Smells Like Teen Spirit

Smells Like Teen Spirit is a song by Nirvana that was released as the lead single from their second album and major label debut Nevermind on September 10, 1991. The song's surprise success is credited with launching Nevermind up the Billboard charts, with the album eventually reaching number 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and reaching Diamond status in America. The single itself reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's biggest hit and has since been certified platinum for 1 million copies sold. The song has been listed on meaning greatest songs of all time lists and was selected by the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame for their Songs That Shaped Rock N' Roll list.
==Meaning==
Kurt Cobain stated that when he was writing the song he was "trying to write the ultimate pop song" and that he was "trying to rip off The Pixies". The song's title is inspired by an incident where Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hannah wrote "Kurt smells like Teen Spirit" on Cobain's wall. Cobain has never given a consistent meaning for what the lyrics actually mean, although each given meaning involves something about teen angst.
==Success==
Smells Like Teen Spirit was not expected to be a hit as the band's label had released the single to build the band's fanbase with the next single, Come As You Are, intended to be the band's breakthrough hit. The song initially failed to chart, however due to college and modern rock radio stations adding the song to their rotations the song started to gain traction and by the end of 1991 the song had reached 6 in the Hot 100.
==Music video==
A music video for the song was produced following the song's success. The video sees the band playing at a pep rally and features future Fear Factory singer Burton C. Bell. The video was placed in MTV's Buzz Bin after debuting on 120 Minutes, however as the song started gaining popularity the network added the video to it's daytime rotation. The music video was the second rock music video from the 1990s to reaching a billion views on YouTube, behind "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses.
Category:Songs
Category:Singles
Category:Nirvana songs