Smells Like Teen Spirit

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was the song that brought Nirvana and grunge music to the attention of teenagers around the world. While melodically and harmonically simple, it featured a minimalistic, moody verse with stream of consciousness lyrics rising to a ferocious chorus, and Kurt Cobain's voice showing its range from tuneful melancholy to primal scream. It is based around a riff using four power chords (F-Bb-Ab-Db) with more than a passing similarity to a section of Boston's AOR classic "More Than a Feeling", as well as Blue Öyster Cult's "Godzilla". But the starkest similarity is with a song called "Mr Chips" recorded by Crazy Horse, Neil Young's backing band. It should be noted that Kurt Cobain was a big fan of Young's music.

Misheard lyrics

As Weird Al's parody emphasised, the lyrics as Cobain sang them were often difficult for listeners to decipher. A common mishearing of some of the lyrics includes "When the laughter hits the stages". Another common mishearing is from the line, "Our little group has always been," which is sometimes quoted as, "I'm in a group that's always been."

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