The true story behind the lyrics to Smells Like Teen Spirit

thank you so much for your input, I really appreciate your taking a decent attempt to understand this.

The words,'and I swear that I don't have a gun' are from the song Come As You Are.
From what I recall clearly, Come As You Are was another major hit on the Nevermind album, the same album that featured SLTS.

On Nevermind, Cobain cleverly weaved the songs together by mentioning guns in at least three different songs on that record.
He changed the very first line of SLTS from:'A bit of truth, bring your friends'

to:
'Load up on guns, bring your friends.'

that was the first gun reference.
the second gun reference was mine, in Come As You Are:
'And I swear that I don't have a gun.'

The third gun reference was in the song 'In Bloom': he's the one who likes all our pretty songs, and he likes to sing along, and he likes to shoot his gun.'

Cobain could not have done a better job of 'muddying the waters' for me by doing this.
Something about these added two repeated references to guns, in addition to changing the first line of SLTS did a number on my memory.
It was his successful attempt at embedding ownership in the two songs and throwing me off, imo.

btw, my original line , before Cobain changed it was:

'A bit of truth , bring your friends' meaning: honesty is so rare that it is guaranteed to attract a crowd, similar to a freak show. I repeated the theme later, in reference to the albino)

When you take the whole verse together it fits properly , and better than Cobain's revision:

A bit of truth
Bring your friends
Its fun to lose
And to pretend

truth rhymes with lose

now compare it to Cobain's revision:

Load up on guns
Bring your friends,
Its fun to lose
And to pretend

Ironically, it was Cobain who was loading up the guns on Nevermind by referencing them in two additional songs for a total of three.

btw, my original line , before Cobain changed it was:

'A bit of truth , bring your friends' meaning: honesty is so rare that it is guaranteed to attract a crowd, similar to a freak show. I repeated the theme later, in reference to the albino)

When you take the whole verse together it fits properly , and better than Cobain's revision:

A bit of truth
Bring your friends
Its fun to lose
And to pretend

truth rhymes with lose

now compare it to Cobain's revision:

Load up on guns
Bring your friends,
Its fun to lose
And to pretend

Ironically, it was Cobain who was loading up the guns on Nevermind by referencing them in two additional songs for a total of three.

Ok my mistake.
I recognized the line but obviously thought it was from something else.
So still pretty compelling.
So if you feel this is indeed your song and that your theory fits why Curt spun out of control and started the journey to self destruction how do you feel this will help you.
Is this for closure and the instinctive human need for closure or is there something else you wish to get out of this.
I'm pickin up what your puttin down I just fail to understand the why's of it.
Clearly bands self destruct all the time. Pressure to perform, drugs, money and chicks for free does have it's price. There is no free lunch. Everything costs. We often fail to realize that the cost many times, isn't measured by the all mighty dollar but by our very souls.
Are you sure that the answers you seek will not cause you to spin?
I hope you find whatever it is your looking for.
If you have anything further you would like to comment on or you would just like to vent, you know where to find me.
I will try to monitor this forum to see what, if anything happens.
Anything else I can do....well you know....
ciou.
For those whom no spanish is spoken
chow.....:)

Hey man, its the guy you were speaking too off youtube.
This is some really compelling stuff, i just wish there was some final was to prove you actually did what you say.
Oh and perhaps you could tell me what you were thinking when writing this.

"A couple of years ago I was thinking about why the song was so popular with kids..."

I can tell you why it's so popular with the kids, and I don't think you're going to like the answer but I can tell you. I was 13 when I first listened to Nirvana (I'm 16 now), but to a teenager, lyrics aren't as important as catchy beat. SLTS has the most...addictive, yet harmonious beat I've ever heard in any song. The rhythms, and everything, it's sooo perfect. I never understood a thing about these lyrics, and neither did any of my friends (we all thought Cobain was on crack), but I just can't help listening to this song agian and agian and remembering middle school I guess. To me, this song is like a blissful reminiescence.

Can you by any chance retype that article you wrote? I'd very much like to read it.

notyrmama wrote:

Ok my mistake.
.
So if you feel this is indeed your song and that your theory fits why Curt spun out of control and started the journey to self destruction how do you feel this will help you.

the whole thing is so tragic, and it bothers me that the full story is not known. For one thing, Cobain was under unimaginable pressure to back up that song, as the spokesperson for that anger, and it was really difficult for him to do that. Hell, that is exactly why I chickened out of doing the song.

I want the true meaning of the song, the one that most people intuitively know to be true, to be publically told. Otherwise , the forces of darkness , true darkness, win this one, and win it ugly. Cobain's death should mean more than what it is portrayed as too. He took the fall for all of us, in a way, whether he was killed or committed suicide; either way it was directly related to the can of worms that record opened.
I refuse to give PC society what it demands: A denial of the truth. A denial! A denial! A denial!

marthabobby wrote:

"A couple of years ago I was thinking about why the song was so popular with kids..."
I can tell you why it's so popular with the kids, and I don't think you're going to like the answer but I can tell you. I was 13 when I first listened to Nirvana (I'm 16 now), but to a teenager, lyrics aren't as important as catchy beat. SLTS has the most...addictive, yet harmonious beat I've ever heard in any song. The rhythms, and everything, it's sooo perfect. I never understood a thing about these lyrics, and neither did any of my friends (we all thought Cobain was on crack), but I just can't help listening to this song agian and agian and remembering middle school I guess. To me, this song is like a blissful reminiescence.
Can you by any chance retype that article you wrote? I'd very much like to read it.

Martha, I am aware that the song was popular for many different reasons to different people, but I am speaking of not just popularity, but phenomenal popularity here. There are plenty of compelling beats around, stuff you'd love to hear every day,
but that is commonplace. There are plenty of excellent drummers around.
But we are talking about a worldwide phenomena here, something that compelled kids to part with their allowance or their paper route money or their McCheques in the millions to own it. There was anger there, and meaning, and a sense of urgent purpose, and this is integrally related to lyrics of the song. Emotion is what drives a drummer and band to the extra beat, in a race against time itself, and emotion is communicated in the best music. A catchy beat will draw people in , but an interesting message is what builds a cult like following and fascination. Musicians of all persuasions world wide have done all sorts of renditions because this song is partially about the plight of the performer, and the performer's place within a disfunctional society.

That makes sense, but I still don't understand how a group of teenagers were able to find meaning in your vague, amiguious, yet deep lyrics (no offense), and I'm still a little confused with what the real meaning is.

So I'm asking again, can you retype that article you wrote many years ago? That would clarify things, and you can't say you don't remember it. It doesn't need to written again word-by-word, just as long as the message is in there.

But one thing I don't understand is that, why didn't Kurt just admit that he didn't write the lyrics and reveal the true meaning?(Perhaps you already explained this, but I skimmed through your article) I mean, tons of popuar artists today don't write their own music.

Why did you give the name "Smells like teen Spirit" to this song, or misunderstood I something! Is the headline from Kurt Cobain himself?

martha, I think a lot of teens DID appreciate the meaning of the song. It was about people who did not particulary deserve to be entertained, and how it feels to have to do so, and how half the entertainment that people seem to seek is the humiliation and rejection of others.

Cobain was scared to admit what the real meaning was, because he would be blamed for it, when he did not even write it. He wanted to accept the success that it brought him, but also wanted to dodge the judgement of politically correct society for having created it. He did a great job of it, I might add, except that he went too far, imo, in calling many of his supporters "racists, misogynists and homophobes", when HE was the one who chose to record a controversial song that touched on race and sex and therefore attracted that attention to himself in the first place. HE was a bit of a hypocrite to do that, and in the end he hated himself.
Leo, Cobain chose the title of the song himself, and the title that he chose had nothing to do with the content of the song.
(likely another effort at concealing it, imo)
I do not recall giving it a title at all.
If I had named it , I probably would have called it 'Entertain Us!'
Martha , I paraphrased the general gist of the article in the preceding thread, but I could try to rewrite it. Remember, it may not be something that I would write today, twenty years later. Those were the words of an angry young man, so I guess I might find it a bit embarrassing to get into some of the issues it addressed.

Forgive me but I have a nagging question concerning the time frame of which you speak.
Correct me if I'm wrong but your current profile states your age as being 57. At the time you claim to have written slts you claim to have been 21. That's a difference of 36 odd years. That does not seem to jib with the referenced "20" year's ago time frame you keep referring to. If you could clear this up for me I would appreciate it and it would help me to understand more clearly the issue at hand.

that is not my true age, I never put real information about myself when registering for things online, just for privacy reasons.

the meaning of the lyrics:

A bit of truth
Bring your friends
Its fun to lose
And to pretend

A bit of truth: a bit of honesty and reality
is going to be presented in this song

Bring your friends: honesty is so rare in entertainment and in life, that the song is going to attract a crowd, and you will bring your friends to see it performed live

Its fun to lose : sarcasm. the writer and performer are not particularly enjoying performing and life as it is not a particular call for celebration.

And to pretend: so often in life, or on stage, we have to fake it and do, pretending to be happy, pretending to be turned on, pretending to be things that we are not, big stars etc.

the meaning of the lyrics continued.

She's over-bored
And self-assured
I know I know
A dirty word

She's over-bored: vulgar term for oversexed
And self-assured: confidently selfish
I know, I know, a dirty word: writer knows that he'll be challenged for vulgar reference to women

meaning of lyrics continued:

hello hello hello how low (X4)

hello hello hello: repeated as a greeting to both the audience and the general public

how low: Means he's not thrilled about using vulgar or discussing such things, but performers are often put in positions of powerlessness where they will have to lower themselves to whatever level the public demands

meaning of the lyrics continued:

With the lights out
It's less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us!

With the lights out its less dangerous: people hide from the light of truth, often preferring to watch life than to participate in it.
Here we are now, entertain us!: people often go through life demanding to be entertained, whether it is attending shows, watching television, or being socially withdrawn around others. The singer is mocking the demands of the audience and the demands of society.

meaning of the lyrics continued:

I feel stupid
And contagious!
Here we are now
Entertain us!

I feel stupid: something most people can relate to when being put on the spot, either as an entertainer or socially. The writer/performer is being examined under the light of scrutiny and being honest about he feels about it.

And contagious: Double meaning here: these views may be considered toxic to some, but may catch on with others and spread.

Another meaning of 'Its less dangerous' should be included here. Means he is sticking his neck out by being so honest under the light of scrutiny. He is taking the risk of speaking the truth on stage , while the people in the audience feel safer hiding in the dark.

meaning of the lyrics continued:

A Mulatto!
An albino!
A mosquito
My libido!
Yay!

A mulatto!: the audience is making impossible demands of him. He cannot cater to every possible demand of popular culture, and the fad of the time was for interracial sex/culture/entertainment. A jab at political correctness and his future place in it.

An albino!: If the audience/public is going to be ridiculous with their demands and their fads, then he will be ridiculous too. How about a freak show? His world is being turned into a freak show of bared emotions and impossible expectations and demands.

A mosquito my libido!: his desires are secondary to the will of the politically correct public, nothing more than a mosquito to be controlled, avoided, and eradicated.

Yay!: sarcasm. He is not overjoyed at the state of things.

meaning of the lyrics continued:

I'm worse at what
I do best
And for this gift
I feel blessed

I'm worse at what I do best: I am not on stage here or up on my soap box pretending to be something I am not, or saying I am better than anyone else

And for this gift I feel blessed: I am happy with what I am able to do. Though I am not claiming to be some super man, I do know the extreme power of my words. It will be enough.

meaning of the lyrics continued:

Our little group
Has always been
And always will
Until the end

Our little group has always been: there have always been a minority of people who prize the truth and are united by it. A group of people who share the same views are drawn to honesty.

And always will until the end: the truth and the spirit of honesty, cannot be eradicated by political correctness.