SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT

SMELLS LIKE


TEEN SPIRIT


Smells like Teen Spirit is my favorite Nirvana song. It embodies everything Nirvana was.



The biggest difference between music in the 80s and the 90s was attitude. Songs from the 80s were generally about having a good time and celebrating how great it is to be alive. They were all about loving life. They partied hard. This generated a lot of fun but mindless songs. I love listening to 80s bops but there's nothing poetic or thoughtful about 80’s power anthems such as “I wanna dance with somebody” by Whitney Huston, “Material girl” by Madonna or “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham!


In the 90s, musicians ditched synthesizers and cheesy lyrics. The lyrics started to express deeper emotions. Songs in the 90s were full of angst and social commentary. This change was largely brought on by Nirvana, and the song Smells like Teen Spirit, which was released in 1991.

When Nirvana hit the scene in the early 90s it was like somebody dropped a bomb on the music scene and redefined it. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” became the anthem for the grunge revolution. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is about Nirvana's frustration toward the commercialization of youth culture. It is also about how Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, rejected mainstream ideas and teenager culture. (The ironic thing about this song is it ended up became extremely popular and mainstream)

The 80s was party but the 90s were real. 
 “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is the perfect example of this.



Comments

  1. Ben PolishDecember 1, 2021 at 11:02 PM

    I really like your thoughts about the grunge revolution and teenage culture at the time. I found the name Nirvana interesting as well, it being the Buddhist afterlife and all. It's the ascension or the final layer of reality. You escape. And music in the 90s was definitely a coping mechanism and helped people escape. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jackson HoffmeierDecember 8, 2021 at 10:29 PM

    I like how you talk about how 80s and 90s music is about partying because there are a lot of rock songs during the time. I know it was kind of a rebellion's thing to listen to music like this during the time especially for teens like you mention. I like how you talk about how they use deeper lyrics also.

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