Do you remember where you were the first time you heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit?"
Posted by copperpin@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 239 comments
I was in the parking lot of my high school when one of the biggest dirt bags in school drove up blasting it from his car. I stopped him to ask what this song was, and he acted like I was a complete a-hole for not knowing who Nirvana was. I went and bought the album that afternoon though.
Honest-Mouse-7953@reddit
I don’t find that song to be all that memorable so no. In fact I think it’s ridiculously overrated.
Filet_o_math@reddit
In the kitchen of my grandma's Thai restaurant.
TheRateBeerian@reddit
I do, i had recently moved into a new dorm room for the fall of my junior year. Had the radio on and they played it. I know it sounds cliche but i knew right then that music would change.
hydrawoman@reddit
Not cliche to me as I had the same thought. I also heard them on the radio but was in my car and I pulled over and listened to the song. I remember thinking this is going to change things up
Namehasbeenchanged33@reddit
Indeed. I knew immediately they just killed the hair metal era of the 80s that was still hanging around early 90s
FAx32@reddit
It was running on fumes by September 1991. I remember hearing it pretty early on. Was starting senior year in college, my school started in August in PNW and some of us had seen local shows and even Nirvana in the year or so before. But we instantly knew this was different.
BMisterGenX@reddit
right I was a senior in HS for the 1990/1991 school year. By the end of the year people were cracking jokes about "hair metal" snickering if they even heard the name "Poison" etc. Except for some girls who tried to look like Lita Ford and wore tassled jean jackets, most people who had ever liked hair metal were starting to pretend they never had. NKOTB suddenly became unpopular almost overnight also
kytulu@reddit
The saddest day ever...
BMisterGenX@reddit
In my dorm room freshmen year of college. It was blasting constantly from ever room. I think I was the only person on my floor to not own Nevermind. Like why bother? You're going to hear it all the time everywhere anyway.
peppercorns666@reddit
actually do. i was in a great clips.
skeeterbmark@reddit
I honestly don’t remember. Probably saw the video. I know people like to think that this song was like a lightning bolt that blew up buildings and shit, but as i remember it, it was just a good song that I heard.
BullCityJ@reddit
Eighth grade. I stayed up late to watch Headbanger's Ball and just kind of rolled into 120 Minutes, then the video came on. I remember being blown away and wanting to go get the CD the next day.
Thurkin@reddit
I was having a beer at my college pub that ran a music video cable channel that wasn't MTV. I heard the song before seeing the video, and remember not being all that impressed, but found it amusing nonetheless.
BoringApocalyptos@reddit
I was on the run from a teenage behavioral center/rehab and smoking a bowl in a car with some kids I’d met at a mall.
SojuSeed@reddit
Basement at my buddy Matt’s house. He had it on tape and put it in. Before that, my go to jam was Poison and I thought it didn’t much better than Cherry Pie.
coldfinger-trh@reddit
You mean Warrant if your talking cherry pie.
SojuSeed@reddit
Yeah, that was the one. I had both cassettes, and in my defense, it was 30 years ago.
copperpin@reddit (OP)
A lot of those bands lacked a distinct sound
SojuSeed@reddit
Yeah, but the late 80s and into the early 90s, they’d all stared to blend together.
Pristine_Ability_203@reddit
9th grade.
The_Machine80@reddit
2036 Burdette dr. Sitting in my living room watching MTV.
ruminator9999@reddit
I actually do. In college, came back to my apartment with a buzz after a night at the bars, turned on MTV and Smells Like Teen Spirit came on. I wasn't like "whoa, this is going to change music forever" but I was like "whoa, this is different". My roommate at the time, who was a pretty big hair metal guy, said Kurt look like he was dressed in Garanimals.
ralphhinkley1@reddit
This song caused all the girls to starts dressing in flannels and dirty jeans. Absolutely tragic.
DeadStarBits@reddit
I was driving down Hwy 400 into Toronto with my sister in Aug 1991 to go see team Canada play at Maple Leaf Gardens and CFNY played it. My sister had heard it before and as soon as it came on she and I remember her saying 'this song is awesome, have you heard it?"
Fan-gon76@reddit
In my living room watching mtv I reckon
BlurryBigfoot74@reddit
Driving my parents truck to meet a girl in the next town. It came on the radio. Loved it.
galenp56@reddit
I remember the anarchy cheerleaders dancing to grunge music and a screaming vocalist. I thought, man I need to hear more of this!
Jive_Kata@reddit
I was in junior high listening to the radio while working on an electric guitar. Had the guitar laying on my dresser, adjusting the action or something. That song came on and I stopped and turned around, thinking “that’s really fucking good”.
Alltheprettydresses@reddit
Came home grom work/ school and saw it on MTV
_birdland@reddit
I was 17 and home alone on a weekend afternoon watching MTV in the living room, because we didn't have cable running to the bedrooms.
gozer87@reddit
Squadron hooch in Germany. I was tending bar and one of the other airmen who always had the latest music and popped this CD in. Mind blown.
anonuemus@reddit
Probably on mtv
RadioWavesHello@reddit
Is funny, I think I saw the weird all video first
revchewie@reddit
No clue.
But I remember where I was when I first heard Paradise by the Dashboard Light. Back seat of my buddy’s Alfa Romeo driving around Orlando, FL. When I realized what the song was saying I just started busting a gut laughing so hard!
PowerfulBit5575@reddit
The first time I heard the song was live at First Ave in Minneapolis, fall 1991.
NearbyQuantity1847@reddit
Not as great of a venue as yours, but close in proximity. I saw it on MTV in an apartment off of France ave and 98th street while attending Normandale community college in Bloomington. It was one of those songs that just felt different and you could almost feel the shift in music taking place.
ifallallthetime@reddit
Listening in the corner of the play yard at my elementary school on my friend’s smuggled Walkman
This was in 6 grade
I was by a chain link fence that had eucalyptus trees behind it
rolocanc3t@reddit
Yep. 6am MTV and Liquid TV had ended and that was the start of the day.
Warhammer517@reddit
Living in San Antonio. I heard the song on 99.5 KISS and 96 Rock.
zsreport@reddit
I remember always trying to pickup KISS anytime I was vaguely close to San Antonio.
Early80sAholeDude@reddit
Parmalee Hall - Colorado State U
zsreport@reddit
I was just in Fort Collins earlier this month.
Express_Area_8359@reddit
Last of the Seattle 3 big groups i bought.
My ears went Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, then teen spirit. Then i toured my ears through sub pop.
PersonOfInterest85@reddit
What about Queensryche and Alice in Chains? Both had hits in early 1991.
There was a lot of good alternative music. I was lucky to have an older sister in college. She brought home copies of her schools newspaper, in them I saw the College Radio charts. So I learned who was cool with them.
zsreport@reddit
Sir Mix-A-Lot also came out of Seattle
Cultural_Pattern_456@reddit
A tattoo convention in Richmond VA getting my nipples pierced for the first time. I heard all the grunge that weekend and immediately had to have it all.
zsreport@reddit
Alright alright alright . . .
Pollvogtarian@reddit
I remember this so clearly. I had just returned for my sophomore year in college. My friend Dom grabbed me and said, “You have to listen to this.”
More significant for me though was when I first heard Weezer. It was right after college and I had moved across the country to find myself. My roommate Bill grabbed me and said, “You have to listen to this.” I immediately fell in love (with Weezer, not Bill).
zsreport@reddit
I was sophomore in college too when I first heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit." So much great music came out that Fall.
very_high_dose@reddit
99.9 KISW
Fabulous_Cucumber_40@reddit
Not a place but a feeling. I felt seen and heard and part of something else versus the status quo. I was in my teens.
zsreport@reddit
I was in my college apartment when MTV aired the video.
solorpggamer@reddit
My parent’s room where my cousin was watching MTV. I remember thinking, “Finally, some rock”, because all it seemed that RnB, pop and hip hop was all MTV was playing. It wasn’t enough to make me want to watch more, though.
bookon@reddit
I heard of it before I heard it. People were talking it up as this amazing groundbreaking song, but I only thought is it a very good song once I finally heard it. I was more of a Peral Jam guy, but I did like the song a lot.
dlynn5404@reddit
The Box
Present_Tell9318@reddit
My basement at my parents house.
DisastrousMechanic36@reddit
Yes. Saw a clip at my girlfriend’s house on mtv and then waited right there for two hours for the premier.
TowerGuy_Tx@reddit
In high school, probably a year after it came out.
HuntIntelligent8820@reddit
Yeah, KROQ. I remember thinking it was a funny play on words. A song about deodorant. Driving to school. Tenth grade. I would come home and the video would be on MTV.
Stare_Decisis@reddit
I must be the only GenX that finds Nirvana, and grunge music all together, to be complete shit.
Fred_Scuttle@reddit
I was packing up my things to move to another city when it was played on the local college radio station. Since the album hadn’t been released yet and I was moving, I had to wait until later to buy it. I wrote a little note to self “remember to buy the new Nirvana album when it comes out”
As it happened, I wouldn’t have forgotten.
forgeblast@reddit
The funny thing is I was handed a paper in history class and told to copy it. It had the lyrics to it smells like teen spirit. I had the lyrics before I had heard the song, then I bought the tape and my love of grunge was born.
bloodpriestt@reddit
Double date and my gf’s friend’s boyfriend loved it and I was like “this is pussy shit” lol
wormwoodscrub@reddit
I was in a bowling alley parking lot, someone was blasting it in the car with the doors wide open. The car was red lol
takeoff_youhosers@reddit
Ive never forgotten it. I was listening to KROQ on the way to high school in the morning and when this song came on it was like a shock in that it was so different then everything else on the radio those days. Kind of sad though to think that song ended the hair rock era which I loved.
BoysenberryKey5504@reddit
Yes. I didn't like it.
3mackatz@reddit
Same. I immediately knew I had "moved on". Freshman year of college and I suddenly felt like I had grown up, lol.
truthcopy@reddit
Same. Still don’t.
CyberCrud@reddit
90s grunge was mostly trash. There were a few standouts like Pearl Jam, but most of the stoner music was hard to listen to. 80s pop rock and metal were so much better and still are today. That's why you still hear it everywhere and played in stadiums ar ball games. Good music stands the test of time. Nobody is playing this song in public or at a football game. They're playing Guns 'n Roses.
SwollenGoat68@reddit
I get that music is subjective but the reason you hear the pop and bubblegum metal at sporting events still is it’s basically easy listening compared to grunge. That doesn’t make it better music just more palatable to the general population.
CyberCrud@reddit
Yeah and steak is more palatable than shit. But that doesn't make shit good. It makes it shit. I'll stick with the steak.
Restlessfibre@reddit
Not sure I'd go that far to say it's mostly trash but I never understood why Nirvana got so much hype and love. I can recognize they were good but I also heard a lot of underground and indie music that was doing very similar stuff so Nirvana didn't really hit for me. I really like Screaming Trees from the grunge era. They were underrated.
CyberCrud@reddit
I wouldn't say Nirvana was good. Unintelligible nasally monotone stoner music... no thanks.
AnalogAficionado@reddit
Since when has mass appeal been the measuring stick for quality? Otherwise we wouldn't have needed disco to tart up Beethoven. I'd rather listen to anything by L7 than anything by Guns 'n' Roses.
dustin91@reddit
Yep. Didn’t like them then, don’t really like them now. Just wasn’t my thing, even though I was somewhat into Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, and loved Pearl Jam.
crone_Andre3000@reddit
Yep. Getting ready to go to class and the world stopped for 4 minutes
simulated_copy@reddit
Funny always hated nirvana was a Pearl Jam person over KC. Ev had a much better voice.
I dont lsten to any 90s anymore. But now have a much easier time listening to Nirvana over PJ if I did.
Verme@reddit
I watched it on snl ... great show that one.....
Ok-Heart375@reddit
The art room, I think.
ponyboycurtis1980@reddit
Probably in a friends car, asking why we had to listen to whiny grunge bullshit.
ToastAtMidn1ght@reddit
I do. I was in a car with some friends. I was really into bands like Depeche Mode, Erasure, and other synth-heavy bands. Smells Like Teen Spirit came on the radio, and i remember thinking that music had changed forever. I'm not the biggest fan of Nirvana, but I do recognize the profound impact they had on music.
sewiv@reddit
I have no idea. I thought it was one of the stupidest things I'd ever heard, so didn't pay any attention to it. It just wasn't notable to me in any way. Pretty much ignored the whole grunge thing. Which is kinda weird, because I don't have a particular genre of music I listen to, I listen to pretty much anything and everything, but that stuff just didn't stand out in any good way to me.
Salty_Pancakes@reddit
I used to be ambivalent about Nirvana. They weren't really my thing at the time but whatever.
The more time has gone on however, the more I have come to absolutely loathe them. Just everything about them. And the fact that they are used as a kind of stand in for everything gen-x makes me hate them more. Fucking hacks. I'll take the Beasties 100 times over those clods.
Kurt's "I don't wanna be rock star, but I actually do wanna be a rock star" shtick. His petty jealousy of Eddie Vedder to his cringe high school level appraisal of the grateful dead and hippies. Mr. "I'd only wear a tie-dye if it was soaked in the blood of Jerry Garcia and the urine of Phil Collins". Man. Fuck you lol.
The dead and the hippies did exactly what dude said he wanted to do. Make music on his own terms without giving a fuck what the mainstream thought.
Other punks like Greg Ginn, Patti Smith and Joe Strummer were fans but oh not precious Kurt Cobain.
What a fucking poseur. His cute speech about "don't come to our shows if you don't support gays and women and people of color blah blah blah". I guess that didn't apply to Courtney Love tho lol. You can also check his crazy voicemails to Victoria Clarke, https://www.reddit.com/r/Nirvana/s/zi4EmlKjie
And Nirvana supposedly changed music? I can't stand 90% of the bands that were heavily influenced by them. Like emo and pop punk? Fucking pass. 90s bands that I thought were infinitely more interesting to listen to were bands like The Verve and Soul Coughing.
Like I'm sorry dude had mental problems and went out the way he did, but fuck him.
miggismallz33@reddit
I was on the school bus heading to school. I remember, the bus got kind of quiet and everyone was just listening. It really changed things up.
Downtown_Map_2482@reddit
Watching MTV 120 minutes in my first apartment after college. I think it was the premiere. Felt like I was punched in the face. Called the guys in my band the next day and we were all freaking out.
Maskatron@reddit
Blew from Bleach hit me just as hard. It stood way out from everything else, so distorted and deep, but focused and catchy at the same time. I was anticipating Teen Spirit when it hit (the prior SubPop single was sp promising), but the first record took me by surprise.
Nevermind was like Empire Strikes Back for me. Better than the first one in so many ways but I will still always pick the original.
But yeah, I remember driving around listening to Teen Spirit on college radio on day 1. They were going crazy for it, playing it over and over.
Britpop_Shoegazer@reddit
My first year of college. I was studying and it came on KROQ in Los Angeles. I was blown away.
Unsteady_Tempo@reddit
Saw it on 120 minutes or Headbanger's Ball on MTV. I'm not sure if that was the first time it was shown, but I think it was. It was all a few of us talked about Monday morning on the school bus.
DontYuckMyYum@reddit
I call bullshit on everyone in here saying they just KNEW music would never be the same after this song. There were grunge bands out there before this. there was harder stuff on MTV played before this song.
GreenZebra23@reddit
I think I saw the video on 120 Minutes. I liked it, but it just seemed like another alternative song to me, there was so much good stuff in that era. I was a little surprised when I gradually realized how huge it was getting
Excellent_Funny5330@reddit
Yep another alright band sells out! They were opening for bands like THE SUN CITY GIRLS one year and on MTV the next. When you were there before their meteoric rise, it was bitter sweet to see and hear “Smells Like Teen Spirit “ on TV. The irony of the popularity of Nirvana is infinite. They spoke and wrote songs about this paradox.
Keefer1970@reddit
Local college radio station WSOU-FM. They were already playing it before MTV picked up on it.
rstokes18187@reddit
It was the shreik of the week. On WLIR 92.7.
Downtown_Map_2482@reddit
Shriek of the week! I interned there in the early 90s. Might’ve been WDRE at that point. Constant requests for Bela Lugosi Is Dead. Fun times. So much great music at that time.
Upper-Affect5971@reddit
at house party, and it was replayed on repeat for 6 hours. this is also the reason i have never been a fan.
temps-de-gris@reddit
No, and stop acting like it was the kennedy assassination. It was just a pretty good song.That's it. I wish these subs would quit lionizing entertainment figures, movies, and other Memberberries to capitalize on fake internet points.
DontYuckMyYum@reddit
fucking thank you!!
So sick of people talking about this song and saying shit like "Bro I knew the music world was changed for ever maaaan!" or "I had to pull my car over, and I wept because they just changed everything."
bullshit. they heard the song, thought it was cool and they went about your day.
the_answer_is_RUSH@reddit
There’s always the Leave button. Stop being so grumpy.
Pattimash1@reddit
I think Weird AL's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" sums it up quite nicely.
https://youtu.be/hTWKbfoikeg?si=82rW4v5ui-f9w24P
Apprehensive_Judge_5@reddit
I was driving on the way home from work.
DabBoofer@reddit
I listened to country untill we got Cable for the first time... MTV was the first channel I flipped to ... with in a few minutes SLTS was on and I kind of left country behind for a few decades
Mundane-Plenty6991@reddit
It came out when I was in uni, but I was always a Pearl Jam girl. I’m not trying to pit the two bands against each other (not that they’d care if I did), but Eddie Vedder was (and still is) my rock god.
TruskVarner@reddit
Someone blasted it from their dorm room down the hall. At first I thought it was Peace Frog by the Doors.
trashytasting@reddit
Driving my mom’s car down the highway, with two friends, and it came on the radio. There was a lipstick mark on the back of the passenger seat the entire time we had the car after because my friend got so excited she forgot she had it in her hand when she started dancing.
Roland-Of-Eld-19@reddit
Muchmusic 🇨🇦
the_answer_is_RUSH@reddit
I’m surprised no one has said SNL yet. I didn’t have cable so that was my first intro.
steelyalpaca@reddit
A Sound Warehouse in New Orleans. I was browsing CDs, the guy put it on the PA system, and everyone literally stopped what they were doing to listen. A true “Hi Fidelity” moment-I’m sure the guy sold 40 copies of “Nevermind” that minute alone.
MamaFen@reddit
I was getting a ride to school and it came on the radio. That morning is imprinted on my brain forever.
mbush525@reddit
no
Blah_the_pink@reddit
I was a senior in high school. Mike's basement. Watching MTV. I remember they started putting subtitles over the video.
JonnyRocks@reddit
i watched it on mtv. world premiere, first showing. it was big for me because i was always last to know. i was the first among my friends to see it. i was the first to buy the cd i still have the memory of getting it off the shelf at the record store and the other guys saying "yeah i want that too".
i use nirvana as a time marking device. life before nirvana and after nirvana.
wraithsonic@reddit
In my bedroom getting dressed for school. The video came in MTV, and I stopped buttoning my shirt and watched. I immediately jotted down the band and title at the end of the video and bought the album on my way home from school.
dawiese98@reddit
Yepcin my mom's car. Probably my least favorite Nirvana song.
Kimber80@reddit
Slouching on a sofa-chair in my campus apartment, probably September or so of 1991. Seemed like an annoying song the first 3 or 4 times I heard it and saw the video, then I got it, LOL.
ircarlton@reddit
We were at my grandmas house for a long weekend and I stayed up late watching 120 Minutes on MTV.
fakewoke247@reddit
Also at Grandma's house before school in 5th grade
Serious-Maximum-1049@reddit
Oh wow! I wonder if we saw it at the same time then, cuz that's when I first heard/saw it, too! 😅
bkirbyNL@reddit
Same!
Moonsmom181@reddit
Same. Thank you MTV.
bassbeatsbanging@reddit
It was the video for me too. I had just started really getting into music. I just remember it felt and looked so different than anything else being played, I was instantly captivated.
I stayed glued to MTV to hear it over and over until I went out and bought the cassette.
YourBaldHeadedMama@reddit
I was in the 11th grade, and I remember it was after school started, but before homecoming. I was at a cheer sleepover and it came on MTV. I had absolutely had it with cheer and began “rebelling”by wearing my hair in pigtails at games instead of the required ponytail. (I know! Such a bad ass 🤣) One of the girls there made a comment about me, reminding them of the unenthusiastic cheerleaders in the video. After homecoming, I cut my hair short and leaned hard into the grunge scene.
MaineMan1234@reddit
I had seen Nirvana open for Sonic Youth in the summer of 1990, bought Bleach immediately, and was waiting for the next album. Heard Smells Like on the radio just prior to the release date on the radio in the SF Bay Area (Live 105?) and immediately went out and bought the CD. That song grabbed me and made me pay attention
Acceptable_Trash_749@reddit
Around midnight I n my living room watching MTV.
ElderberryMaster4694@reddit
I liked smells like nirvana better
BronsonBot@reddit
I was a young 13 year old kid in Omaha. My two friends and I were dropped off at an indoor skate park for the day so we could try our best to drop in on a half pipe. A few short hours later, we heard some pro skater arrived for a quick session. Excited, we ran to see what the buzz was all about.
The pro slowly made his way up the ladder, once he got up there, he pulled a cassette tape out of his pocket, placed it into the boombox and hit play. As soon as the first riff of the song started, he dropped in. Once the pro finished, he grabbed the tape and just walked out. No one in that venue knew the song or the band but we all agreed it was amazing.
A few short weeks later I forgot about the song until a random weeknight watching MTV while doing my homework. A music video for some new artist was introduced. OMG! That’s the riff… that’s the song… that’s the band! I couldn’t wait to go to school to tell my friends it was Nirvana.
I love that memory.
edasto42@reddit
At home and wasn’t impressed. I was already listening to a lot of punk and alternative music so it wasn’t revolutionary for me. I never quite understood the popularity until a friend that grew up in a rural area explained what it meant for him. Where he was the only radio stations were country and maybe a classic rock station. MTV was also no real help as they were doing hair metal all the time. If you weren’t into any of those you had no real options. Then Teen Spirit went on heavy rotation on MTV and it was such a breath of fresh air.
GwonWitcha@reddit
Chillin’ with dad in the family room. He had been flipping through channels, and landed on it because Skid Row played right before. Before SR’s video ended, dad & I got to toolin’ around with something else…then it aired.
Both of us stopped, turned in a “wtf is THIS?!” manner…and just watched and listened…to what we both knew was a new era in rock music.
You could almost hear the death-throes of the hair bands across the globe.
EmperorXerro@reddit
In my dorm room. Roommate’s girlfriend worked at Warehouse Re it’s and got an early copy. We slammed danced to the song three times before being exhausted. This will be one of my last memories I hang on to when Dementia hits
likewhenyoupee@reddit
Watching The Headbanger’s Ball at my cousins house. I think it was the last video of the night.
Exciting_Pass_6344@reddit
I was in a hotel in Washington DC watching MTV. Bought the CD as soon as we got back home.
arabrab12@reddit
I was in my college freshman dorm room and the local radio in Macon Ga was doing a "smash or trash" on this new song. I didn't know what to think. It was like nothing I ha heard before. Obviously it was a smash!
kytulu@reddit
I couldn't tell you the exact day, but in 1991 it seemed like SLTS by Nirvana, Rush, Rush by Paula Abdul, Give It Away by RHCP, and Enter Sandman by Metallica were always playing whenever I turned on MTV.
atreyukun@reddit
High school, sitting outside after PE. Weird dude just walks up and throws headphones on me. I bought the tape later that day.
gettin@reddit
Freshman year, home from college for Columbus Day weekend. Went to a party with a bunch of people I didn't really know that well. Friends of friends that were also home from college that weekend but going to different schools.
And sometime during the party someone put on Nevermind. And I remember that everyone was just blown away. It was so new and fresh. And we all were too, and it was just a moment I will never forget.
The album was played at least three times that night.
No idea whose parents lived at this house, could not even tell you the town.
Yet I remember it so clearly. If that makes any sense at all...
FergusCragson@reddit
I remember more where I was when I first heard "Smells Like Nirvana" by Weird Al.
raistlinwizard1@reddit
🤣...Weird Al was the best!
cavalier78@reddit
Same. I heard it on the Tonight Show, and wondered "what song is he mocking?"
DustAfter@reddit
I actually heard this before the real song 😅
propaghandi4damasses@reddit
sitting on a loft bed in my college dorm. a revelation that came from the kenwood cassette player on the dresser. there were six of us in the room when bryan popped the tape in. what a night.
asthmatic-smoker@reddit
Yeah I was high as a kite watching mtv. I like Nirvana but never liked SLTS
Maxlexjack123@reddit
Yeah iconic however one of the worst songs ever made in my opinion…..😞
WorkingRoof9832@reddit
Yep. Driving to my girlfriend’s house and heard it on the radio and I thought man, now that’s something new. That’s actually a really good song - wish there was more stuff like this.
Euphoric-Sell-5272@reddit
I saw the Weird Al parody video first so my best memory of this song is the janitor eating the donut from the mop bucket hahaha
MyriVerse2@reddit
I have to admit, I can't hear the song without picturing marbles falling out his mouth.
Slight-Bowl4240@reddit
Haha 🤣
Mountain_King_5240@reddit
I didn’t like it. I was a fan of the first album and looooved Incesticide but Nirvana was not a defining band for me. I loved SoundGarden way more. Even Jesus lizard had a much larger impact on my taste.
Ok_Habit6837@reddit
I literally ran home from the bus stop to catch the premier of the video on MTV. Mind blown.
Mirswith95@reddit
No. But I remember the first time I listened to “smells like Nirvana”. ;)
SweatyPalmsSunday@reddit
Spring 1992. I didn’t have cable but my buddy did. The video was playing and I’d made the comment about these rich kids whose parents bought them guitars they’d just destroy. The song didn’t really grab my attention until the 5th or 6th time I’d heard it.
b-lincoln@reddit
I was working telemarketing and the skater kid brought in a dub tape that had it. He played it three times. A few weeks later the video aired on MTV and the rest is history.
DryFoundation2323@reddit
All I remember is wondering why on Earth they were playing this band with the horrible singer so often.
Plimberton@reddit
I can't remember the first time, but I've heard it so much since then that I would be fine never hearing it again. It is one of, if not the most overplayed songs ever.
keiths31@reddit
Graphic Arts class in highschool. Friend of mine has just gotten it and had me listen on his Walkman.
melty75@reddit
No, but I did see them in 93, at one of their best shows on the In Utero tour. It was my first concert.
EverydayAdventures2x@reddit
I was cleaning my room while listening to music. I stopped and stared at the radio because I’d never heard anything like it. I knew I was listening to something special.
Appropriate_Sky_3969@reddit
I don’t think so, because I’m remembering it in the school gym and that’s the video.
Bastette54@reddit
I was at a bar, dancing, and suddenly I hear this guy singing, “Hello, hello, hello, how low…” and the music sounded more interesting than anything else they were playing. This was spring of 1992.
hashn@reddit
Yes. I thought to myself “Sting has really lost it this time”
Slight-Bowl4240@reddit
Haha sure but later
mrsbeeps@reddit
The scales fell from my eyes
TurtleToast2@reddit
Who tf would remember that?
Slight-Bowl4240@reddit
The rise and fall of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain was a tremendous cultural milieu that completely changed the music industry. Imagine a nobody sharing airwaves with the likes of Madonna and Michael Jackson.
Global-Jury8810@reddit
I was sitting in the living room playing with the record player/tape deck/radio.
DrShankensteinMD@reddit
If I remember right I saw it on Headbangers ball and Riki Rachtman seemed super bummed to have to play it.
joeyjoejoeshabbadude@reddit
Because he knew it was over
fitbit10k@reddit
At the college dorm tv room while watching mtv.
puppymama75@reddit
In the car, listening to the Thursday Thirty on CFNY 102.1 FM, and in between the top alternative hits they would play a few up-and-coming, “break-through” artists. the host said, “and now for something I have a hunch might show up on the 30 not long from now, something different coming put of Seattle, these guys are called Nirvana, and this is Smells Like Teen Spirit.” And those chords really did usher in a new era. You could hear that they changed everything.
genericusername11101@reddit
No clue, always thought Nirvana sucked.
juno2912@reddit
I was driving from West Lafayette, IN to Muncie, IN to spend the weekend with my boyfriend. We had both graduated college in May ‘91 and his job was in Muncie. I stayed in West Lafayette and found a job there.
PalJuicy@reddit
I am 59 and I swear I've never heard this song. Unless I have heard it but didn't know what it was.
strumthebuilding@reddit
I had read about Nirvana in magazines and heard buzz but hadn’t listened to their music. Idk why not. My friends had been into SubPop bands. Anyway, I was up all night on acid with my older brother, smoking pot and playing a board game. He had the local hard rock station on and a song came on that just sounded aesthetically different from everything else. We paused the game and zoned out on/in/through the song. Then the DJ announced who it was and I was like, “oooh that’s who everyone’s talking about.” I was always kind of neutral on Nirvana, but I had been a little into hardcore and post-punk & thought it was interesting that music with those influences had broken into the mainstream.
Boxman75@reddit
Playing basketball in the driveway with some of my friends. We were all 15ish.
The song came on my boombox, not sure any of us were really paying attention. Then my dad came out and turned the volume up and asked us if we knew who the band was. My dad rarely cared about what I was listening to, so that moment is seared into my brain. In fact I probably couldn't recall the first time I heard any other song besides this one.
Honest_Performance42@reddit
Over Thanksgiving break from college.
Happy_Confection90@reddit
I mentioned recently that I didn't like music as a kid because of my parents' taste in it, which changed in high school. So, because I didn't listen to music on my own, the first time I ever heard Smells Like Teen Spirit* was in the school cafeteria. For who knew what reason we had a jukebox, and my classmates really liked Nirvana. Turns out I did too and soon bought music for the first time 🙂
(* and "Under the Bridge" and "To Be With You")
CaptFatz@reddit
My house after school.
BubbaChanel@reddit
I do! I had travelled with some friends to Johnson City, TN for the weekend. We were at a house party, and I remember hearing that distinctive opener. I also remember thinking “What was THAT?!”
assuredlyanxious@reddit
Music class in grade 7. Our music teacher told us this band was going to change things. Thanks, Mr. Unger.
1142titike@reddit
In my living room, watching Much Music. I had to sit down and watch the video and I felt a bit confused because it wasn't something I have heard before. It was magical.
Figran_D@reddit
Was at a bar and it started to play, my friend said I had to listen to it. Stopped chasing talking to pretty girls for 5 minutes and 1 second:)
But… if I saw a girls tapping her foot or nodding her head to this I knew she was my type !
Taranchulla@reddit
My friend circle was punk. My friend came to pick me up to go to the movies to see the People Under the Stairs and when I got into his car the song was just starting, and I said, “This sounds awfully mellow compared to the usual.” And he said, “Just wait til the chorus.
grahsam@reddit
Yes. They played it on Headbangers Ball. I thought to myself "uh oh!"
turlian@reddit
My first time hearing it was me playing it on bass.
Guitarist from my band heard it and wrote down the bassline so we could play it. Imagine the song, but every note being on a perfect 4/4 beat.
We then caught it on MTV the next day and I was like "you suck at transcribing".
LavenderSpaceRain@reddit
I was driving out of our apartment complex. It felt like a revelation. Like the world had righted itself. Like I could finally breathe.
Big-Environment-6825@reddit
No but I remember Pearl jam
Basic_Ad4861@reddit
On SNL. When they played Alive. I was hooked after that
Throw8976m@reddit
I don't... but I do remember headbanging to "Breed" and feeling lightheaded afterward... pretty sure I caused permanent damage. :(
claradox@reddit
I was in the car, entering my college campus when it played for the first time on the radio. I actually pulled over in the college infirmary parking lot because I had never heard anything quite like that and I felt the need to listen with my whole body.
_53-@reddit
No
zoeybeattheraccoon@reddit
I was in a record store in Atlanta with a friend and they put it on. I can still see the look on his face, kind of a goofy smile.
He bought the CD on the spot.
EIO_tripletmom@reddit
I don’t remember the details, but I remember immediately knowing it was a big deal that was going to change music.
theghostofcslewis@reddit
Yes. I am pretty sure at least I knew where I was.
Minimum_Painter_3687@reddit
Sitting at my buddy’s listening to the radio.
Cannaewulnaewidnae@reddit
A schoolfriend came over with a C90 cassette copy of Nevermind that was doing the rounds and we played it on the shitty tape deck of my bedroom stereo
Even under those circumstances, I thought it was great and made my own copy as we listened, but I only realised what a special piece of work it was in the following months, as I saw all the kids who had been into Guns n Roses turn into little Kurts and the song entered mainstream culture
YRUSoFuggly@reddit
At yer mom's house.
PowellBlowingBubbles@reddit
Dave is that you?
YRUSoFuggly@reddit
Dave's Not Here, Man
CharSomeXs@reddit
At a friends house and then when it was over I said wtf is this crap. Lol.
CyberCrud@reddit
And it only went downhill from there. I remember shortly after they changed our rock station to grunge and it was horrible.
bugabooandtwo@reddit
Yes, and I thought it was terrible. And it's still terrible.
CyberCrud@reddit
This was the correct answer then and is still the correct answer now.
Far-Ad5796@reddit
Driving with a friend, it came on the radio, and she said, “Hey have you heard this yet? The lyrics are kind of nonsensical but it’s awesome.” Then she cranked it.
Ok_Living_7927@reddit
I thought it sucked at first but it grew on me
soncam99@reddit
Think it was on a show called “The Word” in the UK. They were the musical guests closing the show.
CyberCrud@reddit
I can smell this picture.
FelinusFanaticus@reddit
Had just moved back stateside from overseas. I was lying in bed in a North Carolina motel room, watching MTV for the first time in years, when it came on.
Sconniegrrrl68@reddit
In my car approximately 3 miles away from where it was recorded! Of course I had NO IDEA at that time, but i knew this was something special!
klippDagga@reddit
Riding in a Chevy Celebrity with a tape deck.
Jomolungma@reddit
Absolutely. Sitting in front of our TV in the den after school, watching MTV when the video debuted. Blew. My. Mind.
ExternalGiraffe9631@reddit
Beavis and Butthead
nacnud_uk@reddit
I remember where I was when I first worked out it had actually lyrics
Dixon_Cider74@reddit
Getting stoned at a friends house listening to kroq
Charming-Insurance@reddit
Our KLOS!
Jeebusmanwhore@reddit
Charming-Insurance@reddit
I was in my mom’s house and had MTV on in the background. I stopped, sat on the coffee table and watched the entire video. The only other time I had a visceral reaction to a song like that was “you outta know,” when it was love at first listen (getting in touch with my anger for the first time. )
Your story reminds me of when I first heard of NIN. That dirtbag acted like we were losers for not knowing. LOL
bitteralabazam@reddit
I was in a PacSun store at Northshore Mall.
bitteralabazam@reddit
Or was it Bayshore?
MichElegance@reddit
Putting away shoes in the GH bass stockroom where I briefly worked. I had the radio going on the alternative local radio station which was a favorite of mine.
And then the nexts songs up were Alice In Chains - “Would.” Then, Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow.”
The perfect trifecta of the times… I just about died. SO DAMN GOOD.
OwnCourage7793@reddit
On acid at a NYE party.
Naive_Product_5916@reddit
in my mother's car. I've seen the album was very popular so I bought the tape in my car and oh my god.
NorseGlas@reddit
Riding dirt bikes/atvs, the whole group stopped at a friends house to get something to drink and it was playing on the radio in the garage while we were all sitting around on our bikes.
Only remember because I asked a friend and all he could say was “teen spirit” I was like…. The girl deodorant??? That can’t be the name….
Zurb8@reddit
I was walking past a Circuit City Express in the biggest regional mall near my parent’s house and the video was playing on the TVs in the windows. It stopped me in my tracks - I remember just watching and listening to it until the end, and thinking that I had just witnessed a big shift in the direction of music, and that it was something real. Went down to the other end of the mall to buy Nevermind and The KLF’s White Room on CD at Record Bar.
Infamous-Steak-1043@reddit
Late one night on Rage
dworkylots@reddit
In moms mini van at the community pool. Waiting for my brothers. I was enthralled
Automatic-Nature6025@reddit
Somehow my brother's friend had the video on VHS. My life was forever changed.
Slim_Chiply@reddit
I do not remember. I was working then and not paying as much attention to new music at the time.
SmoothCriminal0678@reddit
With my older brother in his mustang. He was home on leave from the marines and we went to the local mom and pop music store in town. When he showed me the case I was like wtf, rest is history
Willing_Freedom_1067@reddit
It came on the radio when I was driving to work. I stared at the dashboard as if it was some new species of alien and then switched the station. I hated it on first listen and I was not a fan of the entire scene.
I can tolerate it now but I’m still not a huge fan. The one exception to that rule for me was STP, but everyone else? Eh.
JonestownKeyParty@reddit
Nirvana were booked to play some shows in Australia in January/February 1992 but the bookings were made before they exploded into the biggest band on the planet so when they came to Canberra they played the bar at one of the local universities, which usually held a few hundred people but for the Nirvana show there were more than a thousand people crammed into the venue and at least another thousand outside. Parts of the building actually collapsed that night from the crowd crush
I was in a typically snobby "if its that popular it must be shit" mood when it came to Grunge but the girl I was crushing on was a huge fan so I agreed to meet her in town to see if we could get in. By the time we got to the university campus it was obvious we weren't getting anywhere near the venue, it was also pretty obvious this girl wasn't into me at all so I went home, probably to get stoned and listen to the alcoholic guy I shared a house with butcher Tom Waits songs on what was left of his guitar
The first time I actually put effort into listening to Nirvana was a couple of weeks after Cobain died, and I was blown away by how good Nirvana were. I realised then that I should have stayed that night when they played the ANU Bar
A few months after the Nirvana show Public Enemy and Ice T played at the same bar and while I couldn't get in I at least stayed outside to catch what I could
ryansholin@reddit
Watching MTV
cw30755@reddit
I was driving down the road when it came on the radio. I pulled into a parking lot so I could listen better. It was like nothing I had heard before. Afterwards the DJ commented about how many people had already called wanting to know who they just heard
DustAfter@reddit
On a school trip, kid i was sitting next to let me listen to his headphones and anything I wanted to listen to out of his collection on the way home. This is the first thing I listened to, and repeated it a few times.
Fudloe@reddit
At my grandfather's, who raised me. Binging MTV while baked. Also, about 5 years too old to not have my own place.
100% slacker.
WaveBeautiful1259@reddit
I remember seeing the video on MTV and doubting that voice came from such a scrawny dude.
Raynet11@reddit
Hell no, but I do remember the first time I saw the video for "Smells like Nirvana" https://youtu.be/FklUAoZ6KxY?si=cWCkRUVF0Q1qUsZO
FLGuitar@reddit
I was at my buddies house one day during our summer break. It was the summer before my freshman year. I remember thinking “Holy shit, that’s awesome!”
Saw Black Hole Sun the same way.
iammjw@reddit
I didn't remember the first time I heard it, but I do remember coming home from high school and turning on MTV and learning Kurt was dead. It felt very surreal
FrannyFray@reddit
Freshman year of HS at a house party.
leinad1972@reddit
Catching a ride to school in back seat of Toyota Corona. I remember savoring every moment of the song.
tasata@reddit
No, but I remember the last time...just a few minutes ago!