The word grunge is believed to be back-formation from the US slang adjective grungy, which originated in about 1965 as a slang term for "dirty" or "filthy". Mark Arm, the vocalist for the Seattle band Green River—and later Mudhoney—is generally credited as being the first to use the term grunge to describe this sort of music. Arm first used the term in 1981, when he wrote a letter under his given name Mark McLaughlin to the Seattle zine, Desperate Times, criticizing his band Mr. Epp and the Calculations as "Pure grunge! Pure noise! Pure shit!" Clark Humphrey, editor of Desperate Times, cites this as the earliest use of the term to refer to a Seattle band, and mentions that Bruce Pavitt of Sub Pop popularized the term as a musical label in 1987–88, using it on several occasions to describe Green River. Arm used grunge as a descriptive term rather than a genre term, but it eventually came to describe the punk/metal hybrid sound of the Seattle music scene.
The early grunge movement coalesced around Seattle independent record label Sub Pop in the late 1980s. The main pioneer bands who developed grunge were Green River, Malfunkshun, The Melvins, and Soundgarden. Grunge became commercially successful in the first half of the 1990s, due mainly to the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. The success of these bands boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge the most popular form of hard rock music at the time. However, many grunge bands were uncomfortable with this popularity. Although most grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by the late 1990s, their influence continues to impact modern rock music.
During the mid-1990s many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. Kurt Cobain, labeled by Time as "the John Lennon of the swinging Northwest," appeared "unusually tortured by success" and struggled with an addiction to heroin. Rumors surfaced in early 1994 that Cobain suffered a drug overdose and that Nirvana was breaking up. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound; Nirvana summarily disbanded. That same year Pearl Jam canceled its summer tour in protest of what it charged as ticket vendor Ticketmaster's unfair business practices. Pearl Jam then began a boycott of the company; however, Pearl Jam's initiative to play only at non-Ticketmaster venues effectively, with a few exceptions, prevented the band from playing shows in the United States for the next three years. In 1996 Alice in Chains gave their final performances with their ailing estranged lead singer, Layne Staley, who subsequently died from overdosing on speedballs (heroin cocaine mix) in 2002. That same year Soundgarden and Screaming Trees released their final studio albums, Down on the Upside and Dust, respectively. Soundgarden broke up the following year.
Some grunge bands have continued recording and touring with more limited success, including, most significantly, Pearl Jam. While in 2005 Rolling Stone writer Brian Hiatt described Pearl Jam as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame," he noted the band developed a loyal concert following akin to that of the Grateful Dead. Despite Nirvana's demise, the band has continued to be successful posthumously. Due to the high sales for Kurt Cobain's Journals and the band's best-of compilation Nirvana upon their release in 2003, The New York Times argued Nirvana "are having more success now than at any point since Mr. Cobain's suicide in 1994."
"In any case, by 1992 grunge was at the peak of its popularity and the group’s trademark sound in no way resembled that of commercially successful acts such as Soundgarden or Pearl Jam (though, ironically, King’s X were partly responsible for inspiring grunge; Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament once said, “King’s X invented grunge”)."
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Smells Like Teen Spirit
Nirvana Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's fun to lose and to pretend
She's over-bored and self assured
Oh no, I know a dirty word
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido
Yeah, hey, yay
I'm worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido
Yeah, hey, yay
And I forget just why I taste
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard, it's hard to find
Oh well, whatever, never mind
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido
A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial, a denial
A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial
The song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana was released in 1991 and is widely considered one of the most iconic and influential songs in the history of rock music. The lyrics of the song capture the disaffected and rebellious spirit of the time period and deal with issues such as boredom, apathy, and the search for identity. The opening lines "Load up on guns, bring your friends / It's fun to lose and to pretend" speaks to the nihilistic tendencies of young people who were disillusioned with the political and economic system at the time.
The chorus of the song, with the repeated phrase "With the lights out, it's less dangerous / Here we are now, entertain us," reflects the desire for entertainment and escape from the pain and chaos of the world. The reference to "a mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido" is believed to be an inside joke by Kurt Cobain and refers to a friend who described himself in this manner. The line "I feel stupid and contagious" speaks to the feeling of helplessness and frustration that many young people experienced during the time period.
Overall, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song that captures the disillusionment and angst of a generation and continues to be celebrated as a seminal work in the history of rock music.
Line by Line Meaning
Load up on guns, bring your friends
Gather weapons and bring your accomplices
It's fun to lose and to pretend
It's enjoyable to have nothing and act like you don't care
She's over bored and self assured
She's extremely bored and full of herself
Oh no, I know a dirty word
Oh dear, I'm aware of a profanity
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Greetings, how are you feeling down there?
With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Having the lights turned off decreases the amount of risk
Here we are now, entertain us
We are present, so put on a show for us
I feel stupid and contagious
I feel unintelligent and like I can easily spread my feelings to others
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido
A person with mixed race heritage, a person with no pigmentation, an insect that feeds on blood, my sexual drive
I'm worse at what I do best
I'm not very skilled at what I excel at
And for this gift I feel blessed
Despite this, I feel fortunate for this talent
Our little group has always been
Our small community has always existed
And always will until the end
And it will continue until the end
And I forget just why I taste
And I don't remember why I have this specific sensation
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
Oh right, I suppose it causes me to grin
I found it hard, was hard to find
I struggled to locate it
Oh well, whatever, never mind
Oh well, it doesn't really matter anymore
A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial, a denial
An inability to accept the truth
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: David Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@roberttorricelli3805
The only problem with this song is that it’s never loud enough
@goldersgreen2177
How low...
@goldersgreen2177
Yes, How low...
@staceywatson6883
Couldn't agree more! And it's not fkn played enough
@aestheticaltwat
It’s their most played song ever and it’s still not played enough.
@PhillipSenn
Turn it up to 11. That's 1 higher than 10.
@Moto_Tales
No matter how you feel about nirvana, cobain, the 90's, grunge, or music in general... you just can't deny the power of this little song.
@marabuchanan6776
Yep
@democracydaily9149
Its ok to not like grunge and Nirvana's music, but to dislike Nirvana as people seems weird to me. They are just so likeable and interesting
@yusufe8652
@@democracydaily9149 why wouldnt it be okay to dislike them? Basically drug addicts lol?