| "Smells Like Nirvana" | |||||||
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| Single by "Weird Al" Yankovic | |||||||
| from the album Off the Deep End | |||||||
| B-side | "Waffle King" | ||||||
| Released | April 3, 1992[1] | ||||||
| Format | CD single, 7", cassette | ||||||
| Recorded | January 27, 1992 | ||||||
| Genre | Comedy rock, grunge | ||||||
| Length | 3:42 4:47 (with Alternative solo) |
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| Label | Scotti Brothers | ||||||
| Writer(s) | Kurt Cobain Dave Grohl Krist Novoselic "Weird Al" Yankovic |
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| Producer | "Weird Al" Yankovic | ||||||
| "Weird Al" Yankovic singles chronology | |||||||
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"Smells Like Nirvana" is a parody of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" written and performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It helped to reenergize Yankovic's career, and Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain considered the parody a sign that they had "made it" as a band.[2] The song is one of Yankovic's most successful singles, reaching number 35 on both the Billboard Hot 100[3] and the US Mainstream Rock Tracks.[4] The "Smells Like Nirvana" CD single contained the then-unreleased song "Waffle King". Yankovic created an associated video for the song that parodied the "Smells like Teen Spirit" video, including using the same sets and extras, and was nominated in the 1992 MTV Video Awards for "Best Male Video".
After Yankovic completed his film UHF, he returned to the studio in 1990 to begin recording for a new album. While the original songs on the album were completed, he was unable to find suitable songs for parody, and decided to hold off on the album for fear of failure of release. When Nirvana and "Smells like Teen Spirit" began to become popular, Yankovic recognized he had discovered a good parody, particularly as many people loved the song and music, but could not understand its lyrics.[5]
According to Yankovic, he first sought Cobain's permission to parody the song. When he learned that Nirvana was to perform on Saturday Night Live, he called up his UHF co-star, Victoria Jackson, at the time a regular cast member of the show. Jackson got Cobain on the phone so that Yankovic could make his request. Cobain agreed, though initially, he inquired if the song would be about food.[5]
Contents |
The following tracks are on the single:
The promo single only lists "Smells Like Nirvana," but contains both songs.
The following tracks are on the single:
The lyrics are a spoof of "Smells Like Teen Spirit":
Other parts point to the unintelligibility of Cobain's lyrics and vocal delivery:
and
The song also contains a reference to another artist ("...we don't sound like Madonna, here we are now, we're Nirvana!"), a reference to the band's hometown ("...a garage band from Seattle..."), and a reference to Nevermind, the album which includes the original, as well as to the fact that the Nirvana album does not include a complete set of lyrics in the liner notes, but rather just bits and pieces of lyrics Cobain organized into a poem ("The lyric sheet's so hard to find. What are the words? Oh, nevermind."). The cover of the single like Off the Deep End is also a parody of that of Nevermind.
The music is almost the same as "Smells Like Teen Spirit", although the guitar solo is replaced by the sound of Yankovic gargling, the entire audience humming through kazoos, and a tuba. The arrangement of "Smells Like Nirvana" is based on the radio edit of the original. When Yankovic parodied the song in 1992, most radio stations only played the shortened version. However, most radio stations now play the full version, leading to the assumption of a shortened intro, bridge (the "hello"/"how low" part) and solo. Because "Smells Like Nirvana" is a parodied version of the radio edit, many people who never heard the radio edit on the radio feel that it is unnaturally shorter than the original.
The music video, directed by Yankovic's manager Jay Levey, is a near shot-for-shot parody of the original video for "Smells like Teen Spirit", which depicts the band playing at a high school concert while it descends into riot. Yankovic is present on guitar and vocals as Kurt Cobain with Steve Jay on bass as Krist Novoselic and Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz on drums as Dave Grohl, and all three wear clothing and long-haired wigs to imitate the look of Nirvana in "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Yankovic's video uses many of the same props, actors and camera angles; in particular, the video was shot in the same Culver City, California sound stage as Nirvana's video, and Rudy Larosa reprises his role as the janitor.[6][7] The video also includes Dick Van Patten in a guest role in the video.[8] Tony Hawk also appears as one of the many extras on the set as part of a request for the Birdhouse Skateboards team to provide "skater/punks" for the video, though Yankovic was not aware of this fact until 2009.[9]
The video was nominated, but did not win, for the 1992 MTV Video Awards for "Best Male Video".[10]
In an interview performed by MTV in mid 1992, Cobain had the following to say:
Yankovic continues to play "Smells like Nirvana" after Cobain's death, stating that "Kurt was a fan of the song" and "he would have wanted it that way."[5]
In The Simpsons episode "That 90's Show", Homer Simpson is shown creating one of the first grunge bands while trying to cope with Marge's infidelity; the band, called "Sadgasm" becomes highly popular. At one point, Homer writes a new song called "Shave Me" (a loose parody of Nirvana's "Rape Me"), which is later parodied in both song and video by "Weird Al" Yankovic (voicing himself) as "Brainfreeze". Homer takes Yankovic's parody as knowing his band has become successful. The situation in the short is said to mirror much of the history of "Smells Like Nirvana", including Kurt Cobain's reaction to the parody. Homer is also dressed as Kurt as he appears in the "Margerine" music video from the same episode.[11]
Laura Barrett covered this song on her EP Earth Sciences.
| Chart (1992) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 24 |
| UK Singles Chart | 58 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 35 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales | 12 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 35 |