NirvanaBand/Smells Like Teen Spirit

The song that brought Nirvana and grunge to the attention of teenagers around the world. While melodically and harmonically simple (based around a simple C-F-D-G riff), it featured a minimalistic, moody verse with stream-of-conciousness lyrics rising to a ferocious chorus, and Cobain's voice showing its range from tuneful melancholy to primal scream. The song reached number 1 for many weeks on singles pop charts around the world in 1991. Sales of the single and album in the United Kingdom were slowed by an appearance on Top of the Pops (a prime-time TV music chart show) during which Cobain sang in a falsetto?, emphasizing the non-comformist message of the song and band.

The album Nevermind, on which Smells Like Teen Spirit appears, took its title from a lyric in the song ("I found it hard / It's hard to find / Oh well, whatever, never mind").

The nightmare videoclip with its surreal high school setting was also notable.