Tuesday, October 27, 2009

1990's

This list is not about favorites. This list is about cultural impact. Todays song embodies everything we've been discussing; a catchy melody, senseless lyrics, and a strait 4/4 beat played with the passion and intensity that can (and did) change the world. Take a moment here to watch that video, even if you've seen it a million times before. Right click "open in new tab" and watch it, it's ok, I'll wait...

Teen Spirit changed us. We started wearing flannel and Chuck Taylors. Alienation was the new identity. Alternative was the new mainstream. Teen Spirit was the Louie Louie of the nineties - it wasn't ABOUT anything, but some how it spoke to us. At the same time, however, it was destroying us. After Nevermind, anyone who played a pop melody on a fuzzy guitar, was just a Nirvana copy cat. Kurt took a cliché to the top of the charts. Who could fill his Doc Martins?

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" has to be THE song of the 1990's. Beck's "Loser" was good. White Zombie's "More Human Then Human" was good. "Enter Sandman" was all over the MTV. Not owning a copy of Weezer's "Blue Album" was up there with covetousness and idolatry. The Smashing Pumpkins were a force to be reckoned with. But battle cry of Generation X is
"a mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido."

For the comments: Where were you, who were you with when you first heard this song?
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3 comments:

  1. Casey BlueOctober 27, 2009 at 4:19 AM

    I was housesitting for an elderly widow and watching MTV when I first saw/heard SLTS & loved it right away. I think Metallica was on right after. Not a very exciting memory, oh well,whatever,nevermind.

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  2. Nobodie EverknewOctober 27, 2009 at 9:26 AM

    I was with Katrina Steinline at the Sonic Drive Up when SLTS came on the radio. We were only 11 yrs old but the song seemed significant. We talked about it for several minutes (the full attention span of an eleven year old).

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  3. Dalovely DamandaOctober 30, 2009 at 7:33 AM

    Ok, so I've been thinking about this and I can not for the life of me remember the first time I heard Smell's Like Teen Spirit. BUT, I do remember the first time I heard Lithium! I did not appreciate Nirvana when they first came out...it took awhile for them to grow on me. (cut me some slack...I was totally into Harry Connick, Jr. and George Michael for a long time...oh wait, I still am.) Ben was watching MTV when the video for Lithium came on. And Kurt sings "I'm so ugly" and I reply with "Ya, you are!" And then the very next line is "That's okay, 'cause so are you." haha Ben thought this was hysterical. I at the time did not, and it made me like Kurt even less for his appropriate, unbeknownst to him, witty comeback. Thankfully, I have since forgiven Kurt.

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