FEATURE:
An Ageless Fragrance
IN THIS PHOTO: Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl circa 1991/PHOTO CREDIT: Houston Press
Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and One Billion YouTube Views
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AT the time of writing this feature (29th December)…
Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit has hit 1,005,079,985 on YouTube. That is quite staggering considering the video has only been on the site for a decade! I know other songs have hit higher figures, but a lot of these tracks are from Pop artists and, in my view, the success is less about song quality and more to do with…well, artist popularity. I think the mark of a truly brilliant track is if it can endure for years and prove popular decade after decade. In this NME article, the facts are laid out:
“Released in 1991, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ appeared on Nirvana’s second album ‘Nevermind’. The song and its accompanying video helped usher in a new wave of grunge and alternative rock dominance.
The official video was uploaded to YouTube in June 2009 and recently hit one billion views. it is the second-most-viewed 90s music video on the streaming platform, behind only Guns N’ Roses’ ‘November Rain’, which to date has racked up nearly 1.3 billion views.
Behind ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, The Cranberries’ ‘Zombie’ is the next 90s music video set to achieve one billion views, which currently stands at around 980 million views.
Nirvana’s mega hit was also recently revealed as the sixth-most-watched rock video in the 2010s by Vevo”.
It is amazing that this iconic track from the 1990s is still being digested. New generations are picking up on the spirit and power of Nirvana’s masterpiece.
Maybe Kurt Cobain (the band’s lead) felt it was a bit commercial and the Nevermind album is not their finest moment, yet few can overlook the importance of Smells Like Teen Spirit. On a basic level, it is a phenomenal song that is such a powerhouse. From Dave Grohl’s insatiable and genius drumming to Krist Novoselic’s guiding and memorable bass work, it is a true anthem. I love Cobain’s riffs and lyrics; the clash of the song’s title – Teen Spirit was the name of a deodorant – and the physicality and rawness of the track itself. The track itself was Cobain trying to write like the Pixies – a group he admired enormously. Cobain loved the quiet-loud dynamic of the song and connected with Pixies instantly. Inspired by his then-girlfriend, Kathleen Hana (Bikini Kill) writing ‘Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit’ on his wall, a classic was penned. Written during one of the first recording sessions with producer Butch Vig in 1990, Cobain presented the song to his bandmates which, at that time, consisted the main guitar riff and chorus vocal. Krist Novoselic thought the song ridiculous so, as a reaction, Cobain made his bandmates play the riff over and over; Dave Grohl came in with a drumbeat and Novoselic slowed the riff down. It is the only song on Nevermind credited to all three band members. To different people, Smells Like Teen Spirit means different things. I heard it first not long after its release in the 1990s, and the song got into my head instantly.
It was a Generation X anthem but, in the 2010s, it still sounds potent and relevant. Whereas a lot of Grunge songs sound dated and of their time, Smells Like Teen Spirit is fresh and continues to infuse and release its scent. I wanted to bring in an article from earlier this year that puts the song under the spotlight:
"I just remember feeling as though it was this inescapable presence in my life," says Hua Hsu, a staff writer at The New Yorker. He was a 14-year-old in suburban Northern California when he first heard the song in September 1991.
The album Nevermind had just come out on a major label. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was all over the radio. The music video, featuring cheerleaders with the anarchy symbol scrawled on their black uniforms, was in heavy rotation on MTV. Nine months after playing the song live for the first time, Nirvana was performing it on Saturday Night Live.
"Like millions of kids my age, this is the first thing that felt like it was mine," Hsu says. "As a teenager, I think you're really trying to figure out your place in the world. This song in particular felt so ambivalent about its own success."
Lyrics like "I found it hard, it was hard to find / Oh well, whatever, never mind" cut to the heart of Gen X, a group that includes this reporter. We were too jaded for a feel-good, sing-along anthem.
That was the genius of the song: It combined a fierce commentary on shallowness while still having a mass-appeal musicality.
Danny Goldberg, former Nirvana manager
" 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is an unusual anthem because it refuses the role of the anthem," says NPR Music critic Ann Powers. "It's perfect for the generation it represented because this was a cohort that was so ambivalent about any traditional values [or] conventional success".
Following Cobain’s suicide in 1994, Smells Like Teen Spirit continued to garner praise and acclaim. From it being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of the tracks that shaped Rock and Roll, to VH1 including it in their 100 Greatest Rock Songs list of 2000, so many sources have cited this incredible song as one of the very best ever. It is not just a case of Smells Like Teen Spirit capturing critical acclaim in the 1990s and early-2000s: in 2005, NME placed the song at number-six in their Global Best Songs Ever Poll. In 2015, the song was also named the most iconic song of all time according to a study by Goldsmith's College, which analysed various songs featured in numerous 'all-time best' lists, using analytical software to compare their key, BPM; the chord variety and lyrical content – the result of which designated the title to this song. I think Smells Like Teen Spirit will live on for decades because the messages of the song and the sheer quality transcends a particular scene and the Grunge of the 1990s. It is one of my favourite songs ever and I am not surprised it has surpassed one billion views on YouTube. Those who experienced the song the first time around still relate but, in 2019 and 2020, the track resonates and takes on a whole new meaning. Smells Like Teen Spirit is truly…
A magnificent thing.