A little over 20 years ago, the rock band Nirvana burst on the scene and created a revolution in culture.
Their introduction to the cultural zeitgeist was by way of their music video “Smells like Teen Spirit.” Above, you can see a look at the first live performance of “Teen Spirit.” The video’s a little grainy and low-res, which suits the song just fine.
The official music video for the song debuted on the MTV alternative rock show “120 Minutes” in Sept. 1991, and, for better or worse, inaugurated the grunge era. You can see the MTV version below.
The above live version of “Teen Spirit’s” disturbing undertones are more pronounced, its quiet-loud dynamics more forceful, and the energy of the crowd is real, not the thrashing around of a bunch of teenage extras from the MTV version.
Even still, the MTV version arrived as a shock and a thrill to a generation too young to remember punk and sick of the steady stream of cheesy corporate dance music and hair metal that characterized the late-80s. For everyone outside the small Seattle scene that nurtured them and the tape-trading kids in the know, the band seemed to arrive out of nowhere as a total angst-ridden package, and the MTV video seemed bracingly anarchic and raw at the time.
Nobody, not even the show’s host Dave Kendall, knew the impact the video would have on an entire generation, but its influence was quickly felt. “It wasn’t just heavy, it wasn’t just rock, it was real melancholy, real passion, real vulnerability, the way it married intense rage with deep melancholy and sadness,” Kendall told MTV News. “That was the record that ushered in the ‘grunge era’ into the alternative mainstream… It was gutsy and heavy and authentic, and that’s what changed the landscape. Nirvana opened people’s eyes.”
Despite their anti-corporate stance, Nirvana was a casualty of their own success, eaten up by the machinery they despised. Their best moments were still the unscripted and unpredictable.
Kurt Cobain, Nirvana’s leader, couldn’t get past his addiction to drugs and his unresolved psychological issues, and his life came to a tragic end. But Nirvana had a tremendous cultural impact, as they gave people permission to bring to the surface the range of untapped and unresolved emotions they had bottled within – the rage, the angst, the sadness and the frustration of dealing with a society that was overtly out of balance.
Now the time has come, as we master those emotions, to channel them in a positive way to move forward and bring a Quantum Revolution to the world.
Here are the lyrics to “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – and below the lyrics is the original MTV video:
Load up on guns, bring your friends
It’s fun to lose and to pretend
She’s overboard and self-assured
Oh, no, I know a dirty word
Hello, Hello, Hello, How Low (x3)
Hello, Hello, Hello
With the lights out, it’s less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido
Yeah
Hey… Yay
I’m worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group (tribe) has always been
And always will until the end
Hello, Hello, Hello, How Low (x3)
Hello, Hello, Hello
With the lights out, it’s less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido
Yeah
Hey… Yay
(Guitar solo)
And I forget just why I taste
Oh, yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard, it’s hard to find
Oh well, whatever, nevermind
Hello, Hello, Hello, How Low (x3)
Hello, Hello, Hello
With the lights out, it’s less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido
Yeah a denial
A denial! (x9)