Actors - Smells Like Nirvana

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Smells Like Nirvana

	Actors - Smells Like Nirvana

Smells Like Nirvana is a parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", by Nirvana. The song was written and performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It helped to re-energize Yankovic's career, and Nirvana looked at it as a sign that they had "made it" as a band.

Track Listing

The following tracks are on the single: # "Smells Like Nirvana" – 3:42 # "Waffle King" – 4:26

The Negotiation

Yankovic wanted to get in contact with the band to ensure he had authorization to record a parody of their hit, but this proved difficult. (Technically, under the "fair use" doctrine one does not require the original artist's permission to record a parody; however, Weird Al has – as a means of maintaining good relationships with other artists – requested permission before recording.) An opportunity opened up on the night Nirvana was scheduled to perform two songs on NBC's sketch-comedy show Saturday Night Live. Yankovic spoke with Kurt Cobain, Nirvana's lead singer and guitarist, over the phone while Cobain was in the NBC building. Cobain had but one stipulation. "It's not going to be about food, is it?" he asked, referring to such hits as "Eat It," "I Love Rocky Road," and "My Bologna." Yankovic reassured Cobain it would not be about food, but rather about how no one can understand Cobain's lyrics against the music.

The song

The lyrics are basically a spoof on the bizarre and bleak lyrics of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", with verses like:

:What is this song all about? :Can't figure any lyrics out :How do the words to it go? :I wish you'd tell me, I don't know

Other parts point to the unintelligibility of Cobain's lyrics and vocal delivery:

:It's unintelligible :I just can't get it through my skull :It's hard to bargle nawdle zouss :With all these marbles in my mouth

(These lines are actually subtitled in the music video to emphasize the joke - the words bargle nawdle zouss are eventually followed by "???" appearing.)

There are also artist references, like "Well we don't sound, like Madonna, here we are now, we're Nirvana" and "a garage band from Seattle, well it sure beats raising cattle".

The music is almost the same as "Smells Like Teen Spirit." The most notable difference is: the guitar solo is replaced by Yankovic trying to sing with liquid in his mouth, the entire audience humming through kazoos, and a tuba. Also notable is that "Smells Like Nirvana" is much shorter than "Smells Like Teen Spirit." This is due in part to Yankovic speeding up the tempo slightly and to Yankovic shortening the solo.

Music video

The music video is incredibly similar to the original video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit", even using many of the same actors. However, various elements have been parodied. Here is a list of the parodied elements in the "Smells Like Nirvana" video:

In the video, Yankovic holds his guitar left-handed, just as Kurt Cobain did.
Yankovic and his band are all wearing long hair wigs just like the hairstyles of Nirvana. Near the end, Yankovic cuts a bit of his hair off, and the drummer takes his wig off.
The drummer's bass drum has "DRUM" written in masking tape on it, instead of "CHAKA".
The bassist is using a Fender Precision Bass instead of Krist Novoselic's Gibson bass.
The cheerleaders are different in this video. One is a drag queen, another hasn't shaved her armpits, and one other has Alfred E. Neuman's face tattoed on her arm. At one point, they do the chicken dance.
The janitor is the same used in "Smells Like Teen Spirit." He plays instruments in the video, eats a bagel, and dances in a ballet outfit.
A skinheaded teen in the audience has "THIS SPACE FOR RENT" written on the back of his head.
Several children in the high school crowd lose body parts (arms, legs, a head).
A midget is lighting Yankovic's face from the bottom.
Dick Van Patten
is seen in the crowd. He offers a bite of his sandwich to the person next to him, but the person next to him slaps it out of his hand.
A cow and a sheep are seen in the audience.
The guitar solo is replaced by Al gargling, the teenagers blowing kazoos, and the janitor playing a tuba.
In one scene, someone runs around on fire.
Girl scouts come up to the teenagers, but the teenagers knock the cookies out of their hands.
Near the end, Yankovic smashes up his guitar, but also hits someone on the head with a cream pie and demolishes a building.
Nirvana's Drummer, Dave Grohl, is wearing a tee shirt with "Scream" written on it, while Yankovic's drummer's tee shirt has "Drummer" on it.
Nirvana's Cheerleaders top has a red 'A' with a circle around it (This is referred to as the circle A and is a Anarchist symbol meaning Anarchy is Order). Yankovic's cheerleaders have red 'A' with a circle and a small capital 'L' in the upper right hand (around 2 o'clock)
The pie that Yankovic is smashing over someone's head appears to be a plate.
Yankovic is pulling on someone's nose with a pair of channel lock pliers.
There is a basketball game going on in the background of one of the scenes of "Smells Like Nirvana."
In this basketball game, Yankovic is thrown a basketball which he throws behind him (even when he throws the ball the guitar continues), and after about 7 seconds of it disappearing above view falls through a basketball hoop.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Smells Like Nirvana ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Smells Like Nirvana; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay