Another great reaction. This song really shows why Nirvana was one of the greatest rock bands ever. The sound, the lyrics, the delivery and rawness in it. This still sounds refreshing today, imagine hearing this 30 years ago.
@@SyedRewinds Great take on the lyrics. You definitely see some Bowie influence in it. The words, taken at face-value are almost nonsensical. But, through conceptual association to those words, it starts to paint a picture in your mind. You fill in the blanks, and it all kind of comes together. It's the musical equivalent of one of those Magic-Eye images, lol. The less you focus on it, the clearer it becomes. That style used to be quite common, until the advent of music videos, which added that extra context for the listener. By the 90's it was already a lost art (save for a few bands... REM, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and a few others). But Nirvana doubled-down on it in almost every song. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Polly, and Heart-shaped box especially.
I sat in a friends basement when I was fifteen years old. She was upstairs eating, I was watching MTV. This song comes on, and immediately I feel and know that this is going to change things. One of the cornerstones of my musical awakening.
I still remember turning on MTV and seeing the video for the first time when I was 10 years old. Automatically I thought this must be the best song ever created. 30 years later and it’s still possibly the best song ever IMO
I’m on the younger end of gen x and this song really sums up the zeitgeist for me and kids like me who entered our teen years with grunge. It’s a totally different experience then my older sister who was a teenager in the 80’s. I recently read something about gen x, tlking about how small a generation it was, and how coming of age while the huge prior generation was in their prime. This left gen x frustrated & feeling impotent, locked out of making a difference and gaining power. I felt like this thesis made a ton of sense. I was passionate kid who wanted to protest the things I felt were fcked up, but changing the world felt so far outside the realm of possibility for me. This lack of generational power led to apathy. If you listen to the biggest grunge songs they tended towards “nothing matters”, “everything sucks”, “we suck, we’re losers”, “everything is boring.” The 90’s were incredibly progressive compared the the 80’s and the 00’s. I remember 1/2 my male friends coming out as bi and like 90% of grls. There was a huge shift in cultural attitudes from the prior gen, but we were without any power to effect change. I think if gen x had been larger we could have left a bigger mark on history. The energy of youth is needed when overcoming large systemic and cultural hurdles. I look at some millennials and most of gen z, and see how they’ve been able to take their passion, and that energy and youthful optimism to rise up against structural problems in a way gen x wasn’t able to.
Such a great comment. I too came from a small, marginalized generation, the baby boomers little brothers and sisters - sometimes called baby busters. We rejected wholesale militant activism, religious fervor and politics and embraced the corporate world. Some people referred to us as Yuppies. We were tired of people banging their heads against the machine. Having grown up during the Cold War, we really just wanted to get ahead in the world and have nice things. You can still find us, in our 50's and early 60's here - not in the best of health, having burned out with our materialism and not sure who we really want to be, even now. We have quite a bit in common with Gen X even though we may have sneered at their lack of ambition.
I'm curious what you consider late era/ younger ,as you said , Gen X bc I'm Gen X and the amount of people, especially with YT that claimed to be Gen X but were born after 1980 is so much more than I'd have thought. We label generations by dates for a reason and when I've said if you're born after Dec 31, 1980 you're not Gen X you're a millennial people have gotten pissy when im not gatekeeping I'm stating it bc they may not know. Well I am gatekeeping when people born in the late 80s - early 90s say they're gen X bc wtf?
I started down a Nirvana reaction rabbit hole today and after suffering through several lame reactions on other channels I’m so thankful to have found your thoughtful analysis of one of the truly great bands. I was 30 when I first heard Nirvana in 1991 and I knew immediately I’d found something really special. It’s very cool to watch you be touched by their music. I really appreciate you taking the time to learn about the backstory of the songs and that you analyze the lyrics. You stand out amongst the sea of lame reaction channels and I look forward to seeing more from you.
After the 80s I quit listening to music altogether. In the mid 90s my wife and I happened to have the radio on and Weird Al Yankovic's parody on this song came on. We both became very curious where he got his source material because the song was actually really good. Obviously some band called Nirvana was mentioned in the lyrics so I searched there. After listening to this and several other songs, I became a huge fan. Kurt seemed to breathe fresh life out of the simplest of chords. Throughout my life, many bands are credited with evolving music. For example, Beatles, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, etc. In 1979 with disco and dance oriented pap plaguing the air waves, along comes the Knack to knock some rock back into the fray. For myself, Nirvana is one of these bands. I've listened to and loved all of their albums. You can actually witness Kurt's musical sense improving with each album without eliminating his edge. But as you've noted in this song, there is an undercurrent of restlessness or maybe guilt. He plays with words without actually being able to say what he really means, but you can hear it in his voice. For myself, I was chilled when I heard 'Heart Shaped Box'. His lyrics seemed to beat around the bush both literally and figuratively. His vocals implied some real pent up exasperated frustration of someone who realizes he should be grateful but is he is entirely despising his existence nevertheless. And that chord progression was like death. I was stating at the time that it sounded like a man who wanted to die simply because there is nothing else to do at this point. Someone did point out that Nirvana songs don't fade out. They mostly stop, sometimes very abruptly. Shortly after this Kurt allegedly killed himself. I can still hear it in that song.
I love Heart Shaped Box, it's the darkest, bleakest harshest thing to ever be a hit. I mean most of In Utero is like that to be honest, you hear everything, It's so fucking rad though!
As someone who was a teenager when Led Zeppelin hit the big time, I get a kick out of watching younger people discover the music of my youth. And see the appreciation of that music. Good music is good music no matter when it was released. btw, Nirvana and the Grunge era was my kids era music, they turned me on to the Seattle sound. As they say, the beat goes on. Really enjoying your reactions and congrats on the rapid rise in subscribers. Hold on, you are on your way to 100,000 subs!
@@SyedRewinds Bro. You should go off the beaten path and do "Post Toastee" by Tommy Bolin. Tommy was the James Dean of electric guitar. Hendrix tool the blues and ran it through electronic effects like wah, phase, delay. Tommy added hard rock, funk, jazz, reggae through a sonic cosmic sound. He was an acid jazz pioneer and played on a landmark fusion record that made top guitarists like Jeff Beck go in that direction. Deep Purple recruited him at 23. By 25 he was dead about to become the guitarist of the moment. This song has astounded 12 of 12 reviewers and paved the way for so many like RHCP...
Take a listen to Rick Beato's analysis "what makes this song great" to understand the level of genius that Kurt brought to his music. You are right that Nirvana was about the emotion and they found a way to reach into our chests and get our hearts beating. True genius
This song literally stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it. It was so different than anything I had ever heard before. It felt to me, dangerous, and not in a happy or exciting way. There was such a rawness to the song and the video that I was actually afraid. I truly didn't know what to think. Amazing art. Still amazing and sad today.
The first time that I ever heard this song, the day it came out, I was on the beach in Punta San Miguel, Mexico, near Ensenada, getting ready to paddle out for a perfect surf session. I'll never forget that day and I'll always love this song. It was what everyone was talking about in the campground that day. It was revolutionary.
You're such a great reactor, you realise the best thing in Nirvana songs it's their simplicity. Just a guitar, a drumset and a base banging a four chord riff and sounds like the greatest thing ever.
I was 17 years old when this album dropped, and this song blew my little teenage mind. I cannot explain properly to you how this song and the entire Nevermind album changed the direction of music. What an amazing time it was to be a teen! This band and other Seattle scene grunge bands like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam..., reached a generation of disillusioned youths like no one else could.
This came out at the height of MTV Nation, and to understand the phenomenon it started, you have to watch the video. It is so different from the pop and hair band videos of the time, so raw and real and dripping with teenage angst.
love your reactions! You should react to nirvana where did you sleep last night live on MTV unplugged (do the video as well), one of the best live performances ever
Great reaction. Probably my favorite song released after 1990. I hope you don’t think it’s too forward of me to recommend Alice In Chains……Great combo of lyrics, vocals, harmonies and musicianship. Start with live version of Love Hate Love. And congrats on the subscription count.
The 80s were ruled by hair metal/glam rock bands and had grown stail, nirvana was a breath of fresh air, breathing new life into the commercialized corpse of rock and roll. An entire generation of youth stood up and hailed nirvana as being the real raw thing and anointed the bands front man kurt cobain their musical Messiah. For the rest of his brief life, fans would treat kurt cobain with admiration of a conquering monarch, but kurt never asked to be crowned the king, and the head that wore that crown would never rest easy. MTV 2004 nirvana special on the 10th anniversary of his death
this song is really a fucking phenomenon. it’s basically a bunch of nonsense sprinkled with great one-liners with an actual meaning. and it WORKS! everything about the song is just iconic. like yeah they overplayed it too much to the point the band got tired of SLTS + we know they have other great tracks besides this one. but I feel like this one just won’t ever be forgotten and every time you hear that intro it brings such nostalgia, reminds you where you were in that specific moment when the MV premiered. for me this song is about frustration, teenage/young adults feelings, a bunch of shit that don’t make sense when you’re experiencing those feelings + it’s poking fun at the mainstream culture of that time period. so it does have a message, just under a veil. PS. the isolated vocals of the song are INSANE. it’s raw yet clean.
This is the root of the tree we call Nirvana. It extends in branches above ground in other songs later on in the discography of the band. Very good reaction. You are my new favorite.
Great review! I’ve always interrupted as in Kurt basically relaying all the feelings of self doubt, awkwardness,hormones,loneliness that happens into the journey of high school. And that the phrase Smells like Teen Spirit is more a mockery of like wow this is what being a teen is about? As in we’ll grow up saying I can’t wait to get older etc. So here we are now entertain us!!!
@@SyedRewinds no problem man! If I can may I suggest one of his unplugged songs! Oh me which was a cover or Jesus don’t want me for a Sunbeam another cover on that record. Thanks!
I have heard a lot of music, but I always maintain, like Dr. Dre, Nirvana Nevermind is the best rock album ever made. I think you nailed it when you said he plays emotion, and that is the essence of rock!
The insightful and succinct analysis of music I have been listening to for decades has opened a new understanding for me. Thank you. Nirvana, Led Zep and The Beatles are regarded as highly by millions of fans for a very good reason. They were the voice that expressed what their generation struggled to say. Could I suggest a listen to Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb it is an emotional ride that takes you to on a much different journey. Keep them coming, I am buckled in and ready for the ride with you.
about the lyrics of this song, he said it has no deep meaning. dont be fooled, i would do say it too instead of saying the truth. sometimes you have to keep things by yourself cause youre scared? ashamed? reserved? relationless? lonely? a lot of ,,simple" things have a never seen deep side.
a lot of not deep intendet lyrics can let a lot of space for interpretation too and thats what maybe was intendet, so in the end, its something deep anyway. first he sings: ,,hello hello" meeting humans then ,,hell low" indicates that maybe in some way for him it was the hell, not because of hate but instead of fear. then in the chorus he sings ,,with the lights out, its less dangerous" like staying at home, in a shutdown, dimmed windows making the lights out, then he is on his own and is not in danger of his irrational fear against world, people. or ,,lights out" a reference to suicide. ,,here we are now, entertain us" could be a hidden reference to multiple personality and his imaginary friend ,,boda". (lithium - ,,im so happy, cause today i found my friends, there in my head") ,,feel stupid and contagnious" contagnious: he dont wants to infect someone with his inner illness which leads back to his fear of people and explains it more. ,,a mosquito, my libido" his libido is like a mosquito, he attract people and then harm them, suck their blood, suck their love. giving love by withdrawing. maybe he has some much larger childhood traumas than everyone know. maybe he was raped. ,,smells like teen spirit" sounds unusual and could be interpreted on a strange way.... that's why he says the song doesn't mean much it was never about validation, it was his secret, whatever it was exactly
@@YungScuffed oh lol yeah english is not my mother language i'm sorry i confused a little bit the word ,,hello" itself sounds for me like hell low respectively how he emphasize it. maybe it was intended to hear several versions of words and the subsequent ,,how low" could be a reference to hell (hell=low) respectively: hello, how low >>> hello is how low >>>> the word hello is how the word low it should also be noted that there is no question mark in the lyrics or it could simply be a rhetorical question and thus tie back to the word hell maybe? haha idk but kurt often intentionally emphazise words several versions at same time, he also often changed lyrics at live concerts and played with the meanings and with interpretation space.
@@SyedRewinds Thank you for your new video by the way and your work in general I have a song recommendation: ,, rape me " or ,,stay away" ,,sappy" ,,drain you" ,,moist vagina" ( this song confirmes his fear of sexuality respectively his less interest in it ) or dumb or any other song :D all songs are good and deep would tie in with what I wrote earlier kurt had an extraordinary capacity for empathy, that's why he was able to convey songs like "rape me" so well and maybe because he had to make certain experiences himself at least my intuition and observation always told me that he must have experienced something like that and i know how it feels and how some people act then because i had to experience something like that myself, i would act like him and i would never say publicly if my song about rape also on personal ones experiences. that would be too exhausting, one prefers to retreat with the thoughts and leave it with the emotions. something about his style just calls out for it. I don't think he just killed himself because of drugs or courtney love or whatever. he has suffered a lot himself, the greatest minds sometimes arise under tragically difficult conditions. he never really had anyone to talk to about any of this other than his imaginary friends, and his last hope might be that he meets someone who understands him. then he met courtney and his hopes were shattered, the only thing she could give him was heroin so he could forget in turn that she didn't understand him either. isolated and withdrawn he left us. maybe there could be something to it, it's speculation but I'll just say it like this: that's how i feel. and even if he was still happy before courtney, i think it was because he still had hope? you can live your life halfway and even the people in the deepest circle often don't notice much, i think courtney was just the last big trigger. or she wasn't really involved at all, rather on the contrary. no matter what would have happened, kurt was simply no longer able to control his creeping nihilism throughout his life, but nihilism controlled him more and more. i think most of his songs have a deep meaning, he just didn't like recognition and therefore trivialized his lyrics. besides, he would have felt uncomfortable opening up like that. instead he did it in an indirect way. here is a quote about it, what if kurt had to go through that too but no one ever found out about it? ,,His great-uncle on his father's side killed himself before he was to be arraigned for raping a child, and a cousin of Kurt's disclosed as an adult that he was raped by a maternal great-uncle of Kurt's. Today, families often allow a known, or-suspected sex offender access to children.'' many have killed themselves because of such a circumstance. then add all the others in his life. it all was way to much for him.
Your focus on Cobain's ability to construct songs with such precision is spot-on. Though he came from a punk-rock background, he loved The Beatles so crafting a great pop song was always foremost in his mind when writing a song. Sure, he talks about dark and abstract ideas, but it's couched in a pop structure with great pop hooks.
I have been enjoying rock Music the past 40 years, but never before or after experienced the mania of nirvana in 91. They were everywhere played by everyone.
This song and the whole album actually has this magical effect on me. When I hear it i can either get super excited or sleepy. I believe it's because my dad used to put that album on when I was very little to make me fall asleep. As soon as teen spirit started playing I'd get ready to have the best nap ever and it still has that effect on me today. As for a modern artist like nirvana, I highly recommend grandson. Mostly because he himself says that he would like to be a similar anchor to young people like nirvana was for the teens of the 90s. And does that well by really presenting his voice as the voice of the current generation. His song "identity" is a very good example.
Congrats on the milestones man! I’ve caught a few of your vids recently and i’m loving the analysis but I really had no idea everything was moving so fast for you! It’s all just consistency and authenticity! Just keep doing you and before you know you’ll be celebrating 10k. Only up from here :)
If you are diving into grunge you have to also check out Soundgarden. They are credited for being one of the bands who started the grunge movement. Chris Cornell's voice and range was unbelievable. RIP Chris. You are missed.
Congrats on 1000 subs! Looking forward to the new content! And since you're still gonna do reactions, you should definitely listen to "All Apologies". It's another classic piece!
@@SyedRewinds the unplugged set is God tier. It really strips down their already rudimentary music into something beautiful. Plus they do some great cover songs
I would argue that it was not okay for him to be content in the darkness, no matter how comfortable it may have been. I'd also argue that it wasn't comfortable since he spent a lot of time medicating himself to cope. Makes for a great songwriter, but such a sad person. I still miss him. I wish he knew he could be happy. He could give it up if he needed to. He didn't have to go.
Cobain's last words were from Neil Young. "It's better to burn out than fade away" Young is also a very emotional artist. I believe much of his best work comes through the electric guitar, thoug he is best known as a folkie. "Cortez the Killer" or "Ramada Inn" my suggestions. Or, "My. My, Hey Hey(out of the blue". Also, of course, his album "Tonight's the night" is a deliberately raw masterpiece.
The voice leading in the verses is really beautiful. He had an incredible ear for music. The comparison to Lennon is purely about the fact that they approached music with very similar Voice Leading melodies. This is what the comparison is all about. It's music theory only. The other notable comparison is the fact that they both wrote about subject matter that was facing inwards so Lennon could write about paranoia or what is going on in his mind for example.
Another group with melancholy lyrics is Soundgarden- also from Seattle and grunge. Have you reacted to any of their songs? Outshine. Fell on black days. Slaves and bulldozers.
hey man great vid! cheers to 1 thousand subs and a thousand more! can you react to serve the servants by nirvana next? i think seeing you breakdown those lyrics would be awesome.
Love the content you put out man! Also, you should react to You Know You're Right or About A Girl which were actually the last 2 songs they recorded before Kurt died.
Just wanted to say i love your Nirvana reactions and how your articulate your impressions of the music. Thought i'd suggest maybe listen to this band type o negative? If you check it out maybe start with Black No1, Christian Woman, or Love You to Death. Itd be dope to see your thoughts on it
I didn't even realize I wasn't subbed until now... congrats on 1k! I've been enjoying the Nirvana reactions a lot. I'd love to one day see you react to the band Blur! They were the inventors of Britpop in the early 90s and underwent some crazy transformations throughout the 90s, but they were consistently incredible and underrated
You got 10k now. I just turned 48, so this one was high school. I was 16. Haven't heard your reaction to lithium. This was played in my junior year in our Lunch Quad every day in 91... It was that huge. We grew to grow tired of it. Sad... So many other great songs. Do the first album. Bleach. I suggest School
You should watch the video for this..one of the most famous rock videos there is. Adds to the energy and vibe a lot! On MTV 24/7 back in the day when MTV was still legit.
I think the reference to "taste" signifies sampling/using various substances for their mood-altering, relaxation or analgesic effects. Or, that's just me. lmdao. Whatever, I love his fondness for, and facility with wordplay, something else he shared with Lennon, like creative, unexpected and interesting chord sequences. This is another one I loved adding to the songbook for the after-school rock-band program, late-90s-early 00s, huge fun to play for family, friends and neighbours on the porch at the end of week-long summer-camp sessions. I also love his solos at this time mainly adhering to the song's melody. A bandmate, a drummer on a pickup gig once berated me from the next urinal thus: "It's not fusion, try playing the effing melody!" So I did. Not a bad idea, obv. The feedback seemingly teetering on sonic chaos that links the solo and the start of the last verse is sheer textbook, just a lesson in how it's done. Entropy is your friend, or at least a reliable travelling companion. Congrats, btw, on the milestone, it'll grow mate, you're very good, relatable, cogent, all that.
Cheers for the kind words mate! The solos copying the main melody is a interesting one, I wouldn't have thought it would work but he does it really well and the final effect he leaves on the last note is incredible
@@SyedRewinds Rush's 'Limelight' is another one with a solo intending to end in that fashion. Kurt's version here is the best that springs to mind, imo.
I subscribed tonight after watching some reactions on your channel the last 24 hours. Your channel is really going to grow. You are doing a fantastic show. Before you get too big, I want to request your reaction to someone who is getting inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of fame soon this year. The Eurythmics (Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox). If you add their sales to Annie Lennox' solo sales, its 85 million albums/CDs! But she/they block a few songs. If you would do a deep cut that I feel *sure* won't get blocked it would be so cool. It's got 2 fan-made videos, so clearly the album buyers loved the song. That also tells me they are not blocking it. Title: No Fear No Hurt No Pain No Broken Hearts. Gorgeous vocals. If you wanted- - - the video with the doll with orange hair will not distract from the music for you. It's the doll standing there "singing". Edit: You will not need the lyrics. Crystal clear. Looking forward to following your channel.
I'm loving your channel I have 2 other bands from the 90s you gotta check out Jane's addiction ocean size or mountain song and rage against the machine wake up or bullet to the head live from the pink pop concert much love keep it up
I don't think Kurt ever struggled with his sexuality, but he definitely was very pro-gay rights, way before it was fashionable. He was friends at high school with someone who was gay, and he definitely hated homophobes.
Kurt's lyrics are ambiguous for sure, but not meaningless. It's almost like he didn't want everyone to listen to his music and he made his lyrics purposely enigmatic. For the people that were able to decipher them, that's who it was for. Kurt was a tortured soul, and one of the purest humans I've ever seen. Great insight and interpretation.
You should have a look at the video of this, then Weird Al Yankovic's parody called 'Smells like Nirvana'. The video of the two songs draw many comparisons in that, filmed in the same venue, the same extras cast were used and the music was great!!
@@SyedRewinds thank you for remembering me - but I'm not kidding at all you know music and it's so impressive..you can go to the top of anything you do!
Great Reaction. However, you dismissed the beach boys for the exact same reason. I would strongly suggest you listen to"The sMile sessions to hear genius that inspired the Beatles and Nirvana...
Another great reaction. This song really shows why Nirvana was one of the greatest rock bands ever. The sound, the lyrics, the delivery and rawness in it. This still sounds refreshing today, imagine hearing this 30 years ago.
So true! the music still sounds new, wish I had added this in the actual video
@@SyedRewinds Great take on the lyrics. You definitely see some Bowie influence in it. The words, taken at face-value are almost nonsensical. But, through conceptual association to those words, it starts to paint a picture in your mind. You fill in the blanks, and it all kind of comes together. It's the musical equivalent of one of those Magic-Eye images, lol. The less you focus on it, the clearer it becomes. That style used to be quite common, until the advent of music videos, which added that extra context for the listener. By the 90's it was already a lost art (save for a few bands... REM, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and a few others). But Nirvana doubled-down on it in almost every song. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Polly, and Heart-shaped box especially.
I sat in a friends basement when I was fifteen years old. She was upstairs eating, I was watching MTV. This song comes on, and immediately I feel and know that this is going to change things. One of the cornerstones of my musical awakening.
I still remember turning on MTV and seeing the video for the first time when I was 10 years old. Automatically I thought this must be the best song ever created. 30 years later and it’s still possibly the best song ever IMO
I’m on the younger end of gen x and this song really sums up the zeitgeist for me and kids like me who entered our teen years with grunge. It’s a totally different experience then my older sister who was a teenager in the 80’s. I recently read something about gen x, tlking about how small a generation it was, and how coming of age while the huge prior generation was in their prime. This left gen x frustrated & feeling impotent, locked out of making a difference and gaining power. I felt like this thesis made a ton of sense. I was passionate kid who wanted to protest the things I felt were fcked up, but changing the world felt so far outside the realm of possibility for me. This lack of generational power led to apathy. If you listen to the biggest grunge songs they tended towards “nothing matters”, “everything sucks”, “we suck, we’re losers”, “everything is boring.”
The 90’s were incredibly progressive compared the the 80’s and the 00’s. I remember 1/2 my male friends coming out as bi and like 90% of grls. There was a huge shift in cultural attitudes from the prior gen, but we were without any power to effect change. I think if gen x had been larger we could have left a bigger mark on history. The energy of youth is needed when overcoming large systemic and cultural hurdles. I look at some millennials and most of gen z, and see how they’ve been able to take their passion, and that energy and youthful optimism to rise up against structural problems in a way gen x wasn’t able to.
Such a great comment. I too came from a small, marginalized generation, the baby boomers little brothers and sisters - sometimes called baby busters. We rejected wholesale militant activism, religious fervor and politics and embraced the corporate world. Some people referred to us as Yuppies. We were tired of people banging their heads against the machine. Having grown up during the Cold War, we really just wanted to get ahead in the world and have nice things. You can still find us, in our 50's and early 60's here - not in the best of health, having burned out with our materialism and not sure who we really want to be, even now. We have quite a bit in common with Gen X even though we may have sneered at their lack of ambition.
I'm curious what you consider late era/ younger ,as you said , Gen X bc I'm Gen X and the amount of people, especially with YT that claimed to be Gen X but were born after 1980 is so much more than I'd have thought. We label generations by dates for a reason and when I've said if you're born after Dec 31, 1980 you're not Gen X you're a millennial people have gotten pissy when im not gatekeeping I'm stating it bc they may not know. Well I am gatekeeping when people born in the late 80s - early 90s say they're gen X bc wtf?
I started down a Nirvana reaction rabbit hole today and after suffering through several lame reactions on other channels I’m so thankful to have found your thoughtful analysis of one of the truly great bands. I was 30 when I first heard Nirvana in 1991 and I knew immediately I’d found something really special. It’s very cool to watch you be touched by their music. I really appreciate you taking the time to learn about the backstory of the songs and that you analyze the lyrics. You stand out amongst the sea of lame reaction channels and I look forward to seeing more from you.
After the 80s I quit listening to music altogether. In the mid 90s my wife and I happened to have the radio on and Weird Al Yankovic's parody on this song came on. We both became very curious where he got his source material because the song was actually really good. Obviously some band called Nirvana was mentioned in the lyrics so I searched there. After listening to this and several other songs, I became a huge fan. Kurt seemed to breathe fresh life out of the simplest of chords.
Throughout my life, many bands are credited with evolving music. For example, Beatles, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, etc. In 1979 with disco and dance oriented pap plaguing the air waves, along comes the Knack to knock some rock back into the fray. For myself, Nirvana is one of these bands. I've listened to and loved all of their albums. You can actually witness Kurt's musical sense improving with each album without eliminating his edge. But as you've noted in this song, there is an undercurrent of restlessness or maybe guilt. He plays with words without actually being able to say what he really means, but you can hear it in his voice.
For myself, I was chilled when I heard 'Heart Shaped Box'. His lyrics seemed to beat around the bush both literally and figuratively. His vocals implied some real pent up exasperated frustration of someone who realizes he should be grateful but is he is entirely despising his existence nevertheless. And that chord progression was like death. I was stating at the time that it sounded like a man who wanted to die simply because there is nothing else to do at this point.
Someone did point out that Nirvana songs don't fade out. They mostly stop, sometimes very abruptly.
Shortly after this Kurt allegedly killed himself. I can still hear it in that song.
I love Heart Shaped Box, it's the darkest, bleakest harshest thing to ever be a hit. I mean most of In Utero is like that to be honest, you hear everything, It's so fucking rad though!
As someone who was a teenager when Led Zeppelin hit the big time, I get a kick out of watching younger people discover the music of my youth. And see the appreciation of that music. Good music is good music no matter when it was released. btw, Nirvana and the Grunge era was my kids era music, they turned me on to the Seattle sound. As they say, the beat goes on. Really enjoying your reactions and congrats on the rapid rise in subscribers. Hold on, you are on your way to 100,000 subs!
Great music is timeless and Nevermind somehow still sounds forward thinking. Thanks for the kind words Ziggy!
@@SyedRewinds Bro. You should go off the beaten path and do "Post Toastee" by Tommy Bolin. Tommy was the James Dean of electric guitar. Hendrix tool the blues and ran it through electronic effects like wah, phase, delay. Tommy added hard rock, funk, jazz, reggae through a sonic cosmic sound. He was an acid jazz pioneer and played on a landmark fusion record that made top guitarists like Jeff Beck go in that direction. Deep Purple recruited him at 23. By 25 he was dead about to become the guitarist of the moment. This song has astounded 12 of 12 reviewers and paved the way for so many like RHCP...
Ppp
Takes me back to when this song first came out.. we were just blown away , couldn't believe what we were hearing..
I am new to viewing your reaction videos. I love your channel and your analyses and commentaries. Keep up the good work!
Take a listen to Rick Beato's analysis "what makes this song great" to understand the level of genius that Kurt brought to his music. You are right that Nirvana was about the emotion and they found a way to reach into our chests and get our hearts beating. True genius
The drums at the beginning were inspired straight from disco like the gap band!
I seen a instagram clip about this with Grohl and Pharell!
This song literally stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it. It was so different than anything I had ever heard before. It felt to me, dangerous, and not in a happy or exciting way. There was such a rawness to the song and the video that I was actually afraid. I truly didn't know what to think. Amazing art. Still amazing and sad today.
The first time that I ever heard this song, the day it came out, I was on the beach in Punta San Miguel, Mexico, near Ensenada, getting ready to paddle out for a perfect surf session. I'll never forget that day and I'll always love this song. It was what everyone was talking about in the campground that day. It was revolutionary.
You're such a great reactor, you realise the best thing in Nirvana songs it's their simplicity. Just a guitar, a drumset and a base banging a four chord riff and sounds like the greatest thing ever.
I was 17 years old when this album dropped, and this song blew my little teenage mind. I cannot explain properly to you how this song and the entire Nevermind album changed the direction of music. What an amazing time it was to be a teen! This band and other Seattle scene grunge bands like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam..., reached a generation of disillusioned youths like no one else could.
Heart-Shaped Box next!
This came out at the height of MTV Nation, and to understand the phenomenon it started, you have to watch the video. It is so different from the pop and hair band videos of the time, so raw and real and dripping with teenage angst.
love your reactions! You should react to nirvana where did you sleep last night live on MTV unplugged (do the video as well), one of the best live performances ever
I will check it out!
Lounge Act next !
100%
I love how Kurt muddies the words when he sings so you cant tell how fucking weird the lyrics are hahah
Puerto rico in tha house congrats M8.
please try Weird Al Yankovic's version of this (or anything by him)
Spot on again my man! What's really impressive is that your analyzing songs that aren't even your genre of choice!
I would a give anything to listen to this song for the first time again. And “music needs a new nirvana”? Wow, so well put man. Great work
Thanks mate! Yh Im lucky I get to share this musical journey with people, its pretty cool
Great reaction. Probably my favorite song released after 1990. I hope you don’t think it’s too forward of me to recommend Alice In Chains……Great combo of lyrics, vocals, harmonies and musicianship. Start with live version of Love Hate Love. And congrats on the subscription count.
Yes AIC, Love, Hate, Love live at the Moore. 🔥🔥🔥
Thanks Janice and AIC is defo on the list. A band with that kind of combo your describing is defo worth looking into.
yeah, he has to check out AIC music, at least for Layne’s majestic vocals 👏🏻
Alice in Chains is one of those best sounds from a band
This song just literally open up the underground musics and bands to become success and popular
they broke down many doors as a band!
I'm enjoying coming along for the ride and really enjoy your reactions/opinions/takes. keep it up brother I'll be here for ten thousand subscribers.
Thanks John, your sub means a lot to me mate. The march to 10k begins!
The 80s were ruled by hair metal/glam rock bands and had grown stail, nirvana was a breath of fresh air, breathing new life into the commercialized corpse of rock and roll. An entire generation of youth stood up and hailed nirvana as being the real raw thing and anointed the bands front man kurt cobain their musical Messiah. For the rest of his brief life, fans would treat kurt cobain with admiration of a conquering monarch, but kurt never asked to be crowned the king, and the head that wore that crown would never rest easy.
MTV 2004 nirvana special on the 10th anniversary of his death
I saw them live in a little club in Edmonton, Canada, with maybe 50 in the audience. It was outstanding! They played Teen Spirit live a month later.
Negative creep is a heavy hitting song you should listen to.
The pre chorus has a very haunting sound thanks to the double track on his vocals, its a fairly loose double track so it gives it that cool effect.
Happy that your channel is growing. I've really been enjoying your reactions.
this song is really a fucking phenomenon. it’s basically a bunch of nonsense sprinkled with great one-liners with an actual meaning. and it WORKS! everything about the song is just iconic.
like yeah they overplayed it too much to the point the band got tired of SLTS + we know they have other great tracks besides this one.
but I feel like this one just won’t ever be forgotten and every time you hear that intro it brings such nostalgia, reminds you where you were in that specific moment when the MV premiered.
for me this song is about frustration, teenage/young adults feelings, a bunch of shit that don’t make sense when you’re experiencing those feelings + it’s poking fun at the mainstream culture of that time period.
so it does have a message, just under a veil.
PS. the isolated vocals of the song are INSANE. it’s raw yet clean.
need to check the isolated vocals out, I've heard him and the background vocals together isolated sound insane
This is the root of the tree we call Nirvana. It extends in branches above ground in other songs later on in the discography of the band. Very good reaction. You are my new favorite.
Great review! I’ve always interrupted as in Kurt basically relaying all the feelings of self doubt, awkwardness,hormones,loneliness that happens into the journey of high school. And that the phrase Smells like Teen Spirit is more a mockery of like wow this is what being a teen is about? As in we’ll grow up saying I can’t wait to get older etc. So here we are now entertain us!!!
Awesome takes on the track Nick, self doubt, "awkwardness,hormones,loneliness" all defo play a part in this song. Thanks for sharing.
@@SyedRewinds no problem man! If I can may I suggest one of his unplugged songs! Oh me which was a cover or Jesus don’t want me for a Sunbeam another cover on that record. Thanks!
Hearing this for the first time with headphones when I was a child was unbelievable...Nothing comes close to it 😎
Both MUST HEAR Classics,,
Argent "Hold Your Head Up"
Head East "Never Been Any Reason"
TRUST ME!!
Endless/Nameless is a secret bonus track on the never mind album, would love to know what you think of it. Also loving all the videos keep it up man
The Stoners Surprise.
.
I was 18 when this song came out. It changed EVERYTHING.
The blue fender mustang that Kurt had in the music video went up for auction a couple months ago
I have heard a lot of music, but I always maintain, like Dr. Dre, Nirvana Nevermind is the best rock album ever made. I think you nailed it when you said he plays emotion, and that is the essence of rock!
The insightful and succinct analysis of music I have been listening to for decades has opened a new understanding for me. Thank you. Nirvana, Led Zep and The Beatles are regarded as highly by millions of fans for a very good reason. They were the voice that expressed what their generation struggled to say. Could I suggest a listen to Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb it is an emotional ride that takes you to on a much different journey.
Keep them coming, I am buckled in and ready for the ride with you.
Haha thanks for the kind words, buckle up!
about the lyrics of this song, he said it has no deep meaning.
dont be fooled, i would do say it too instead of saying the truth. sometimes you have to keep things by yourself cause youre scared? ashamed? reserved? relationless? lonely?
a lot of ,,simple" things have a never seen deep side.
a lot of not deep intendet lyrics can let a lot of space for interpretation too and thats what maybe was intendet, so in the end, its something deep anyway.
first he sings:
,,hello hello"
meeting humans
then ,,hell low"
indicates that maybe in some way for him it was the hell,
not because of hate but instead of fear.
then in the chorus he sings
,,with the lights out, its less dangerous"
like staying at home, in a shutdown, dimmed windows making the lights out,
then he is on his own and is not in danger of his irrational fear against world, people.
or ,,lights out"
a reference to suicide.
,,here we are now, entertain us"
could be a hidden reference to multiple personality and his imaginary friend ,,boda".
(lithium - ,,im so happy, cause today i found my friends, there in my head")
,,feel stupid and contagnious"
contagnious: he dont wants to infect someone with his inner illness which leads back to his fear of people and explains it more.
,,a mosquito, my libido"
his libido is like a mosquito,
he attract people and then harm them, suck their blood, suck their love.
giving love by withdrawing.
maybe he has some much larger childhood traumas than everyone know. maybe he was raped.
,,smells like teen spirit"
sounds unusual and could be interpreted on a strange way....
that's why he says the song doesn't mean much
it was never about validation, it was his secret, whatever it was exactly
awesome analysis, loved your takes on it. Only a great songwriter would have this much depth in his songs
@@Luis-gw2ll it’s “how low”
@@YungScuffed oh lol
yeah english is not my mother language i'm sorry
i confused a little bit
the word ,,hello" itself sounds for me like hell low respectively how he emphasize it. maybe it was intended to hear several versions of words and the subsequent ,,how low"
could be a reference to hell (hell=low)
respectively: hello, how low >>> hello is how low >>>> the word hello is how the word low
it should also be noted that there is no question mark in the lyrics or it could simply be a rhetorical question and thus tie back to the word hell
maybe? haha idk
but kurt often intentionally emphazise words several versions at same time,
he also often changed lyrics at live concerts and played with the meanings and with interpretation space.
@@SyedRewinds Thank you for your new video by the way and your work in general
I have a song recommendation:
,, rape me "
or
,,stay away"
,,sappy"
,,drain you"
,,moist vagina" ( this song confirmes his fear of sexuality respectively his less interest in it )
or dumb
or any other song :D
all songs are good and deep
would tie in with what I wrote earlier
kurt had an extraordinary capacity for empathy, that's why he was able to convey songs like "rape me" so well and maybe because he had to make certain experiences himself
at least my intuition and observation always told me that he must have experienced something like that and i know how it feels and how some people act then because i had to experience something like that myself, i would act like him and i would never say publicly if my song about rape also on personal ones experiences.
that would be too exhausting, one prefers to retreat with the thoughts and leave it with the emotions.
something about his style just calls out for it. I don't think he just killed himself because of drugs or courtney love or whatever. he has suffered a lot himself, the greatest minds sometimes arise under tragically difficult conditions.
he never really had anyone to talk to about any of this other than his imaginary friends, and his last hope might be that he meets someone who understands him. then he met courtney and his hopes were shattered, the only thing she could give him was heroin so he could forget in turn that she didn't understand him either. isolated and withdrawn he left us.
maybe there could be something to it, it's speculation but I'll just say it like this: that's how i feel.
and even if he was still happy before courtney, i think it was because he still had hope? you can live your life halfway and even the people in the deepest circle often don't notice much, i think courtney was just the last big trigger. or she wasn't really involved at all, rather on the contrary. no matter what would have happened, kurt was simply no longer able to control his creeping nihilism throughout his life, but nihilism controlled him more and more.
i think most of his songs have a deep meaning, he just didn't like recognition and therefore trivialized his lyrics. besides, he would have felt uncomfortable opening up like that. instead he did it in an indirect way.
here is a quote about it, what if kurt had to go through that too but no one ever found out about it?
,,His great-uncle on his father's side killed himself before he was to be arraigned for raping a child, and a cousin of Kurt's disclosed as an adult that he was raped by a maternal great-uncle of Kurt's. Today, families often allow a known, or-suspected sex offender access to children.''
many have killed themselves because of such a circumstance.
then add all the others in his life.
it all was way to much for him.
Still remember EXACTLY (almost to the second) what I was doing first time I heard this.
Your focus on Cobain's ability to construct songs with such precision is spot-on. Though he came from a punk-rock background, he loved The Beatles so crafting a great pop song was always foremost in his mind when writing a song. Sure, he talks about dark and abstract ideas, but it's couched in a pop structure with great pop hooks.
I have been enjoying rock Music the past 40 years, but never before or after experienced the mania of nirvana in 91. They were everywhere played by everyone.
“Taste” is metaphor for shooting small amounts of heroin
This song and the whole album actually has this magical effect on me. When I hear it i can either get super excited or sleepy. I believe it's because my dad used to put that album on when I was very little to make me fall asleep. As soon as teen spirit started playing I'd get ready to have the best nap ever and it still has that effect on me today.
As for a modern artist like nirvana, I highly recommend grandson. Mostly because he himself says that he would like to be a similar anchor to young people like nirvana was for the teens of the 90s. And does that well by really presenting his voice as the voice of the current generation. His song "identity" is a very good example.
Verse 3 summarizes the attitude people had coming out of the 80's into the late 90's absolutely perfectly.
Amazing achievement, remember me when youre at 1 million subs!!!
Haha bro at 1mil its sunglasses everywhere I go man, cousin or not you have to make an appointment to see me lol
This song takes me back, bloody awesome song
12k+ now bruh.....your on fire!!!🇨🇦🇨🇦❤️
Dave Grohl being a beast back there on the drums.
Congrats on the milestones man! I’ve caught a few of your vids recently and i’m loving the analysis but I really had no idea everything was moving so fast for you!
It’s all just consistency and authenticity! Just keep doing you and before you know you’ll be celebrating 10k. Only up from here :)
Cheers Conor have a great one mate!
Wow, I never knew the words till I saw this... amazing!
One of my favorite nirvana songs I jam out to it every day
If you are diving into grunge you have to also check out Soundgarden. They are credited for being one of the bands who started the grunge movement. Chris Cornell's voice and range was unbelievable. RIP Chris. You are missed.
This was the real beginning of the 90's
Great insight. You nailed Kurt's guitar playing, not the greatest virtuoso but tones of emotion with every strum
what you have is a love of music and it shows....keep going
nice analysis dude
Congrats man!
Congrats on 1000 subs! Looking forward to the new content! And since you're still gonna do reactions, you should definitely listen to "All Apologies". It's another classic piece!
Will eventually get to that for sure, maybe will end up covering the whole unplugged set
@@SyedRewinds the unplugged set is God tier. It really strips down their already rudimentary music into something beautiful. Plus they do some great cover songs
Yay! more Nirvana!!
I think the right lyrics would be "Here we are now, entertainers", explaining what popularity has changed on them.
I've Been Watching Your Reactions & Enjoying Them For Awhile Now,, But Then I Realized That I Wasn't Subscribed,, So I Just Fixed That..Lol.
Thanks for subbing!
I would argue that it was not okay for him to be content in the darkness, no matter how comfortable it may have been. I'd also argue that it wasn't comfortable since he spent a lot of time medicating himself to cope. Makes for a great songwriter, but such a sad person. I still miss him. I wish he knew he could be happy. He could give it up if he needed to. He didn't have to go.
Cobain's last words were from Neil Young. "It's better to burn out than fade away" Young is also a very emotional artist. I believe much of his best work comes through the electric guitar, thoug he is best known as a folkie. "Cortez the Killer" or "Ramada Inn" my suggestions. Or, "My. My, Hey Hey(out of the blue". Also, of course, his album "Tonight's the night" is a deliberately raw masterpiece.
When this came out... I called it EMO music. And, it did become EMO music. Or thrash. This was awesome when I first heard it and it's still awesome. 😁
You got a sub hello from Texas :) 🤘🏻
I really enjoy your content I will stay watching you for as long as you post
The voice leading in the verses is really beautiful. He had an incredible ear for music. The comparison to Lennon is purely about the fact that they approached music with very similar Voice Leading melodies. This is what the comparison is all about. It's music theory only. The other notable comparison is the fact that they both wrote about subject matter that was facing inwards so Lennon could write about paranoia or what is going on in his mind for example.
Listen…. You are the best at breaking down music…. Ok? Aright
Another group with melancholy lyrics is Soundgarden- also from Seattle and grunge. Have you reacted to any of their songs? Outshine. Fell on black days. Slaves and bulldozers.
I read somewhere that the mulatto-libido sequence was related to heroin use - mosquito is the prick of the needle and libido is the pleasure.
hey man great vid! cheers to 1 thousand subs and a thousand more! can you react to serve the servants by nirvana next? i think seeing you breakdown those lyrics would be awesome.
Defo on the list mate and thanks for the sub too ❤️✌️
Love the content you put out man! Also, you should react to You Know You're Right or About A Girl which were actually the last 2 songs they recorded before Kurt died.
Just wanted to say i love your Nirvana reactions and how your articulate your impressions of the music. Thought i'd suggest maybe listen to this band type o negative? If you check it out maybe start with Black No1, Christian Woman, or Love You to Death. Itd be dope to see your thoughts on it
Thanks for the kind words man and ive just added it to the list ✌️
I didn't even realize I wasn't subbed until now... congrats on 1k! I've been enjoying the Nirvana reactions a lot. I'd love to one day see you react to the band Blur! They were the inventors of Britpop in the early 90s and underwent some crazy transformations throughout the 90s, but they were consistently incredible and underrated
Thanks for jumping on board mate, that's an interesting suggestion too. Not many have asked, if i get a couple more will defo add to the list
@@SyedRewinds Awesome sounds good! They started venturing into hip hop/electronic territory and their frontman started the Gorillaz
great! please more nirvana
You got 10k now. I just turned 48, so this one was high school. I was 16. Haven't heard your reaction to lithium. This was played in my junior year in our Lunch Quad every day in 91... It was that huge. We grew to grow tired of it. Sad... So many other great songs. Do the first album. Bleach. I suggest School
You should watch the video for this..one of the most famous rock videos there is. Adds to the energy and vibe a lot! On MTV 24/7 back in the day when MTV was still legit.
First time here visiting your reaction videos
Whats up Stephen glad you're here mate!
I think the reference to "taste" signifies sampling/using various substances for their mood-altering, relaxation or analgesic effects. Or, that's just me. lmdao. Whatever, I love his fondness for, and facility with wordplay, something else he shared with Lennon, like creative, unexpected and interesting chord sequences.
This is another one I loved adding to the songbook for the after-school rock-band program, late-90s-early 00s, huge fun to play for family, friends and neighbours on the porch at the end of week-long summer-camp sessions.
I also love his solos at this time mainly adhering to the song's melody. A bandmate, a drummer on a pickup gig once berated me from the next urinal thus: "It's not fusion, try playing the effing melody!" So I did. Not a bad idea, obv. The feedback seemingly teetering on sonic chaos that links the solo and the start of the last verse is sheer textbook, just a lesson in how it's done. Entropy is your friend, or at least a reliable travelling companion.
Congrats, btw, on the milestone, it'll grow mate, you're very good, relatable, cogent, all that.
Cheers for the kind words mate! The solos copying the main melody is a interesting one, I wouldn't have thought it would work but he does it really well and the final effect he leaves on the last note is incredible
@@SyedRewinds Rush's 'Limelight' is another one with a solo intending to end in that fashion. Kurt's version here is the best that springs to mind, imo.
Great reactions. Please do “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”
Listen to Milk It for a darker side. It's one of my favorite tracks by them if you liked Scentless Apprentice!
added to the list now mate
@@SyedRewinds Thanks! Congrats on 1000!
I subscribed tonight after watching some reactions on your channel the last 24 hours. Your channel is really going to grow. You are doing a fantastic show.
Before you get too big, I want to request your reaction to someone who is getting inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of fame soon this year. The Eurythmics (Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox). If you add their sales to Annie Lennox' solo sales, its 85 million albums/CDs! But she/they block a few songs. If you would do a deep cut that I feel *sure* won't get blocked it would be so cool. It's got 2 fan-made videos, so clearly the album buyers loved the song. That also tells me they are not blocking it. Title: No Fear No Hurt No Pain No Broken Hearts. Gorgeous vocals. If you wanted- - - the video with the doll with orange hair will not distract from the music for you. It's the doll standing there "singing". Edit: You will not need the lyrics. Crystal clear.
Looking forward to following your channel.
I'm loving your channel I have 2 other bands from the 90s you gotta check out Jane's addiction ocean size or mountain song and rage against the machine wake up or bullet to the head live from the pink pop concert much love keep it up
I don't think Kurt ever struggled with his sexuality, but he definitely was very pro-gay rights, way before it was fashionable. He was friends at high school with someone who was gay, and he definitely hated homophobes.
Kurt's lyrics are ambiguous for sure, but not meaningless. It's almost like he didn't want everyone to listen to his music and he made his lyrics purposely enigmatic. For the people that were able to decipher them, that's who it was for. Kurt was a tortured soul, and one of the purest humans I've ever seen. Great insight and interpretation.
You should have a look at the video of this, then Weird Al Yankovic's parody called 'Smells like Nirvana'. The video of the two songs draw many comparisons in that, filmed in the same venue, the same extras cast were used and the music was great!!
Great reaction!
Thanks mate! Good to see you again Anton ✌️
@@SyedRewinds thank you for remembering me - but I'm not kidding at all you know music and it's so impressive..you can go to the top of anything you do!
Congrats on 1k! Can't wait to see you grow more in future. Never forget your first sub 😏😉
hehe Thank you so much!!
Gen X 🤘🏼
You should react to “breed” next
Greetings from the Netherlands btw :)
No way! Whats up Kas, Im actually visiting Amsterdam soon. Atleast I know theres ppl with good taste in music there haha
@@SyedRewinds thank you haha, hope you have a great time in Amsterdam!
🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
Taste is a reference to Heroin use.
All respect to Nirvana fans but wait until TOOL Army shows up. More TOOL!
Great Reaction. However, you dismissed the beach boys for the exact same reason. I would strongly suggest you listen to"The sMile sessions to hear genius that inspired the Beatles and Nirvana...
I hear this song, but in my mind all I can see is cheerleaders dressed in black 📣
You should check out Weird Al Yankovic's parody of this as well.
PLEASE dive in to the Foo Fighters as well, great band started by Dave Grohl after Nirvana.