Nirvana
Kathleen Hanna wrote the phrase "Kurt smells like Teen Spirit" on his wall as a joke about deodorant worn by his girlfriend. Kurt Cobain interpreted it as commentary on teenage rebellion and built an entire song around the misunderstanding. He wrote the lyrics five minutes before performing the song live for the first time, at the OK Hotel in Seattle on April 17, 1991. The album Nevermind reached number 1 on the Billboard 200 in 123 days, knocking Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" from a four-week run at the top. Cobain later refused to perform the song live and came to resent the success it brought.
In our deep dive into Smells Like Teen Spirit, we trace the song from a joke on a wall to last-minute lyrics to the album that changed rock, and what it reveals about an artist who became the spokesperson for a generation he never agreed to represent.
