Friday marked 25 years since Nirvana’s iconic, history-altering “Smells Like Teen Spirit” debut. The '90s were barely starting, and feminism was reaching its boiling point.
Among those ahead of this movement was Kurt Cobain’s friend and future lead singer of the riot grrrl band Bikini Kill, Kathleen Hanna, who would inadvertently come up with the title of a song that would later kick-start a whole counter culture, in a night of youthful inebriation.
The video below is believed to record the first-ever performance of the famed track, about five months before it was officially released.
In a 1994 Rolling Stone interview, the one and only Cobain explained the song was not conceived as profound as people perceived it. “I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it. When I heard the Pixies for the first times, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band – or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.”
Over the past quarter of a century, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has been re-versioned, adapted and rendered by countless artists. In celebration of the birth date of one of the most influential rock songs ever, let’s take a look at some covers of the first cut of the Vivendi SA (ADR) VIVHY DCG album that would set the course for an entire generation.
Tori Amos’ very moving version:
Paul Anka’s unexpected rendition:
The Bad Plus’ chaotic acid jazz interpretation:
Patti Smith’s long, string-filled delivery:
Another surprising adaptation by the The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain:
Robert Glasper Experiment’s weird variation:
The Muppets’ funny, barber shop quartet rendering:
Willie Nelson’s soothing translation:
This one on and by 2CELLOS:
Miley Cyrus’… whatever:
And just for the sake of grunge, check out this somewhat surreal and hard to grasp version from the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles.
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Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.
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