MARTÍNEZ OLMOS OSIRIS

05/13/2020

SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT

by nirvana
Single by Nirvana from the album Nevermind
Realized September 10, 1991
Recorded May 1991
Grunge, alternative rock,
Genre
hard rock
5:01 (album version)
Length
4:36 (single version)
Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic,
Songwriters
Dave Grohl
Producer Butch Vig

Smells Like Teen Spirit was a single from Nevermind, the 1991 album that catapulted Nirvana
to fame. Supposedly, the name came from graffiti Kathleen Hanna of the band Bikini Kill once
wrote on the wall of lead singer Kurt Cobain’s hotel room. She wrote “Kurt smells like Teen
Spirit” in reference to a deodorant brand that Cobain’s girlfriend at the time wore. Cobain, who
didn’t know what Teen Spirit was, was said to have interpreted it as a revolutionary
catchphrase and named a song after it.

The composition Cobain and the rest of Nirvana created using the title was, according to
Cobain himself, an attempt at “the ultimate pop song” and was influenced by The Pixies.
Although it wasn’t expected to be particularly successful, the album Nevermind became triple
platinum by February of 1992, with Smells Like Teen Spirit being a major contributor to its
success. The popularity of the song, the album, and the band is sometimes considered the
catalyst for bringing alternative rock, and especially the 1990s grunge genre, to the
mainstream.

With its distinctive, distorted guitar riff, Smells Like Teen Spirit became Nirvana’s most popular
song. It served as an anthem for many of Generation X, who, like Cobain, found themselves
confused and uncertain about the world around them. The song’s nihilistic vibe (“Here we are
now, entertain us / I feel stupid and contagious”) appealed to many in a youth culture perceived
as apathetic and cynical by outsiders.

Rolling Stone would later vote it the 9th best song of all time. It remains extremely popular and
well-known even by people who don’t know any other Nirvana songs.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg

Each group of jars contain five words from the lyrics of “Smells like Teen Spirit”. You have to
find them all. Please listen to the song so you have an idea of the type of words you are looking
for. To make a word take a letter or combination of letters from each jar. Make five words for
each group of jars and write them in the table next to each group. Some words are already
made as an example.

G U N S

A LW AY S
Now that you have heard the song and found all the words in the jars, fill in the lyrics of “Smells
like Teen Spirit” with the words found. Consider that the number next to each group of jars
represents to which part of the song these words belong. If necessary listen to the song again.
Load up on __________, bring your
__________
It's fun to lose and to __________
She's over-bored and self-assured
Oh no, I know a __________ word
Hello, hello, hello, how low
__________, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it's less __________
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and __________
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my
__________
Yeah, hey
I'm __________ at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has __________ been
And always will until the end
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello
With the __________ out, it's less
dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A __________, an albino, a mosquito, my
libido
Yeah, hey
And I forget just why I __________
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me
__________
I found it hard, it's hard to find
Oh well, __________, never mind
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it's __________
dangerous
__________ we are now, entertain us
I feel __________ and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a __________, my
libido
A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial, a
denial
A denial, a __________, a denial, a denial