In September of 1991 I was a Sophomore at Charles Page High School. I was never a big music fan in High School, preferring to listen to whatever my church youth group fed me to listen to. I do remember though being drawn to one particular song by Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit. It was the revolution song for Generation X, which I am a part of I guess. It was supposed to be such an influential song, and meant so much to those in my generation. When I hear this song I am still drawn to it, mainly because of the memories it brings back to me. It’s really a funny song. I searched wikipedia for some history of the song, and I thought it was interesting that the song moves back and forth between being this revolution cry of an entire generation to being nothing really at all. Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl has stated he does not believe the song has any message, and said, “Just seeing Kurt write the lyrics to a song five minutes before he first sings them, you just kind of find it a little bit hard to believe that the song has a lot to say about something. You need syllables to fill up this space or you need something that rhymes.”
Here is one of my more favorite rendition to Smells Like Teen Spirit, with the lyrics included for your enjoyment!
Smells Like Teen Spirit lyrics
Load up on guns and Bring your friends It’s fun to lose And to pretend She’s over bored And self assured Oh no, I know A dirty word
hello, how low? [x bunch of times]
With the lights out it’s less dangerous Here we are now Entertain us I feel stupid and contagious Here we are now Entertain us A mulatto An albino A mosquito My Libido Yeah
I’m worse at what I do best And for this gift I feel blessed Our little group has always been And always will until the end
hello, how low? [x bunch of times]
With the lights out it’s less dangerous Here we are now Entertain us I feel stupid and contagious Here we are now Entertain us A mulatto An albino A mosquito My Libido Yeah
And I forget Just why I taste Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile I found it hard It was hard to find Oh well, whatever, nevermind
hello, how low? [x bunch of times]
With the lights out it’s less dangerous Here we are now Entertain us I feel stupid and contagious Here we are now Entertain us A mulatto An albino A mosquito My Libido Yeah, a denial A denial A denial…
I have heard other versions before as well…This one really ROCKS…Thanks for the post..You know I love the video aspect of any post….Good stuff about Nirvana!!!
blessings…
chill
BellaLinda
This searching for meaning reminds me of high school English class when we were instructed to find the hidden meaning in everything. Nothing makes an English teacher mad quite like suggesting maybe the author just meant to tell a good story, as opposed to a deeply hidden commentary on whatever.
I’m also reminded of Bob Dylan allegedly saying that his songs were-gasp!-just songs, and he was always amused by people trying to find meaning. But I read about that in USA Today, so who knows.
