In rock music, artists rarely have complete control over which of their songs become hits. While they can influence what gets released as a single, it’s the audience that ultimately decides which tunes rise to the top.
Sometimes, it’s the band’s favorite, and other times, a song that will be forgotten in a year. Even with Nirvana’s monumental impact on music, Dave Grohl admits he wasn’t as excited about one of their biggest hits as everyone else.
When Grohl joined Nirvana, the band wasn’t aiming for global stardom.
After a modestly successful debut with Bleach, their goal with Nevermind was to create something different from the hair metal that dominated the airwaves.
While Kurt Cobain rightfully gets most of the credit for Nirvana’s songwriting, Grohl’s contributions, particularly his drumming, were crucial to shaping their sound.
His performances on tracks like “Come As You Are” and the thunderous drum intro to “Stay Away” helped elevate the band’s music to iconic status.
However, Grohl’s role in Nevermind also involved learning and playing some songs that had already been recorded. For tracks like “Lithium” and “In Bloom,” Grohl was essentially recreating the drum parts originally played by Chad Channing.
Despite this, the new material Cobain brought in—including what would become one of the most famous songs of the era—had a profound impact on Grohl and the rest of the band.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” was one of the few new tracks Cobain had ready for the album.
Grohl’s powerful opening drum fill became one of the most recognizable intros in rock history, and the song quickly captured lightning in a bottle.
Yet, years later, Grohl admitted he never quite understood why the song became such a cultural phenomenon.
“‘Teen Spirit’ definitely established that quiet-loud dynamic we used a lot,” Grohl explained.
“It became the one song that personified the band. But do I think it’s the greatest single of all time? Of course not!
I don’t even think it’s the greatest Nirvana single. Compared to ‘Revolution’ by The Beatles or ‘God Only Knows’ by The Beach Boys?!
Give me a break! ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was a great moment in time… but there’s better.”
For Grohl, the song was just a chapter in Nirvana’s story. But for many fans, it was much more—a primal cry of anger and frustration that resonated deeply with listeners.
Even if people couldn’t decipher all of Cobain’s lyrics, they felt the passion behind them, making the song a rallying cry for the alternative music movement.
In the broader rock community, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” marked a turning point. It signaled the end of the party music era and pushed artists to take their music more seriously.
Nirvana showed that great rock and roll comes from the heart, and their ability to turn raw emotion into a global hit inspired countless others.
If a band of misfit kids could make it big by tearing apart a gymnasium in a music video, why couldn’t anyone else?
