I don't understand why some of you argue over whether this is the best or the worst song. The great thing about this SongMeanings website is that people have the chance to speak intelligently and emotionally about music, but its hard to understand that the people who post comments don't realize that what is important isn't how great a song is in general, but what it means to you.
Personally, I find the sex interpretation to be a stretch. Yes, "how low" might refer to a blow job, and alternatively it could refer to a low between taking heroin. But it has so many possible meanings -- depression, for example. And since "hello" comes before it, you could even take it to mean the depression, emptiness and ugliness inherent in a teen world where teens are forced to be polite to the older generation, even though they don't want to -- when teens are forced to be something they're not.
I think, in general, this song is just about teen life. MrSkaPunk is probably right; Kurt didn't put much effort into the meaning of the lyrics, but what he wrote down can nonetheless be analyzed. And I think that its best taken as a multitude of emotions, actions, diversity (mulatto, albino), acceptance, rejection, and the ups and downs of teen life.
@vibe19 Well written comment, I think. By the way, I was the writer of the lyric to "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Wrote it in Olympia, at the collective where Kurt lived. The "Bikini Kill" girls were there too, at least 1 or 2 of them I think. Think it was in the summer of 1991.
@vibe19 Well written comment, I think. By the way, I was the writer of the lyric to "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Wrote it in Olympia, at the collective where Kurt lived. The "Bikini Kill" girls were there too, at least 1 or 2 of them I think. Think it was in the summer of 1991.
I don't understand why some of you argue over whether this is the best or the worst song. The great thing about this SongMeanings website is that people have the chance to speak intelligently and emotionally about music, but its hard to understand that the people who post comments don't realize that what is important isn't how great a song is in general, but what it means to you.
Personally, I find the sex interpretation to be a stretch. Yes, "how low" might refer to a blow job, and alternatively it could refer to a low between taking heroin. But it has so many possible meanings -- depression, for example. And since "hello" comes before it, you could even take it to mean the depression, emptiness and ugliness inherent in a teen world where teens are forced to be polite to the older generation, even though they don't want to -- when teens are forced to be something they're not.
I think, in general, this song is just about teen life. MrSkaPunk is probably right; Kurt didn't put much effort into the meaning of the lyrics, but what he wrote down can nonetheless be analyzed. And I think that its best taken as a multitude of emotions, actions, diversity (mulatto, albino), acceptance, rejection, and the ups and downs of teen life.
@vibe19 Well written comment, I think. By the way, I was the writer of the lyric to "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Wrote it in Olympia, at the collective where Kurt lived. The "Bikini Kill" girls were there too, at least 1 or 2 of them I think. Think it was in the summer of 1991.
@vibe19 Well written comment, I think. By the way, I was the writer of the lyric to "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Wrote it in Olympia, at the collective where Kurt lived. The "Bikini Kill" girls were there too, at least 1 or 2 of them I think. Think it was in the summer of 1991.