Badges and so much more! Join now at ua-cam.com/users/Middle8join
5:40 WHY is it offensive? WHY do they keep 'updating' these neutral terms and trashing the oldspeak terms as ''offensive'' and ''wayciss''? And WHY do YOU perpetuate their Cultural Marxist control by mindlessly going along with it ,like a goody two shoes cuck?
Kurt was a closeted devout Christian..he had a case of the scruples, which is an ocd that only comes with demonic attack you'd see in horror movies... and he was putting out secrets of satanic child sacrifice in his videos...most note worthy, the fetus in iv bag in heart shaped box. That wasn't even Jesus on the cross in that video, that was the demon Dagon. Hence the fish hat. I've been studying this since his death... and I think dave grohl sacrificed him knowing Kurt wanted to quit the band and fans would ultimately blame Courtney... her career is trash, but Dave came out of the shadows and I to the spotlight. Never really liked Nirvana, but he had my full attention when this song came out..
My dad has a story about seeing Nirvana like a week before the Smells like Teen Spirit single came out. Basically he got free tickets to see them for promoting the Nevermind album. Apparently it was a pretty small venue, and only about thirty people were really listening to them. They were playing smells like teen spirit, and no one really seemed particularly interested in their performance. Funny that about a week later it would become a hit and one of the most famous songs ever. Edit: since a lot of people arguing, i'll tell you where it was: Les Foufones Electriques in Montreal Canada in September of 1991. my dad got free tickets because of his radio show. I hope that clears up the confusion.
Kurt was a poet. He constantly wrote poetry. He also didn't believe lyrics were important, and is known for writing some lyrics right before recording them. Kurt would inject couplets from his poems into his lyrics and SLTS is a great example of this. People who try to find meaning in his lyrics will never succeed because so many of the lyrics were from disseparate poems with no shared meaning. You can find meaning in couplets, but trying to tie several couplets together in meaning is a pointless endeavor.
Yep this, very much this. It's actually been on record that this is the fact. I believe this was said in a book and may have been quoted from one of his band mates. Crazy to think about considering his punk rock background when he was younger where its the other way around. Lyrics are the forefront and music is the vessel of the message in most forms of punk rock, be it Anarcho, Crust, D-Beat or street punk. The later being more of a - In my opinion anyway, a dumbed-down version of music but this is just a bias on my part, being more or less attracted to the political aspects of the music, especially Crust when I was heavily into that scene in the early/mid 90's till even today to a degree.
The lyrics are met to be heard, but not listened to. The voice is just another instrument in the song. Its there to convey a feeling, not tell a story.
I love how 'smells like teen spirit' both was and was not named after the deodorant, since kurt didn't even know what it meant when it was written on his wall. He just saw the poetic power in the phrase.
It would be crazy to thinking that some girl wrote that about you and thinking about it in that metaphorical sense then finding out she was just saying that you smell like a certain kind of deodorant….
@@jeremysiron9622 I think he thought it was funny in a 'what does that even mean' kind of way. Only after the album was released did he learn that 'teen spirit' was the brand of deodorant his girlfriend at the time wore.
I remember back in those days when "teen spirit" deodorant and "malibu musk" dominated the hallways at high school. My first GF used teen spirit deodorant and malibu musk as did MANY MANY others. What a time it was coming of age in 1992-3.
these videos visually and audio sonically are just a step above, you do a fantastic job and if there’s a team behind it or just you doing it, hats off.
I was in high school when this song came out and was definitely one of those generation x teenagers that no one wanted around. It was very important to me at a difficult point in my life.
Yeah, same. Nirvana were the band I'd been waiting for without realising it. It was through getting into bands like Nirvana and going to their gigs that I met most of my lifelong friends. The nineties was one of those decades that we won't see the like of again. I'm glad I was the right age to enjoy it.
Maybe he just wrote the lyrics out of his a** in a few minutes but they still convey a powerful meaning of sort bc it's like he wrote them in a stream of conciousness
@@gardenofnails9262 hate to break it you grandpa, but if you're just going to keep repeating the same shit you better back your words up with facts. Lol
@@Middle8 Grohl is overrated. Cobain's lyrics didn't have any concrete and unfortunately that leaves them very difficult for some people to comprehend. It's quite abstract and isn't purely "meaningless". I do think some of the songs were, however, meaningless. Likely Cobain playing around with the aesthetic of such lyrical format.
The more I'm an artist, the more I realize that some people just pick up those sorts of things. There's no reason for it, there's no sense in trying to make sense of it. If you pick up a vibe and run with it, you're rewarded, even if it seems counter-intuitive. You tune out and it tunes you in, you know. :P
@@mordie31 yea but all the gen x baby boomer counter culture icons just go the way of the left no matter how woke and insane it gets. Also nirvana would’ve sucked by now just like every other band or tv show that wears a out their welcome
Re: Dave's belief that Kurt came up with lyrics five minutes before. A story that doesn't often come up in this debate is the time Kurt pretended, for the benefit of those who happened to be in the studio at the time, to write "Something In The Way" just off the top of his head. The song had been played more or less complete over two year ago at that point. I won't speculate as to why Kurt would do with but when considering how much thought Kurt put into his songs and his lyric I think this moment should be considered. Kurt spent at least some time lying to the people around him about his process. He also definitely spent hours and days working on one song over and over.
He did and said things on purpose knowing that people would be having conversations about it trying to figure it, alot of his humour and satirical messages go over peoples heads, he was a pisstaker 😂 thats why hes brilliant!
Its a little of both. Some Kurt likely did write on the fly, but the root of the lyrics he used were pages of notes and writing. He would write and write and write trying to find sentences and words that had some meaning or sounded a certain way, creating a bank of potential lyrics. Then when writing a song he would combine various banked lyrics into a song, so actually putting a song together might not take long if you already have that notebook of phrases ready to use. Though it is also likely true some of his songs were perfected over time and took considerable thought and effort. I guess it depended how easy it was for him to express a thought or feeling using pre-existing phrases, and I know from listening to early versions of songs that certain lyrics would eventually be dropped and replaced by something else. A great example of this is Pay to play became stay away, very different meanings on the surface but when you look again you realize stay away is what kurt is saying to the people who forced him to change the lyrics (the recording studio). Pay to play, is at its core art in motion. Kurt had to pay by changing the lyrics, in order to play, and because of that interference left a direct message to the studio, stay away from my music I don't want to pay to play. On its face the lyrics utterly change the song into something different, but the feeling behind them is the same, anger at having to pay a price to express yourself.
He never said he wrote something in the way "from the top of his head" No one in the band has said that and Butch Vig had a very descriptive story of recording that song and how Kurt was having an issue with recording it with the band because the drums were heavy handed. When Kurt played him the song in the booth Vig recorded it on a cassette recorder. Kurt never said "I came up with that off the top o me head" and no one in the band or anyone that took part in the recording sessions said that. Ever. Like at all. Period.
@@gregrohsful In the podcast "Heart Shaped Pod" they recount this story. Kurt pretended to write Something in way in front of a tech or other personal. Nothing you said disproves that. Nor does you not having heard this story before. Not sure where the hostility is coming from.
I find Nirvana’s songs so thought provoking, Kurt was with us for a very short time, but what talent he had. He will always be missed by many fans young and old.
it was the entire package you know, the riff, the lyrics, the video, and the sheer chaos of Nirvana's live performance of this song ... there's something about it that just can't be explained (much like adolescence itself). I think the allure of chaos among teens is what made Teen Spirit an anthem.. awesome video brah
I always misheard the line as “Life is stupid and contagious” It sounds even more pessimistic that way. As if being alive is an act of stupidity, contagious in the act of reproduction
Never really thought about Smells Like Teen Spirit's riffs sounding like Godzilla's riff by Blue Oyster Cult. Kind of makes sense in a weird way that I never would've realized otherwise.
@@Drellistenstomusic Solid cover! Also quite interesting how much Don't Fear the Reaper was a hit for Blue Oyster Cult, but it was kind of different than a fair chunk of their big songs at the time.
The great thing about music is that you can convert it into your own meaning, just like this song that supposedly has no meaning, it does. Even if the lyrics don’t have a meaning it’s the message of the song, the reason why Nirvana wrote it.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was not only the first Nirvana song that I ever heard, but also one of the songs that finally got me to listen to their albums!
That was pretty solid assessment and well explained for something not easy to explain. It is one of those songs that is easy to explain two lines at a time but hard to explain as a whole and likely intentionally put together as such.
This might be the greatest music related channel on UA-cam. It fascinates me every time how precise every statement is. There is nothing left out and still no redundant word said. Lots of love for your work. It really brightens my day every time you upload a new video
your videos are not only interesting to watch because of the content, they are all sooo well written and just beautiful to look at! always enjoying them thoroughly!
Kurt always had a melodramatic way of saying it ALL * Teen spirit was probably her angry at groupies... Saying he smells like teen spirit and knowing how bands always end up with fans after parties
Kurt would open the song with "More then a feeling" alot in concerts.Pretty good video with accurate information,which you dont get alot with Nirvana. I was a teen when this album came out and I have never seen anything like it since then and the closest thing to it was Michael Jackson,as far as how big it blew up and totally changed everything.
Nice work. I think of grunge as being essentially Mudhoney's first single and first EP. I believe most people agree Mark Arm invented the term "grunge" although Kurt said it was Jonathon Poneman. The other record that I think best defines grunge is Nirvana's debut. Those would be the punk side of grunge and the metal side would be Alice In Chains and Soundgarden. There a lot more bands that fit the equation, too, but I don't want to write a book in the comments section to cover them.
"I'm worst at what I do best, and for this gift I feel blessed. Our little group has always been, and always will until the end. I found it hard, it's hard to find; oh well, whatever nevermind." This verse is one of the verses that best exemplifies what it is like being a teenage outsider in America. Being bad at everything as an outsider is a gift, because you are not trying to fit in and succeed. You don't want to be good at anything because your insecurities might worsen if you fail. For counter-culture teens in America, it is much cooler to not care about something, than it is to try. The little group line is a classic high school feeling. We always think that the kids we grew up with will always be there for us. It is a very common teenage attitude, especially for counter-culture kids who may not have had a wide range of friends. To end the verse with something so dismissive and/or pessimistic further drives home that teenage counter-culture attitude that it is cool to not care/try. It shows how the teen spirit is not only vety rebellious but also capable of extreme levels of apathy/despondence.
In my opinion, at face value, Nirvana is a step in the right direction musically. Simplistic, yet somehow profoundly deep. For me, it was a way to look into an underground music scene in a palatable way, (for those of us who were used to a more mainstream, popular-music formula). The deeper you look at Kurt Cobain, you find yourself intrigued and drawn in. He's a handsome, likeable guy, but at closer examination, he completely stands out as if a spotlight is on him, even as he is surrounded by the rest of the band. He is the one you want to hear talk, and typically you didn't get the chance. Khrist handled most of the interviews and usually with sarcasm or silliness, for a laugh. The tragedy of Kurts death, leaves us all in shock, as if we have run into a brick wall at a hundred miles an hour. Getting up and trying to shake off the devistation of the wreck, and then having to carry on from that point onward as if we had lost a loved one or even a part of ourselves from that wreck. It's like, the only words you can get out is:" ...but I wanted to hear more, I want to hear his thoughts, I want to hear the new music he wants to do. I'd love to hang out with this guy..." , but we don't get the chance. I'm frustrated personally because I lived within a few miles of him at the time of his death, and stood within 10 ft of him one night at an award show up in Seattle. Even though I am a musician as well, I know it's fantasy thinking I could have hung out with him, so I grab a hold of anything I can get my hands on that he's already produced or what has been produced for him, post-mortem. I'm thankful for things like the song: "You know you're right", (the last known thing he ever recorded), also, well-made productions such as your video here. I can only wonder what new music he would have produced had he lived long enough to team up with Kristen Pfaff.
My friend's older brother was into underground music at that time. I remember listening to Nirvana, Green Day and Blink 182 before they went mainstream. I was into Metallica, Guns N roses, scorpions, etc..at that time so Nirvana was different, but in a good way. Nevermind came out when i was 13 and i was hooked on grunge...STP, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Candlebox...miss those days.
I love how each lyric of Smells Like Teen Spirit doesn't necessarily piece together. Instead, each piece tells a different story, creating a collage of scraps and thoughts. Really just.. Life.
I always thought that "I am worse at what I do best" means I was good at something, but now I am less committed and became worse at it (whatever it is- playing music, maths, sports), and the feeling of liberation from "uncommitment" I experience as a gift. This line's about teenagers, who sometimes snap and give up, despite recognized talents they have.
I thought something similar to this. Like feeling trapped or limited and then building up the courage to override that limitation only to meet it again until one finds a balance to inner peace. Idk just a thought
I feel this song resonated with my generation because, by way of its popular interpretation, it encapsulated our experience. My generation was treated as one of pure consumers, people who were seen as having no redeeming value beyond our willingness to spends ridiculous amounts of money on whatever our corporatist overlords foisted upon us. We were raised to be exploited, and by the time this song hit, we all knew it - Cobain was just the first person to articulate it, and even he didn't fully understand what he was saying. His song captures both the apathy of a generation born to consume, and the desire of that same generation to be something more than consumers, or even producers - to make a contribution to the world that can't be monetized or similarly quantified in purely economic terms. It's the beating heart of GenX, and the soul of indie rock, working in perfect sync to express their frustration and angst over a world that wrote them off from their very conception. And indeed, as the culture gives way to the battle between millennials and boomers, and my generation seems to be pushed even further into the background, the song hits even harder, becoming a desperate cry to both our parents and our children, a reminder that we are still here, and we hope to them and to God that we still matter. Don't deny us.
Brother you nailed it perfectly Squeezed between two behemoth Generations We always were the forgotten ones The unwanted and overlooked We adapted and embraced our fate and learned to wear it as a badge . Gen X The last of a breed
2:01 Everyone probably already know this but when Nirvana was live at Reading, 1992 they started off with the More Than a Feeling riff before switching back to teen spirit
Great video! Love the Smells like Teen Spirit remix in the background. The genius of Kurt Cobain is not that he was a poet or some thoughtful, brooding lyricist. He was simply anarchistic and a true slacker. Coming up with lyrics just before recording is a form of rebellion in and of itself. Rather than torturing himself with long, contemplative periods of creative introspection and reflection of other artists he just wrote his dark, rebellious, sneering visceral thoughts on paper spontaneously, almost impetuously, many times at the last minute. That is slacker mentality and he clearly embodied it in all things. It may not sound like genius, but it is authentic which is why it resonated with so many of the youth of that era.
It's very obvious Kurt didn't think too much about the things he said. He was a politically misguided fool, which is sad, because he was certainly a musical genius.
@@farvatron I'm pretty sure your comment wasn't well thought out either. You say he was politically foolish, but it has nothing to do with his music. You say that he's a musical genius, but he didn't think about much of what he said. I can't imagine finding political value in anything any celebrity says let alone and obvious post punk rocking musician anarchist with a drug habit. It's just about the music, leave it at that.
For me, I wasn't studying lyrics back then, it was the energy and all encompassing which 'got my rocks off'. I loved rock and since grunge was just a term for rock, it fitted perfectly.
Butch Vig sums it up best with the quote “Even though we’re not really sure what Kurt is singing about, there’s something in there that you understand..”
After watching this well-made mini documentary, I immediately hit the like and I subscribed. Visually brilliant, combined with a well thought out narrative. A job well done
“With the lights off it’s less dangerous, here we are now, entertain us. I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now ENTERTAIN US!” Kurt’s tochstone take on a society turning its brain off on purpose and preferring entertainment over substance. The speaker/performer feels “stupid and contagious” because he knows he’s benefitting from the situation while worrying about his merit. “In Boom” also has this ethos about a band that plays the hits while realizing they’ve become a distraction tool of the machine. Saw them for $11 in Atlanta 2 months before this song hit MTV. Best live rock show I ever saw and I’ve seen many.
Good video. Kurt had a mastery of word play and when he would sing his lyrics, through his raspy cigarette tanted lungs, his lyrics seemed to have a dual meaning.... Each listener seemed to interpret his lyrics to suit their feelings.
very informative video, thanks mate. This was the song of my teen years, of our generation, and it's probably vintage now, man how time flies, still the future is the decisions we make
I love it when people try to say this song is meaningless. It’s pretty obvious what it’s about to me. It’s the ultimate anthem for teenage angst. “A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido!” The writer is looking around his high school at the other outcast. And how didn’t feel like a big ball of libido at times during high school?
The bit you got right was the "taste" quote Kurt was using by this time and once nirvana made it huge he did want to leave. I.V opioids especially heroin can put a taste in your throat hence where have a taste comes from. Inutero and bleech and incesticide were their best albums though.
I really like the idea of Kurt listing three cocktails - maybe a reference to One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer by John Lee Hooker. In Australia, Epic by Faith No More went to Number 1 in January 1990 and really shook up the mainstream before Nirvana.
NIRVANA RULES !!!!!!! I was 14 when this came album came out . I used a fake name to B.M.G. music to get the paid 1 penny to get like 8 to 12 cassette tapes sent to your house. Nevermind was on of them. This album was life changing from the first time I listened to the entire album. Nirvana is our generations form of the Beatles.
I think he worked on the lyrics more than he said. In the Azzerad book his original draft of lyrics is shown, starting with "come out and play make up the rules," and later "who will be the king and queen of the outcast teens?" And I think the story is that Tobi Vail was wearing teen spirit deodorant and because her and Kurt had been intimate, Kathleen Hanna wrote kurt smells like teen spirit as a joke making light of their relationship. And I think Bikini Kill had a song called Anthem and that's why he didn't use that title. Toby Vail had a larger influence on the lyrics of nevermind than most people realize, with all her revolutionary rhetoric.
I feel like it talks about how a person in his teenage years thinks, "Load up on guns, bring your friends, its fun to lose and to pretend" makes me think about a friend group playing some kind of russian roulette without thinking about the consequences.
I have always viewed Teen Spirit as a rather obvious comment on Gen X's battle between revolution and apathy. Anyone that was around in the early 90s remembers it as a time of cultural change, but also the peak of "slacker" America. The song encapsulates this contradiction better than any other song of that era, which is why it is an anthem and a classic.
The chorus always makes me think of an elementary school dance. Awkward 13 year olds, divided up into their social groups, the jocks, the nerds, the outcasts. No one knows what the hell to do. All trying to be cool. The dim lights help hide all the pimples and braces.
@@360Turn What’s the difference between elementary school and middle school? Is middle school the same as junior high? I went to one school from kindergarten through 8th grade. Then went to high school.
Middle school was 6-8 where I went but some are 5-8 . Jr high can include up to grade 10 tho . Sr high was 11-12 . I got a bj at the 8th grade dance so gooooo me lol
Junior high used to be grades 7,8,9. Sometime around the late 80s or early 90s they started having 9th grade be part of high school, and middle school be grades 6, 7, 8. So ages 11 to 14.
Im not Gen X, in fact, I'm actually an early Gen Z, but both of my parents were late gen X-ers, so I grew up forming around their young anti establishment attitudes, and as they've mellowed out and have gone with the flow, I've entered that period in my life where going against the grain and the hivemind of people around me has become very important to me. While this song has become just as mainstream as the trends Kurt so despised, it's a gateway for true expression, and independent voices now to be heard. While I unfortunately don't have a talent for writing lyrics or singing, music has very much become one of my mental escapes from the monotony of daily life, and skateboarding my physical escape (even if I'm total garbage) And it's only because Nirvana inspired the generation that raised me that I've been able to later discover myself, and I can't be thankful enough for the Late Kurt, and everybody else for being that foundational stone. ✌️
The meaning of this song is, "This is a dope ass song I worked really hard on and I hope you like it." Which is like 80% of the meanings Kurt put behind his songs. The lyrics on the other hand were rarely super important. Though there are exceptions obviously. But with death of the artist and all that it can mean whatever you want and usually has a very deep impact on people.
Don't focus on the words and try and extract a meaning, listen to the sound and how it makes you feel. That is what Kurt wanted to achieve with his songs, expressing emotion and thoughts through pure sound.
kurt is one of the most creative and amazing lyricist and if he can make up words to songs on the spot and manage to make it confuse billions of people about whether it had multiple meanings or maybe none at all as a statement amazes me everytime i think about it
If you're a big fan of Nirvana, or just love talking about music in general, I highly recommend becoming a Middle 8 Member. You'll have exclusive access to VIP Video Previews, an exclusive Discord Club, Digital Vinyl Badges and so much more! Join now at ua-cam.com/users/Middle8join
nya
Kurt was a genuine genius.
5:40 WHY is it offensive? WHY do they keep 'updating' these neutral terms and trashing the oldspeak terms as ''offensive'' and ''wayciss''? And WHY do YOU perpetuate their Cultural Marxist control by mindlessly going along with it ,like a goody two shoes cuck?
QUICK, PRETEND I SAID SOMETHING HILARIOUS
Kurt was a closeted devout Christian..he had a case of the scruples, which is an ocd that only comes with demonic attack you'd see in horror movies... and he was putting out secrets of satanic child sacrifice in his videos...most note worthy, the fetus in iv bag in heart shaped box. That wasn't even Jesus on the cross in that video, that was the demon Dagon. Hence the fish hat. I've been studying this since his death... and I think dave grohl sacrificed him knowing Kurt wanted to quit the band and fans would ultimately blame Courtney... her career is trash, but Dave came out of the shadows and I to the spotlight. Never really liked Nirvana, but he had my full attention when this song came out..
My dad has a story about seeing Nirvana like a week before the Smells like Teen Spirit single came out. Basically he got free tickets to see them for promoting the Nevermind album. Apparently it was a pretty small venue, and only about thirty people were really listening to them. They were playing smells like teen spirit, and no one really seemed particularly interested in their performance. Funny that about a week later it would become a hit and one of the most famous songs ever.
Edit:
since a lot of people arguing, i'll tell you where it was:
Les Foufones Electriques in Montreal Canada in September of 1991. my dad got free tickets because of his radio show.
I hope that clears up the confusion.
Lol that’s cool
Thats pretty awesome
Your dad is a fucking legend!! I bet that was the coolest concert ever
Pity your dad didn't get footage that would be worth gold
Where was that concert?
Kurt was a poet. He constantly wrote poetry. He also didn't believe lyrics were important, and is known for writing some lyrics right before recording them. Kurt would inject couplets from his poems into his lyrics and SLTS is a great example of this. People who try to find meaning in his lyrics will never succeed because so many of the lyrics were from disseparate poems with no shared meaning. You can find meaning in couplets, but trying to tie several couplets together in meaning is a pointless endeavor.
I agree
Yep this, very much this. It's actually been on record that this is the fact. I believe this was said in a book and may have been quoted from one of his band mates. Crazy to think about considering his punk rock background when he was younger where its the other way around. Lyrics are the forefront and music is the vessel of the message in most forms of punk rock, be it Anarcho, Crust, D-Beat or street punk. The later being more of a - In my opinion anyway, a dumbed-down version of music but this is just a bias on my part, being more or less attracted to the political aspects of the music, especially Crust when I was heavily into that scene in the early/mid 90's till even today to a degree.
The lyrics are met to be heard, but not listened to. The voice is just another instrument in the song. Its there to convey a feeling, not tell a story.
This is true 👆. Words rhyme don’t look too deep
He wrote shit lyrics to make fun of fans that sing meaningless shit to a good beat, he is making fun of you
Kurt is an artist who’s spirit will never die. Rest In Peace to one of the greatest musical talents of all time.
I don't wanna be the one to tell you this but Kurts been dead for like 25 years
Stolen talent he do not write smells like teen spirit he didn't even want to tell people the truth about what the lyrics were about
Whose
No matter how long ago he died and short his career hes still crazy influential
@@gardenofnails9262 tf u on about
I love how 'smells like teen spirit' both was and was not named after the deodorant, since kurt didn't even know what it meant when it was written on his wall. He just saw the poetic power in the phrase.
It would be crazy to thinking that some girl wrote that about you and thinking about it in that metaphorical sense then finding out she was just saying that you smell like a certain kind of deodorant….
@@jeremysiron9622 I think he thought it was funny in a 'what does that even mean' kind of way. Only after the album was released did he learn that 'teen spirit' was the brand of deodorant his girlfriend at the time wore.
"weather changes moods"
Which makes it fit the song even more.
I remember back in those days when "teen spirit" deodorant and "malibu musk" dominated the hallways at high school. My first GF used teen spirit deodorant and malibu musk as did MANY MANY others. What a time it was coming of age in 1992-3.
these videos visually and audio sonically are just a step above, you do a fantastic job and if there’s a team behind it or just you doing it, hats off.
Really appreciate it! It’s just me (Frank) behind the wheel 🙏
Honestly he deserves 80 Patreons
@@Middle8 bro your first name isn’t Middle? my whole life is a lie
But the information is amateur at best.
@@NoMoreDogma you trippin ong
I was in high school when this song came out and was definitely one of those generation x teenagers that no one wanted around. It was very important to me at a difficult point in my life.
And young adults also nirvana and many artist was the way generation x express their selfs
Yeah, same. Nirvana were the band I'd been waiting for without realising it. It was through getting into bands like Nirvana and going to their gigs that I met most of my lifelong friends. The nineties was one of those decades that we won't see the like of again. I'm glad I was the right age to enjoy it.
Maybe he just wrote the lyrics out of his a** in a few minutes but they still convey a powerful meaning of sort bc it's like he wrote them in a stream of conciousness
Yeah I’m with Grohl on this one
@@gardenofnails9262 hate to break it you grandpa, but if you're just going to keep repeating the same shit you better back your words up with facts. Lol
@@Middle8 Grohl is overrated. Cobain's lyrics didn't have any concrete and unfortunately that leaves them very difficult for some people to comprehend. It's quite abstract and isn't purely "meaningless". I do think some of the songs were, however, meaningless. Likely Cobain playing around with the aesthetic of such lyrical format.
The more I'm an artist, the more I realize that some people just pick up those sorts of things. There's no reason for it, there's no sense in trying to make sense of it. If you pick up a vibe and run with it, you're rewarded, even if it seems counter-intuitive. You tune out and it tunes you in, you know. :P
@@melparadise7378 "You tune out and it tunes you it" I love this phrase
I cannot even to start imagine what Kurt would think of 2021.
i think that maybe him would be a feminist. and all that around the movement
He’d be a totally woke douche.
Kurt could not, or totally refused, to imagine what the future would bring. His choice,
He'd most likely think, "Well SHIT, I'm still dead but why does my head hurt?"
@@mordie31 yea but all the gen x baby boomer counter culture icons just go the way of the left no matter how woke and insane it gets. Also nirvana would’ve sucked by now just like every other band or tv show that wears a out their welcome
Re: Dave's belief that Kurt came up with lyrics five minutes before. A story that doesn't often come up in this debate is the time Kurt pretended, for the benefit of those who happened to be in the studio at the time, to write "Something In The Way" just off the top of his head. The song had been played more or less complete over two year ago at that point. I won't speculate as to why Kurt would do with but when considering how much thought Kurt put into his songs and his lyric I think this moment should be considered. Kurt spent at least some time lying to the people around him about his process. He also definitely spent hours and days working on one song over and over.
He did and said things on purpose knowing that people would be having conversations about it trying to figure it, alot of his humour and satirical messages go over peoples heads, he was a pisstaker 😂 thats why hes brilliant!
@Trip Tfout exacly
Its a little of both. Some Kurt likely did write on the fly, but the root of the lyrics he used were pages of notes and writing. He would write and write and write trying to find sentences and words that had some meaning or sounded a certain way, creating a bank of potential lyrics. Then when writing a song he would combine various banked lyrics into a song, so actually putting a song together might not take long if you already have that notebook of phrases ready to use.
Though it is also likely true some of his songs were perfected over time and took considerable thought and effort.
I guess it depended how easy it was for him to express a thought or feeling using pre-existing phrases, and I know from listening to early versions of songs that certain lyrics would eventually be dropped and replaced by something else. A great example of this is Pay to play became stay away, very different meanings on the surface but when you look again you realize stay away is what kurt is saying to the people who forced him to change the lyrics (the recording studio). Pay to play, is at its core art in motion. Kurt had to pay by changing the lyrics, in order to play, and because of that interference left a direct message to the studio, stay away from my music I don't want to pay to play.
On its face the lyrics utterly change the song into something different, but the feeling behind them is the same, anger at having to pay a price to express yourself.
He never said he wrote something in the way "from the top of his head" No one in the band has said that and Butch Vig had a very descriptive story of recording that song and how Kurt was having an issue with recording it with the band because the drums were heavy handed. When Kurt played him the song in the booth Vig recorded it on a cassette recorder.
Kurt never said "I came up with that off the top o me head" and no one in the band or anyone that took part in the recording sessions said that.
Ever.
Like at all.
Period.
@@gregrohsful In the podcast "Heart Shaped Pod" they recount this story. Kurt pretended to write Something in way in front of a tech or other personal. Nothing you said disproves that. Nor does you not having heard this story before. Not sure where the hostility is coming from.
I find Nirvana’s songs so thought provoking, Kurt was with us for a very short time, but what talent he had.
He will always be missed by many fans young and old.
@@chrise.3814 That's ironic of you to say.
How do you know, stupid? You're not in the person's house to say shit like that
@@chrise.3814 WOW I BET YOUR COMMENT MADE YOU FEEL SO POWERFUL
it was the entire package you know, the riff, the lyrics, the video, and the sheer chaos of Nirvana's live performance of this song ... there's something about it that just can't be explained (much like adolescence itself). I think the allure of chaos among teens is what made Teen Spirit an anthem.. awesome video brah
The energy behind the song is obviously an F you to society and all stupidity in it. That's the whole reason why it's such a good song.
...and any of you that heard different mixes of this tune...you'll all know that it's Andy Wallace as a mixer that is the real genius here...
I always misheard the line as “Life is stupid and contagious” It sounds even more pessimistic that way. As if being alive is an act of stupidity, contagious in the act of reproduction
I actually really like that ❤️
Thanks
🤣🤣🤣 that’s actually brilliant
Never really thought about Smells Like Teen Spirit's riffs sounding like Godzilla's riff by Blue Oyster Cult. Kind of makes sense in a weird way that I never would've realized otherwise.
smashing pumpkins did a cover of Godzilla at a show. a recording of it is here on UA-cam and the opening riff sounds exactly the same as teen spirit
@@Drellistenstomusic I'll have to look for it. Thanks for telling me!
@@Drellistenstomusic Solid cover! Also quite interesting how much Don't Fear the Reaper was a hit for Blue Oyster Cult, but it was kind of different than a fair chunk of their big songs at the time.
Bc it sounds nothing like Godzilla.
Well there are a few Pixies songs that sound much more like it
The great thing about music is that you can convert it into your own meaning, just like this song that supposedly has no meaning, it does. Even if the lyrics don’t have a meaning it’s the message of the song, the reason why Nirvana wrote it.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was not only the first Nirvana song that I ever heard, but also one of the songs that finally got me to listen to their albums!
That was pretty solid assessment and well explained for something not easy to explain. It is one of those songs that is easy to explain two lines at a time but hard to explain as a whole and likely intentionally put together as such.
This might be the greatest music related channel on UA-cam. It fascinates me every time how precise every statement is. There is nothing left out and still no redundant word said. Lots of love for your work. It really brightens my day every time you upload a new video
your videos are not only interesting to watch because of the content, they are all sooo well written and just beautiful to look at! always enjoying them thoroughly!
Kurt always had a melodramatic way of saying it ALL
* Teen spirit was probably her angry at groupies... Saying he smells like teen spirit and knowing how bands always end up with fans after parties
He didn't write those lyrics
@@gardenofnails9262 who did?
@@JDRehn-ve2kd his ass
Except he wrote the song before they had groupies...
Mulato is brown sugar
Albino is heroine
A mosquito is a syringe
Libido is the euphoric feeling afterwords.
Mulato is the black tar heroin, albino is the white arm, mosquito is the needle and libido is the euphoria.
thanks
That part says that anyone can get judged, a mulato, an albino, a mosquito and even his libido
Kurt would open the song with "More then a feeling" alot in concerts.Pretty good video with accurate information,which you dont get alot with Nirvana. I was a teen when this album came out and I have never seen anything like it since then and the closest thing to it was Michael Jackson,as far as how big it blew up and totally changed everything.
Nice work. I think of grunge as being essentially Mudhoney's first single and first EP. I believe most people agree Mark Arm invented the term "grunge" although Kurt said it was Jonathon Poneman. The other record that I think best defines grunge is Nirvana's debut. Those would be the punk side of grunge and the metal side would be Alice In Chains and Soundgarden. There a lot more bands that fit the equation, too, but I don't want to write a book in the comments section to cover them.
I was just waiting for you to talk about the conception of grunge without mentioning Soundgarden but you nailed it so I'll put my pitchfork away
"I'm worst at what I do best, and for this gift I feel blessed. Our little group has always been, and always will until the end. I found it hard, it's hard to find; oh well, whatever nevermind."
This verse is one of the verses that best exemplifies what it is like being a teenage outsider in America. Being bad at everything as an outsider is a gift, because you are not trying to fit in and succeed. You don't want to be good at anything because your insecurities might worsen if you fail. For counter-culture teens in America, it is much cooler to not care about something, than it is to try.
The little group line is a classic high school feeling. We always think that the kids we grew up with will always be there for us. It is a very common teenage attitude, especially for counter-culture kids who may not have had a wide range of friends.
To end the verse with something so dismissive and/or pessimistic further drives home that teenage counter-culture attitude that it is cool to not care/try. It shows how the teen spirit is not only vety rebellious but also capable of extreme levels of apathy/despondence.
In my opinion, at face value, Nirvana is a step in the right direction musically. Simplistic, yet somehow profoundly deep. For me, it was a way to look into an underground music scene in a palatable way, (for those of us who were used to a more mainstream, popular-music formula). The deeper you look at Kurt Cobain, you find yourself intrigued and drawn in. He's a handsome, likeable guy, but at closer examination, he completely stands out as if a spotlight is on him, even as he is surrounded by the rest of the band. He is the one you want to hear talk, and typically you didn't get the chance. Khrist handled most of the interviews and usually with sarcasm or silliness, for a laugh.
The tragedy of Kurts death, leaves us all in shock, as if we have run into a brick wall at a hundred miles an hour. Getting up and trying to shake off the devistation of the wreck, and then having to carry on from that point onward as if we had lost a loved one or even a part of ourselves from that wreck.
It's like, the only words you can get out is:" ...but I wanted to hear more, I want to hear his thoughts, I want to hear the new music he wants to do. I'd love to hang out with this guy..." , but we don't get the chance.
I'm frustrated personally because I lived within a few miles of him at the time of his death, and stood within 10 ft of him one night at an award show up in Seattle. Even though I am a musician as well, I know it's fantasy thinking I could have hung out with him, so I grab a hold of anything I can get my hands on that he's already produced or what has been produced for him, post-mortem.
I'm thankful for things like the song: "You know you're right", (the last known thing he ever recorded), also, well-made productions such as your video here.
I can only wonder what new music he would have produced had he lived long enough to team up with Kristen Pfaff.
Exactly 😢
Perfectly said ❤️ I miss Kurt very much, Nirvana and the offspring helped me get through the torture that was High school in Brooklyn NY.
The last known thing Kurt recorded was Do Re Mi. You Know You're Right is just the last music that the whole band recorded in studio.
@@chombus2602
Oh wow that's cool I didn't know he had recorded that. Thank you
Amazing video! Loved how it was presented and the animation that went along with it. Top notch stuff man 🤘
My friend's older brother was into underground music at that time. I remember listening to Nirvana, Green Day and Blink 182 before they went mainstream. I was into Metallica, Guns N roses, scorpions, etc..at that time so Nirvana was different, but in a good way. Nevermind came out when i was 13 and i was hooked on grunge...STP, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Candlebox...miss those days.
I love how each lyric of Smells Like Teen Spirit doesn't necessarily piece together. Instead, each piece tells a different story, creating a collage of scraps and thoughts. Really just.. Life.
when "TEEN SPIRIT" deodorant first came out , they ran TV ads with the catch-phrase "SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT"
I always thought that "I am worse at what I do best" means I was good at something, but now I am less committed and became worse at it (whatever it is- playing music, maths, sports), and the feeling of liberation from "uncommitment" I experience as a gift. This line's about teenagers, who sometimes snap and give up, despite recognized talents they have.
I thought something similar to this. Like feeling trapped or limited and then building up the courage to override that limitation only to meet it again until one finds a balance to inner peace. Idk just a thought
I never get tired of hearing about this song
The "our little group has always been and always will until the end" hits tbh as someone who wanted to have a group of friends wanting to start a band
I feel this song resonated with my generation because, by way of its popular interpretation, it encapsulated our experience. My generation was treated as one of pure consumers, people who were seen as having no redeeming value beyond our willingness to spends ridiculous amounts of money on whatever our corporatist overlords foisted upon us. We were raised to be exploited, and by the time this song hit, we all knew it - Cobain was just the first person to articulate it, and even he didn't fully understand what he was saying. His song captures both the apathy of a generation born to consume, and the desire of that same generation to be something more than consumers, or even producers - to make a contribution to the world that can't be monetized or similarly quantified in purely economic terms. It's the beating heart of GenX, and the soul of indie rock, working in perfect sync to express their frustration and angst over a world that wrote them off from their very conception. And indeed, as the culture gives way to the battle between millennials and boomers, and my generation seems to be pushed even further into the background, the song hits even harder, becoming a desperate cry to both our parents and our children, a reminder that we are still here, and we hope to them and to God that we still matter.
Don't deny us.
Brother you nailed it perfectly
Squeezed between two behemoth Generations
We always were the forgotten ones
The unwanted and overlooked
We adapted and embraced our fate and learned to wear it as a badge .
Gen X
The last of a breed
@@jimsmith9853 still here... Still slaying 😘🤘🏽
Bruh
2:01 Everyone probably already know this but when Nirvana was live at Reading, 1992 they started off with the More Than a Feeling riff before switching back to teen spirit
Great video! Love the Smells like Teen Spirit remix in the background.
The genius of Kurt Cobain is not that he was a poet or some thoughtful, brooding lyricist. He was simply anarchistic and a true slacker. Coming up with lyrics just before recording is a form of rebellion in and of itself. Rather than torturing himself with long, contemplative periods of creative introspection and reflection of other artists he just wrote his dark, rebellious, sneering visceral thoughts on paper spontaneously, almost impetuously, many times at the last minute. That is slacker mentality and he clearly embodied it in all things. It may not sound like genius, but it is authentic which is why it resonated with so many of the youth of that era.
I find the chaos of the lyrics to fit in with the angry music.A masterpiece,not in the Mozart mode.
What you have described is called a heroin junkie
It's very obvious Kurt didn't think too much about the things he said. He was a politically misguided fool, which is sad, because he was certainly a musical genius.
@@farvatron I'm pretty sure your comment wasn't well thought out either. You say he was politically foolish, but it has nothing to do with his music. You say that he's a musical genius, but he didn't think about much of what he said. I can't imagine finding political value in anything any celebrity says let alone and obvious post punk rocking musician anarchist with a drug habit. It's just about the music, leave it at that.
Totally was/am an alternative “kid” and somehow just remembered that Dave was in Nirvana 😅😂❤
Gotta love a new middle 8 upload
I was waiting for this episode, keep the up good work!
Kurt was a legend…
He was and I helped him get there
@@gardenofnails9262 ?
@@gardenofnails9262 who are u
He still is
@@richardwellend3806you know what I mean.
For me, I wasn't studying lyrics back then, it was the energy and all encompassing which 'got my rocks off'. I loved rock and since grunge was just a term for rock, it fitted perfectly.
Did you make that mix at the beginning? It was a cool idea!
Butch Vig sums it up best with the quote “Even though we’re not really sure what Kurt is singing about, there’s something in there that you understand..”
After watching this well-made mini documentary, I immediately hit the like and I subscribed. Visually brilliant, combined with a well thought out narrative. A job well done
I love your brake down of this, all of your break downs actually.
I like how the stupid and contagious line is more relevant today than ever
In fact I feel like the whole song is relevant even today
Applies to trumpers for sure 🤣🤣🤣
@@peterf.229don’t put Kurt into politics
I find it hard it’s hard to find but never mind is talking about how it’s hard to find his will to live 😢
He's was referring to inner peace.
“With the lights off it’s less dangerous, here we are now, entertain us. I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now ENTERTAIN US!”
Kurt’s tochstone take on a society turning its brain off on purpose and preferring entertainment over substance. The speaker/performer feels “stupid and contagious” because he knows he’s benefitting from the situation while worrying about his merit. “In Boom” also has this ethos about a band that plays the hits while realizing they’ve become a distraction tool of the machine.
Saw them for $11 in Atlanta 2 months before this song hit MTV. Best live rock show I ever saw and I’ve seen many.
This video gave me a nice playlist
Good video. Kurt had a mastery of word play and when he would sing his lyrics, through his raspy cigarette tanted lungs, his lyrics seemed to have a dual meaning.... Each listener seemed to interpret his lyrics to suit their feelings.
Great video keep on carrying with the good work
been watching you since I first started making music, you've been instrumental in my development as a musician, just wanted to let you know
That was a pretty amazing transition about the year 1989 the CuriosityStream ad.
I always thought its about teens being too enthusiastic and getting into risky situation while ignoring the consequences of their fun
That transition to the sponsored ad was smoother than butter
Hell yeah finally a nirvana video !
I thought this was going to be garbage click bait. This was actually a really awesome video. Nicely done.
Honest question, is Nevermind the "THRILLER" of 90's rock albums?🤔
I just have to stay your channel is amazing. I was searching for Gotye and then fell down a rabbit hole through your channel. Good job
I hope you tell the story of In Utero another time.
Production of your videos is stunning man!
Honey wake up! Middle 8 just upload his new video!
The remix in the intro sounds really good
Nirvana is one of my favorites! I’m so glad you’re covering the band! Your channel is so good, I love how you present the content!
very informative video, thanks mate. This was the song of my teen years, of our generation, and it's probably vintage now, man how time flies, still the future is the decisions we make
Frank this is brilliant. Your skills are next level and highly addictive:)
Hey, Kevin!
Appreciated 🤘
DUDE... AMAZING TRANSITION TO ADVERTISING!!!!!!!!!
I love it when people try to say this song is meaningless. It’s pretty obvious what it’s about to me. It’s the ultimate anthem for teenage angst. “A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido!” The writer is looking around his high school at the other outcast. And how didn’t feel like a big ball of libido at times during high school?
Anyone who shows up at my house and says "here we are now. Entertain us" will get kicked out.
Here i am now entertain me
@Middle 8 I love your videos! You can clearly see the work you put into them ❤ What software do you use to create your work?
Mainly after effects!
@@Middle8 Cool beans 😊 Thank you so much for replying. I look forward to your next video 😊
Just finding this channel, loved it!!
Can you do one on 'Little Talks' by Of Monsters & Men?
yes!!
YASS - I think it's about the females partner passing on and how she can't move on
That's a pretty fantastic video and I hope we can all just enjoy it. Thank you. ❣️😁
There should be no meaning. That's the beauty of music that you can interpret it any way you want.
*2:24** Oh You Don't Sayyyy* 🧐
*Lawyer Up*
The bit you got right was the "taste" quote Kurt was using by this time and once nirvana made it huge he did want to leave. I.V opioids especially heroin can put a taste in your throat hence where have a taste comes from. Inutero and bleech and incesticide were their best albums though.
Kurt: "A lot of my lyrics are written minutes before recording, so don't try to find any meaning in them"
Literally everyone:
I really like the idea of Kurt listing three cocktails - maybe a reference to One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer by John Lee Hooker.
In Australia, Epic by Faith No More went to Number 1 in January 1990 and really shook up the mainstream before Nirvana.
2:10 ❤❤❤❤ 👍 BOSTON!❤ MORE THAN A FEELING!
Your videos are fantasticly edited, and are interesting too! How long does it usual take to make your videos? 😁 Keep up the good work 😎
Hey I have clues in kurt Cobain death
i really need that instrumental mix of teen spirit on the intro & ending as a track
NIRVANA RULES !!!!!!!
I was 14 when this came album came out .
I used a fake name to B.M.G. music to get the paid 1 penny to get like 8 to 12 cassette tapes sent to your house.
Nevermind was on of them.
This album was life changing from the first time I listened to the entire album.
Nirvana is our generations form of the Beatles.
lol
Omg! I used to do the pay a penny and order the CDs through the magazines ahhhh nostalgia... Bk in the day lol 😆😆❣️
Man awesome video... had to subscribe!
I think he worked on the lyrics more than he said. In the Azzerad book his original draft of lyrics is shown, starting with "come out and play make up the rules," and later "who will be the king and queen of the outcast teens?"
And I think the story is that Tobi Vail was wearing teen spirit deodorant and because her and Kurt had been intimate, Kathleen Hanna wrote kurt smells like teen spirit as a joke making light of their relationship. And I think Bikini Kill had a song called Anthem and that's why he didn't use that title. Toby Vail had a larger influence on the lyrics of nevermind than most people realize, with all her revolutionary rhetoric.
Somebody has done their homework. There are live performances of him playing the song with different lyrics in the late 80’s
Romans 8:18 - “The pain you’ve been feeling cannot compare to the joy thats coming”
The best miss hearing of this song was the line albino, a mosquito, my libido as ‘a mosquito won the lotto’
Those words are clues on what was really going on for those lyrics to be written
I feel like it talks about how a person in his teenage years thinks, "Load up on guns, bring your friends, its fun to lose and to pretend" makes me think about a friend group playing some kind of russian roulette without thinking about the consequences.
I have always viewed Teen Spirit as a rather obvious comment on Gen X's battle between revolution and apathy. Anyone that was around in the early 90s remembers it as a time of cultural change, but also the peak of "slacker" America. The song encapsulates this contradiction better than any other song of that era, which is why it is an anthem and a classic.
Hey you u ever think they'll leave me the hell alone?
started listening to nirvana like 6 days ago and they’re so good
The chorus always makes me think of an elementary school dance. Awkward 13 year olds, divided up into their social groups, the jocks, the nerds, the outcasts. No one knows what the hell to do. All trying to be cool. The dim lights help hide all the pimples and braces.
13 year olds are middle schoolers but yeah I see what you’re saying lol
@@360Turn What’s the difference between elementary school and middle school? Is middle school the same as junior high? I went to one school from kindergarten through 8th grade. Then went to high school.
Basically middle school is just another name for junior high
Middle school was 6-8 where I went but some are 5-8 . Jr high can include up to grade 10 tho . Sr high was 11-12 . I got a bj at the 8th grade dance so gooooo me lol
Junior high used to be grades 7,8,9. Sometime around the late 80s or early 90s they started having 9th grade be part of high school, and middle school be grades 6, 7, 8. So ages 11 to 14.
the intro is timeless!!
This song will be remembered in 1000 years as our contemporary art
Hopefully not.
in a concert once, kurt started playing more than a feeling instead of teen spirit lmao
Im not Gen X, in fact, I'm actually an early Gen Z, but both of my parents were late gen X-ers, so I grew up forming around their young anti establishment attitudes, and as they've mellowed out and have gone with the flow, I've entered that period in my life where going against the grain and the hivemind of people around me has become very important to me.
While this song has become just as mainstream as the trends Kurt so despised, it's a gateway for true expression, and independent voices now to be heard. While I unfortunately don't have a talent for writing lyrics or singing, music has very much become one of my mental escapes from the monotony of daily life, and skateboarding my physical escape (even if I'm total garbage)
And it's only because Nirvana inspired the generation that raised me that I've been able to later discover myself, and I can't be thankful enough for the Late Kurt, and everybody else for being that foundational stone. ✌️
Dave’s drums just finishes the song so perfectly
The meaning of this song is, "This is a dope ass song I worked really hard on and I hope you like it." Which is like 80% of the meanings Kurt put behind his songs. The lyrics on the other hand were rarely super important. Though there are exceptions obviously.
But with death of the artist and all that it can mean whatever you want and usually has a very deep impact on people.
different music and lyrics _
excellent video!!!
Kurt always amazes me on his Song Writing. His Songs have weird lyrics that just makes no sense at all. And that makes him such a genius.
Don't focus on the words and try and extract a meaning, listen to the sound and how it makes you feel. That is what Kurt wanted to achieve with his songs, expressing emotion and thoughts through pure sound.
His lyrics are full of meaning
kurt is one of the most creative and amazing lyricist and if he can make up words to songs on the spot and manage to make it confuse billions of people about whether it had multiple meanings or maybe none at all as a statement amazes me everytime i think about it
What a legend rip kurt Cobain
I love the video stye, and how its made. The Audio, video, all perfect with perfect commentary. Bright future ahead!