That Smell

So I was driving home the other night after leaving a bar and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came on the radio. This of course has been a regular occurrence on FM for the past 18 years, but this time was different for some reason. Maybe I was still a little buzzed, but I found myself doing something I don't think I've ever done (or at least something I haven't done since i was about 10). I sang along. Of course I knew the words, melody, and every sound in the song from the first tight strum to the fading feedback, but I still never sang the song out loud before. It's odd witnessing a song become a classic rather than it just being part of your rock curriculum the way "Stairway To Heaven" and "Satisfaction" are. In fact It becomes fuzzy when one thinks about how "Teen Spirit" stopped being an overplayed hit and and started being a part of rock history.

Having first heard the song on Z100 (probably the most consistently mainstream pop station I know of), the song seemed to become instantly played out. It was a Gen X cliche before it even had room to breathe (Nirvana themselves seemed sick to death of playing it by the time they were on Top Of The Pops). It was more of a punchline than a song and it took some years for anyone to really look at it seriously again. In a way, we still haven't. The song is still complete blasphemy to cover, and believe me all guitar players know the chords. It's a song that no serious Nirvana fan looks to listen to - but still who would ever deny that it's great? (I'm aware that there are some, but they're wrong). I'm not sure if I'm ready yet to advocate a raise against the ban, but all I can say it was fun to just once sing along with it, if only in private.