In 2007, Kurt Cobain’s 1991 anti-anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was long etched into the consciousness of every music fan, but the musical landscape had changed considerably since its release. The inevitable mass appropriation of Nirvana’s thunderous dynamics and shaggy rebellion had turned out so much bland, overproduced grunge that the sound sank into unlistenable decadence. With indie artists doing Gang of Four-like dance punk, eighties electro, and anything at all that sounded nothing like Nirvana, some—like Iron and Wine and the Decembrists—picked up banjos and fiddles and reached back even further to moody Appalachian folk.
So when punk foremother Patti Smith re-interpreted Nirvana’s era-defining classic for her ’07 covers album Twelve, she choose the latter sound, a spare country arrangement with bass, acoustic guitar, violin, banjo, and Smith’s timeless voice. No need for drums, it’s been done; what we hear instead is the essence of the song’s lyrical and melodic power. As most songwriters will tell you, a good song should strip down to voice and guitar without losing its heart. Smith’s version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” proves that Kurt Cobain’s songwriting stands up to the test, and the black and white video recalls Smith’s own photography. It’s a particularly Patti Smith memorial.
Loss defines so much of Smith’s late period work—of Cobain, her brother, late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith, and close friend Robert Mapplethorpe—but her commemoration of those losses has also renewed her creatively. In a way, her career revival began with a memorial to Cobain, with the song “About a Boy” from her 1996 “comeback” record Gone Again, a partial collaboration with her husband not long before his death. Watch Smith below deliver a spellbinding live performance of “About a Boy” from a June 23, 2000 concert in Seattle.
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The First Live Performance of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991)
Josh Jones is a writer, editor, and musician based in Washington, DC. Follow him @jdmagness
A heartfelt cover of a great piece of music!
wot the fuck leave it alone. the only good thing to come out of this, the end, sorry patti stick to your own music!!!!!!!!
I love that you can hear each lyric and savor each note in this cover.
It almost sounds like she’s worshiping the original work.
are you serious?! its a drawled out boring attempt.. a 10 year old could achieve more with half a headphone, sorry. if you’re going to recreate a classic at least try man
s’okay ~ but the enunciated words take away from the trip . . . if you know what I mean
Idk about slowing down smells like teen spirit. Nirvana got by on attitude, and the fact that they captured a different sound at the time. Im gonna get flamed for this but, Kurt was not a great song writer, or a particularly talented guitar player for that matter. Remove kurt’s sound and there is not much there. And you really notice this once you slow the tempo
Ummm the instrumentation is good. However any true Nirvana fan would have chosen just about any other song than Smells like teen spirit.
Vocals are boring Sorry Patti.
with the lights out… its less dang-er-ous
did this piss anyone else off?
Yuck! Make it stop! She ruined it. Worst thing I’ve heard in a long, long time.
WHO CARES, IT WAS A REMAKE WHEN NIRVANA DID IT.
I completely support any applause Patti receives, but this song came out a very long time ago.
Songwriting doesnt mean shit. Music is #1, lyrics are always secondary. Kurt used to write lyrics in the studio, literally just as he was about to record the song.
right to the sole , love it
Tori Amos’ cover was much better and more haunting
Love it!
I actually like the dan-ge-rous bit, her voice is amazing. What are these people like?
I love it.
patti patti patti…she is so self involved it is irritating…when is she going to release her late husband’s tapes?…or will she…or has she not yet found a way to make that about her as well?