Kurt Cobain wrote many classic tracks for Nirvana, and while he might not have liked it, his most culturally significant was ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. The definitive grunge anthem, the song’s release signalled a new dawn for rock music and culture as a whole.
When Nirvana released the song in 1991, it preceded their classic album Nevermind and set a precedent for the cultural tidal wave that was to come. The age of the outdated hair metal bands of the 1980s was over, and music was taking a more distinctive and progressive ethos.
Packaging Cobain’s indecipherable and ironic lyrics, quiet-loud-quiet dynamics, and a hefty dose of Generation X’s trusty rage, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ arrived at the perfect time. It saw Cobain hailed as the champion of his generation, and Nirvana rose meteorically, seemingly overnight. However, as with anybody who goes through the full gamut of intense superstardom, Cobain came to loathe the song and everything about it.
Despite that, no one can doubt the significance of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. One of the most famous aspects of the song is the line, “Here we are now, entertain us”. A complete earworm, the meaning behind the chosen words has long been a source of fascination for fans, given that, in general, the lyrics cover a host of different bases.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 1994, Cobain explained the origin of the line. He said: “That came from something I used to say every time I used to walk into a party to break the ice,” he said.
“A lot of times, when you’re standing around with people in a room, it’s really boring and uncomfortable,” the frontman continued. “So it was ‘Well, here we are, entertain us. You invited us here.’”
Regarding the popularity of Nirvana’s most successful song, Cobain said: “It was a celebration of something that no one could put their finger on. But once it got into the mainstream, it was over,” he added. “I’m just tired of being embarrassed by it. I’m beyond that.”
