Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is a massively iconic, game-changing track, but during its recording, the band had no idea just how big it would become.
In an interview with NME honoring the 30th anniversary of Nevermind, Dave Grohl said, “I remember writing ‘Teen Spirit’ in our rehearsal space, and I liked the riff that Kurt [Cobain] came up with because it’s percussive. Those muted, stabbing strums in between the chords really leant to the pattern of the drum riff.”
Grohl continued, “Of course, no-one had any psychic foresight to imagine that [Teen Spirit] would go on to do what it did. We just f—in’ rocked it in a little rehearsal space that was like a barn.”
He then added, “I think everyone was more focused on songs like ‘In Bloom’ or ‘Lithium’ or ‘Breed’; nobody really paid too much attention to ‘Teen Spirit’ while we were recording it. We just thought it was another cool song for the record.”
Of course, it wasn’t just another cool song; it turned Nirvana into megastars and helped launch Nevermind to the top of the Billboard 200, famously kicking Michael Jackson’s Dangerous from the top of the album chart.
Nevermind turns 30 tomorrow (September 24), and a massive reissue of the classic album was just announced. The reissue will be available in a variety of formats (digital, CD, vinyl) beginning November 12. The Super Deluxe box set of the reissue, which contains 8 LPs and a bunch of other extras, won’t be released until May 27, 2022.
