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@@patrickfreeman8257 Yes. A heart surgeon that has only studied standard operations is a lot worse than one who is so familiar with heart surgery that if something goes wrong he can fix it by intuition
"He doesn't know what he's doing... that doesn't matter. I know what he's doing and I'm gonna tell YOU what he's doing" it's something I would like to ear from every teacher
It's encouraging purity, I never took lessons either and write pretty good songs. Not to say learning scales is tainting originality. I am admittedly limited
First of all Muhammad, you left out a key phrase that began Rick;'s comment, which was, "Before everybody starts saying...." In other words, Cobain may well have understood more of the musical theory behind his playing than some would assume. He was a very smart guy and immersed in his music. Secondly, the problem is that 99% of people playing music don't have enough intuitive resources to forego studying some amount of musical theory if they want to succeed creatively and professionally. So for all you hacks out there, don't get too complacent.
THEY knew what they were doing. There's more than one way to signify music. What Rick Beato explained here about the melody is bang on. That said, it's an analysis. The process of making music can be ANYTHING, and that's the power of art.
I think the point is, Kurt may have not have learnt all the music theory like other people did. He might not have learnt all the terminology. But he knew what effect playing certain notes had because he had a musical ear. So therefore he knew what he was doing. He chose the notes for a reason.
Smells like teen spirit - “Godzilla - The smashing pumpkins 1990 BOC cover” Come as you are - “The damned - life goes on” / “22 faces - Garden of delight” / “Killing joke - Eighties” Rape me - “Gwar - Pussy planet” / “Mudhoney need”
For anyone who critisises Kurt Curbain for 'not knowing what he's doing' consider it like this. He was able to create these melodies organically without knowing that they had a name. Without spending 4 years of his life learning music theory. Plus let's face it, most of the people who've studied these melodies couldn't write a song that comes close to Smells Like Teen Spirit. I think that makes him a true songwriting genius.
Yes. If you have the talent and can create the masterpiece, objections about how you crossed that gap amount to nitpicking. And that's probably too nice a word for it.
I remember reading Kurt Cobain's biography, and to my surprise and delight, that despite his disheveled appearance and don't-care persona, i learned that he was absolutely meticulous with his music. There was a segment that described how their band practices were very serious and that Kurt wld be obsessive and intentional about every note and nuance. That he wld force the band to restart the song if there even a slight mistake. I feel like I needed to add this little detail bc Rick does address the fact that many incorrectly think Kurts music was all intuition. The man was an extremely hard working genius. For me it makes me respect and admire his work even more.
I think he was relentlessly introspective, and was not all that he could be with his instrument. Watch them live, he screws up the guitar on the verses and solo (on slts) almost intentionally sabotaging the live performance. He writes lyrics that mean nothing, but can be interpreted to be deep. He wasn’t all that he was going to be yet.. the intuition he had about music would have flowered into something amazing had he not self destructed. His voice came up with these amazing melodies that elude to him being extremely intelligent, but the latency between him and his instrument was a bit low.
I don't understand 98% of what Rick says because I have no musical talent or training. However, when I watch these videos, it's more like "this is why you like this song". I also get to hear all of those nuances we all know are there, but are hidden in the mix. I love watching these even though it's way over my head :-)
Rick should do a series of videos with a non-expert sidekick, encouraging their questions & breaking down complex points to the level of the average viewer. All good teachers do a lot of repitition - he should go back to basics repeatedly.
@@george474747 Problem is it's often hard to break down things to simple concepts. There might be a question for example "What is aeolian?" - There you go, you are just spending 10+ minutes explaining what aeolian is. You have two choices: 1.) Stick to the analysis like Rick did and don't explain it. Or 2.) explain everything like children are watching. The latter won't lead to an interesting video. He has some videos on theory. Maybe you should check those out.
Three decades later I'm still waiting for that Teen Spirit moment to come around again. To hear a song that just blows everyone's doors off and becomes a cultural phenomenon. I don't know if I'll ever experience something quite like that again.
An interviewer once said to Tori Amos, 'I love how you were able to make that song beautiful'. She responded "oh, I didn't add the beauty, that was already there"
I must admit, I took a large hit of nostalgia myself. This song signifies so much in so many people’s lives. This was the song that EVERYBODY rocked out to. The pop chicks, the nerds, the jocks, the altos, the normies, everyone. This song grabbed at the heart strings and yanked you to your feet. I was lying in bed, my wife asleep next to me and I was playing air guitar and drums with Beato this whole video through, not ashamed to add :)
This last words “a denial!” Made me cry. How powerful and gore perfectly executed. I’m an opera singer and this is raw feeling the falling off the scream at the end… OMG!!! Hering him singing alone in your explanation… Jesus goosebumps… what an incredible song.
Oh man, do I ever hear you on this. I’m sitting here in a mess right now with those words ringing in my ears, “A denial… a denail… a denial.. a deniiiaaalllll…” So much of life is this, isn’t it?
I agree with you completely - it’s a very creative shift away from the rest of the song yet sounds utterly perfect in tone and in sentiment (Rick has pointed out how rare this is in pop music when he discussed “Every little thing she does is magic” by The Police - pop songs almost always fade out with a repeated chorus or a repeated section of guitar and rarely add new material)
"People say Kurt Cobain didn't really know what he was doing, that doesn't matter... I know what he was doing and I'm gonna tell you what he's doing. That's really the essence of this.. it doesn't matter if people know what they're doing if they can just do it intuitively. Kurt had an incredibly intuitive sense of melody." For us out there who get tripped up on the specific stuff but can make cool songs, thank you very much. You're a great teacher. Still doesn't hurt to keep learning.
Just like people like me who inherently can’t do it, there are people that inherently can do it. I’m thankful they exist, art is the single art I really see as a need(although I respect other artists and those who need that expression)
I recently listened to a podcast about Kurt’s life. The guy had SERIOUS mental issues. Made worse by drug and alcohol abuse. He was a ticking time bomb. Could he have been saved? Possibly. Kurt’s guitar playing by itself is just noise in my opinion. But add those base lines, the drums, and Kurt’s gravely, grunge, voice and it all came together. He was not dedicated to the guitar like most serious musicians. The chords are basic and easily learned. His smashing of his guitars alone tells me he was not dedicated to the instrument. In my very humble opinion he served his purpose on earth and moved on. That’s it. We all move on wether we accomplish anything or not. After all the mess and b.s. I think he lived a pretty good life. Seriously, can you imagine him wearing a tie or tending to his backyard garden? Kurt proved you can live an entire life in just a few years.
He still did it that's the point. I believe he did understand it but just couldn't explain. End of the day the morons saying that he didn't know what he was doing, I don't see those cunts writing master pieces like he did
sometimes you hear a song so many times that you forget why it's so good, but this brought me back to when I was 12 or 13 yo and listened to Smells Like Teen Spirits for the first time. now I remember why it completely blew me away
How can you love more a song that you already love so much? Listen to Rick analyzing it and uncovering the beauty and the incredible talent that brought that song to life!
Anyone can come up with something fantastic even without knowing how to do music properly. Relying to your instincts and trying to sound good can sometimes produce something like this.
I was a DJ on a hit music station when this came out. It hit our audio processing like a chainsaw through cheese. Even the station manager woke up. It's not just the dynamics that work so well on this song. On hit music radio, there's a ton of volume compensating, tone shaping processing going on to make the station "louder" than the competition. (This was back when radio stations had competitors) Just playing soft, then playing loud, doesn't work. It's Nirvana's ingenious use of texture. Density. It opens with one guitar. Simple. Then the drums kick and rest of the group jumps in. LOUD. But the complexity, the density makes it FEEL louder even on overprocessed FM radio. Then the density drops. Guitar playing the fourths. The actual volume level on radio is the same, but it FEELS open, quiet, spacey. It happens several times throughout the song, and those contrasts in density, complexity, helped to push this song well beyond the expectations of the listener.
Texture within the constraints of hard rock: something Kurt learned from the Pixies, and took to a more visceral place. But the great thing about KC was he went out of his way to name check his influences in interviews. He never hid them. Quite humble really.
Would the label have done a "radio mix" back in '91? You know, a mix that would take into consideration the heavy processing terrestrial radio stations use? When I was signed to a major label about a decade ago, that's what they did for our radio singles. I don't think they would have done so back then, if only based on my recollection of hearing The Smashing Pumpkins' "Today" on the radio back when it was a hit in '93 or '94: that quiet guitar intro would be really loud and present, and then when everything kicked in, it just sounded quiet in comparison. (Same producer, coincidentally.) So maybe Virgin Records didn't do a radio mix; or the radio station in Chicago didn't use the right mix; or, they didn't do that back then. Just curious. Great comment, by the way.
The local hip hop station I listened to in the '90s played this song. I remember the DJ saying, "We don't play this kind of music but we've getting so many requests for it."
It always amazes me, whenever I hear Kurt's voice soloed, just how strong and full his vocals are. Many rock singers rely on the sonics of the rest of the band to cover up a lack of strength, or a certain awkwardness, but Kurt's vocals sound exactly the same soloed as they do unsoloed.
"Why? Because it's cool." This is something that rock seems to have forgotten. I remember the first time I heard this song, the entire impression I had was how cool it was. Damn, it was cool.
I love the “He didn’t know what he was doing” argument. So neither did The Beatles. A lot of artists don’t. I remember talking with B.C. Kochmit one time. He’s a phenomenal guitarist and great guy to boot. I was telling him about a solo he played and I loved his use of the harmonic minor. He says to me and I quote “I don’t know anything about what you just said. I just play what sounds cool in the song. But I’m glad you liked it.”
Or to be precise: These people know what they are doing. They just don't know how to put words to what they are doing or to analyze what they are doing, because, as Rick says, they do it instinctively.. But they know. The creative process is to try things and keep what sounds right. Kurt Cobain knew what did sound right.
I’ve heard that what’s-his-name from skynard is like that too... plays super cool stuff and has absolutely no clue about the theory behind it (which is fine by me).
LOTS of people don't "know what they're doing" or what the music theory is, but they HAVE put in the time learning their way around the guitar - and around song writing. They've put in the time. They've done their homework. They KNOW what they're doing.
@@WromWrom Not only instinctually. Something Kurt, the Beatles and hell most every rock star is that they(shock) listened to and played a lot of music. Kurt might not have thought of that section in terms of chords but a guarantee you he'd heard other songs where the bass continues to make the chord changes and the guitar plays the same notes over all of them and thought it was a really cool effect.
@@ohwellwhateverr I'll agree that it's primal and affecting and painful. And that he was channeling his pain. But pain can be conveyed with a singing voice in ways that aren't yelling and doesn't damage vocal cords.
It's possible because on the whole music seemed to stop evolving at that point in time. Today we have some superb musicians out there but a decent hole in the writing and composing. Stuff now just seems like a minor offshoot of what was then rather than a rich and evolving tapestry of new. Technical skill went up, creative skills went into hiding. It may have to do with how people access music today vs then, or how much time people have to immerse themselves with endless other media.
Tears in my eyes at 8.27... Kurt was an incredible melody composer. The fact he probably didn't know what he was doing elevates his natural genius. Grazie Rick!
He had a big intuition about emotional, dramatic music … He was also pisces, I think that helps 😉 I just uploaded a piano version of the song…finally. 🎹 🎵
@@Stiegosaurus this is a message that needs to be brought to the masses. Stay in the moment and do what you naturally do. Things just turn out better that way.
It's such a familiar song but when you hear it critiqued like this it brings into perspective just how great it is. I wish I could hear it again for the first time.
I feel that exactly. I can remember the exact moment I first heard this song...time...place...every single detail. The hair stood up on my neck, I was struck dumb. I NEEDED to hear this song again, would watch MTV for hours to see the video again and again when it came out, but that first moment I heard this song, I felt the earth move and I knew music would never sound the same again.
@@m2goofy760 it was so long ago.. and i was so young. but this is one of the few songs i remember hearing for the first time. n i completely agree. so much energy n so many emotions came through those speakers.. so many. but kurt's voice.. from the 'spitting nails' to that sincere n overwhelming sadness.. he sings in such an honest way that just hit me in the soul in a way that no other singer has. what i would do to experience it that way for the first time again..
I actually feel like I just did after hearing the vocal melodies played on guitar and piano. I never noticed how beautiful they were, I only heared the rage.
This song is genius. SO simple. SO aggressive. Incredible melody. I have been listening to it for 2 decades and I still want to jump out of my chair when it comes on. Just perfect.
When I was young I learned to play guitar with Nirvana's songs. These are really good when you start learning because most of his music is pretty simple but still very powerful at the same time. Music doesn't always have to be complicated or extremely hard to play to be very good.
Sadly.... Kobain had expressed his actual depressed mental leanings! If people would stop fucking around and complimenting anxiety/suicidal overtures,, and instead,, help the poor people that are on the literal edge of life.... and ............. ~!~
Some people’s musical intelligence comes from various senses. Doesn’t have to be built by measuring. In other words most of us know music by sight, but there are some that know music by sound, some by feeling the vibration in their fingers, or even by smell yet, they couldn’t tell you anything about music theory. There’s something incredibly spiritual about that. About those that don’t use their eyes to play at all.
They weren’t that different from other bands in 91. Who was different? U2 was different very different. While all the bands were doing Grunge or 80s hair band style Rock U2 was creating their own sound on Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop.
@@TheChenny73 I've never liked U2, and it sounds like you do, so I won't trash them. But I will say I always thought they sounded like Depeche Mode and other generic alt rock type bands.
@@Bossanovawitcha the album Nevermind does NOT sound like the pixies lol. I get that Kurt made attempts to emulate them in certain ways stylistically when he first started writing his early Bleach songs… but the Pixies were not top Billboard artists or considered a household name when Smells Like Teen Spirit dropped. Your uncle/neighbor/cousin/teacher didn’t ALL know who the pixies were and very few ppl outside of a specific indie college radio scene could’ve named more than one song by the pixies back then. Nirvana sounded drastically different from the other top 40 hits of the very early 90s. Don’t be intentionally obtuse just to be contrarian… it’s obnoxious.
I was at my friend Rich’s house and he said “you gotta check this out” and he put on Nevermind. We listened to the whole thing, and when it was over I knew then my life had changed. It blew me away.
After Kurt passed, my dad woke me up in the middle of the night and shaved my head. Three days later he bought me new clothes and made me burn mine in front of everyone in the neighborhood. He was afraid that because Kurt had "killed himself", that teens were going to do the same thing. To add insult to injury, both Kurt, and later Layne, passed on my birthday.
Did anyone realize how many 1991 song Rick has done: Smells like teen spirit,Enter sandman,Garden,Jeremy,Outshined,Losing my religion,under the bridge and give it away and black
One thing I noticed about Kurt's melodies that sets them high and above most music is when broken down as by Rick here, they sound like medieval madrigals. This and 'Lithium' are prime examples.
Yes, yes , yes! I've always thought this! I didn't know what it was called, I just imagines someone playing a lute in a castle on a dark rainy day. Thank you.
Crazy how Kurt just made this music naturally, he wasn’t trying to incorporate any science or anything into his songs on purpose they just all came out beautifully because he was just that talented and so was the rest of the band.
Whether technically or intuitively, he knew how to express emotion in a way that any listener could experience it right along with him. That's what makes it great. You're just glad to be along for the ride. . . .though good to be able to get off the ride when it's over, too, which apparently and sadly, he couldn't.
I was in a cover band when this first came out, and we played it at a high school dance... well, the chaperones did NOT expect what happened when we hit those first chords... ALL the kids ran out to the dance floor and started a mosh pit, which the teachers and chaperones had NEVER seen before! They thought a huge fight had broke out and they ran in and pulled them all apart and kicked them out... all the while we were on stage playing with our mouths hanging open... that's a great great memory of mine! ...thanks Kurt! (RIP) ...and thanks Rick!
The best part for me is just how Rick really feels the music (not just here but in all his analyses), he goes all out imitating drums and guitars because it's so captivating. I can't understand how you can listen to great music without gesturing about like a weirdo, it just shows that you're getting the music on a subcontious body level. Which absolutely applies to this song.
I was a senior in high school when this came out in 1991. Think about this: Metallica's "Enter Sandman" had just come out and everyone was listening to the Black Album literally everyday, nonstop, over and over (on cassette back then, so it kept looping on the players.) AND THEN here comes "Smells like teen spirit" and the Nevermind album. We ate, drank, slept, smoked Nirvana. It was like our parents hearing The Beatles for the first time. While I love Rick's incredible musical analysis of this song, lyrically and emotionally is what really set this band a part for a lot of folks like me at the time. Being a teenager and being in high school really sucks sometimes, if not all the time for some. This was music for the outcasts, the anxious, the lonely, the depressed teens who everyone talked over and never bothered to listen to. Kurt Cobain knew how that felt like. He sang for us. This album was our therapy.
I remember when enter sandman came out, too (I was a kid). And shortly after, Nevermind! ...and all the hair, glam and spandex of the era went to the bin.
I grew up 3 hours away from where Kurt did, and it was a poor, depressed, wet environment, that created alot of moody and uniquely different music. I am 2 years younger than Kurt, same exact age as Dave Grohl. We were all over the map with music, from eagles, Beatles, Black Flag, Violent Feemes, Pink Floyd, Kitaro, Prince, Rat, ect.....
91 and 92 were the last great years for rock, the Black Album was freaking amazing and the end of the year comes Nevermind and every Metalhead starts listening to grunge. I remember listening to Smelling to Teen Spirit on the radio and I just couldn't believe how great it was. I was in my senior year when it came out.
My friends and I had the privilege of seeing Dave Grohl’s first show with Nirvana in Olympia WA at a place called Northshore surf club. He really did bring a lot of power to an already powerful sound, and I also remember when I first heard this song I was just obsessed with the drum beat and how innovative it sounded for such a dirty song. It was a great time to be young
I was in my 30s when Nirvana hit it big, perfect timing as I was just about to give up on rock. Nirvana was a fine mix of hard hitting pure energy & song writing genius. I will always hold up Nirvana as the greatest producers melodic music since the Beatles. The only 2 bands that IMO used repetitive phases well in more than one hit song. Having lost Kurt so young & holding so much prospect for the future of rock music will always depress me. Music needs a New Nirvana, almost had my dream come true when Paul McCartney teamed up with surviving members for a benefit concert. Rumours were flying about a possible future album, so sad it never came about.
@@robbielee2148 Best comment in this thread. Nirvana was the Beatles of the late 20th century no doubt about that. I do wonder what could have been. Nobody sings like Cobain anymore, probably because they simply can't.
Yup! I remembered that place in Olympia , also Hell’s Kitchen in Tacoma and the Crocodile , Showbox and others pioneers square small venues in Seattle / Tacoma WA . Great memories , greetings from Kino Bay the Sonoran Desert , north Mexico
Lol, I was looking to see if anyone already posted this. I was waiting for him to give some highly technical reason, so when he said "because it's cool" I laughed so hard.
I loved Weird Al's version... when Al asked Cobain if he could parody it, Cobain, familiar with Al's past work asked him "is it going to be about food?" Al responded "no... it's going to be about how nobody understands your lyrics." Lol I also would LOVE to hear Rick's take on a Weid Al song lol
I just love how he goes “flat eleventh sus nine double venti with that inversion on the snare” and then just ends it with some air drumming. Because that’s really what makes this song great, you just can’t not air drum.
I was never a big fan of Nirvana. I do like "Smells like Teen Spirit" And I do appreciate the artistry of Kurt Cobain and the rest of the band. It does, however, really annoy me when people say things like, "He didn't know what he was doing." He most definitely did know what he was doing. He may have not known the standard lexicon of what he was doing. But he definitely had an intuitive knowledge of the structure and syntax of music. My daughter is the same way. She does very sophisticated things with her music. But struggles with her "theory" classes. I keep trying to tell her, "Hun, you already know this. All this class is doing is teaching you to communicate to others what you intuitively know."
Unintuitive truth that often clouds any discussion of stuff like music theory: You can understand something without learning it, and you can learn something without understanding it. You learned to use adjectives long before you knew what an adjective was. You can develop an encyclopedic knowledge of a subject and be unable to apply it.
Totally. Honestly I got bored of playing teen spirit on guitar despite the song being the main reason why I started guitar last year. After watching this video, I decided to start learning the fingerstyle version to listen it's beautiful melody. Smells like teen spirit is the reason why I keep wanting to learn guitar
I think Kurt was an absolute genius lyricist. I mean he said the lyrics were just written in the moment and didn't mean anything but like... the chorus, sung from the perspective of his audience, "Here we are now, entertain us," then sung from his perspective, "I feel stupid and contagious," like he's saying "Who the hell am I that you people are listening to me?" then he starts having what sounds like it could be a profound thought in the final chorus, "I found it hard, it's hard to find.." and he kind of just gives up "Oh well, whatever, never mind." like... I don't know, I absolutely love those lyrics. This isn't my favorite Nirvana song, but you just have to admit it's amazing in basically every way.
I hear what your saying. I too like the song & album but its not my favorite. Bleach is my favorite cd despite not like every song and Radio unit friendly shifter is probably my favorite tune !
It has meaning. Right now I only remember the lyrics of Smells like teen's spirit: Load up on guns, bring your friends It's fun to lose and to pretend _Making fun of the 'cool kids'_ She's over bored and self-assured Oh, no, I know a dirty word _Making fun of cheerleaders_ With the lights out, it's less dangerous _Probably mocking children/maybe also him as a child, being afraid of the dark_ Here we are now, entertain us _Probably a dig at hair-metal who were more show = entertainers than anything_ I feel stupid and contagious _He feels like a loner as he's different_ A mulatto, an albino A mosquito, my libido, yeah _Krist, Kurt, Dave, a rhyme for good measurement_ I'm worse at what I do best _what he likely heard all his childhood_ And for this gift I feel blessed Our little group it's always been And always will until the end _a sarcastic dig at all those people who told him they're better than him_ And I forget, just why I taste Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile _probably because of his stomach? or an inside joke I don't know of_ I found it hard, it's hard to find Oh well, whatever, never mind _I'm a loser, but I don't care_ A denial, a denial _Goes both ways, he's been denied 'into society' and he's refusing to adapt to be part of it._ I mean he's not here to tell me I'm wrong, but I pretty much think I got this right. He also gave the lyrics meaning by how he sang/played the song, which could be the opposite of the lyrics at times.
Not only that, but starting an album off with "Load up on guns, bring your friends" creates such tension, as if something huge is going to happen. And it happens
@@JanaXV You pretty much nailed it. The "taste" reference is about heroin but I guess you probably knew that. "Tasting" is when you use occasionally and are trying not to get hooked on it. Few people succeed. It's too good.
The emotion I got from watching this is the same as the emotion Rick gets when he hears that delayed kick in the chorus. This one gave me chillls and watery eyes. Especially at the end with Kurt screaming "a denial". Thanks Rick. For making me feel. For your amazing contribution to the history of rock. You're keeping rock alive. You don't know you're doing that. But I know. And so do all your fans. Because now, you don't just have followers. You have fans. Cheers, man!
I really like this series even though I don’t understand like 90% of the music theory lol. I think it’s because you explain the feel of the songs along with the technical stuff. Example: “Flat 6th to 5th” means nothing to me but saying it sounds “haunting” and “melancholic” gives me enough of a connection point to feel like I‘m following along because I can definitely hear that. Appreciate all the work you put into these videos!
I believe that it has to do with the 5th and 6th. Instead of them just being the perfect intervals you make them flat. And that adds to the tone. You’re ear is naturally wanting a perfect 5th. And the 6th itself isn’t normally used. At least what I understand about music
I love that you spotlight the main melody of this song, especially the chorus, because it's so gorgeous and has this classic melancholic progression of notes that wouldn't have been out of place by Beethoven. That beautiful core melody by Cobain is also why I think it's been covered by so many different artists and styles -- pop, jazz, blues, classical, etc.
I was 10 when this album came out, and the crazy thing was my Dad bought it. My Dad is a boomer that would normally listen to mid-1960's music like The Beach Boys, The Lovin' Spoonful, etc. Probably the newest record he owned was Michael Jackson's Thriller. So when he bought this it was a shock to me and suddenly my Dad was cool in my eyes and we could both enjoy music together.
So funny, my HS yearbook, every girl "I liked listening to the Beach Boys while you drove me to school in your firebird" Having a 67 bird did wonders on the chick scene and still a boomer I love Kurt and so much of the alt 80s that were stomped on by the Jackson age
How differently my life would've panned out if I had that experience. My dad took my guitar away for months, when I started playing Nirvana obsessively and stopped caring about my grades in school. Lol
I was way into Subpop in the late 80s, and while I somehow missed Bleach I was 18 so my brother and I would flip between Headbangers Ball and SNL on Saturday nights. During one flip Teen Spirit came on. It was THE seminal moment. I remember running to my room to find something to write on and seeing a placard from flowers some girl gave me and writing the word NIRVANA on it, not knowing how within months they would be a household band saved from the lost annals of late night MTV. It was Gen X’s Beatles on Ed Sullivan moment. This is the greatest overall rock song ever, and always will be because nothing will be like that again. It’s the modern demarcation line.
Your game-changer comparison nails it. Last week I introduced my younger brother to _Teen Spirit_ and by way of introduction first showed him _I Want to Hold Your Hand_ on Sullivan.
I agree, Cobain and Nirvana are on the same level talent wise as the Beatles. Of course they didn’t last long enough to build the catalogue and resume Beatles did.
I saw the Melvins open for Nirvana in Seattle in 1990 and I didn't even know who Nirvana was. I was only interested in the Melvins show at the time. I turned to my gf and said "Nirvana? Sounds gay." Lol
I'm willing to bet mostly everyone experienced some kind of 'moment' when they first heard this song. Thank you Rick for helping us recapture that feeling almost 30 years later.
I didn't think it was so special, i was already listening to allot alternative music at the time that did not get the broadcast push Nirvana did. Some of it sounded like Nirvana some of it didn't the point being the music industry is very fickle with allot of talented musicians who don't get "The Big Break" or fame because of specific marketing campaigns employed by recording & distribution companies. There is only so much money & contracts to go around & if the record industry decides your it, you will be heard on rotation ad nauseum at lest at the time..............a little bit different now in the internet age of digital music & self publishing but still the record companies get to pick who they promote & we the sheeple get to gobble it up like its the next best & greatest whether its good music or not.
Yep. I remember the first time I heard this song, it was with the video in 1992. It hit a chord, even though I could barely understand the lyrics. I remember where I was and how taken I felt by it, I was 14. Marketing or not , the song is great in itself.
@@laubowiebass A few days after mtv started airing it they began running subtitles underneath, lol. I'll never forget that. When I first saw the video, speaking as a player for ten years already, I turned to my pregnant wife in bed and said "This is the next big band, this will be enormous." like she was at the time. I want to say Late summer 91 or so. He should still be here. The cultural loss between him, Lennon and Marley can never, ever be overstated. These are not just people we liked, but people we actually needed.
It's really not that difficult. Music is a language. If you practice speaking it [hearing it] [thinking it], you will be surprised at how fluent you become in no time at all.
@@bobkaddy4012 Conceiving of an original melody or unique chord progression is "art". Music theory is NOT art - it is "craft". 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration. If you draw enough stick figures, you may not become Michelangelo, but you will eventually draw the best damn stick figures anybody has ever seen. 😂 And since art is subjective, some may then consider your mastery of the craft of stick figures to be great "art".
The fact that he “didn’t know what he was doing” is what makes it even more impressive. That means it came to him naturally. Amazing breakdown Rick. Thanks.
As a budding shredder in the late 80’s early 90’s I was upset by the grunge movement, and lack of “virtuosity” in the new music. Looking back it was a much needed wave of honesty and raw personal emotion to the music industry. It isn’t by chance either that the groups using more rich song structures and melodies are the one we’re still talking about. Some of those songs are real gems.
lol, so true... but I think on some level he knew his greatness and talents. It just didn't fit with his entire disdain for success to acknowledge and embrace it, so instead he hated himself for it. A complicated, troubled guy who was immensely gifted, and left the world as quickly as many of the other revolutionaries who came before him.
That's the sign of amazing song writing, no matter the instrumentation this is incredible. It's like the songs off 808s and Heartbreaks or Johnny Cash's covers.
I never had much of an appreciation of Nirvana. But after hearing this breakdown, I have to say that I now better understand why everyone always called Cobain a genius. When I'd hear the song in the past, I'd think, "Yeah, it's a song. Not bad, not great." Now I get how ignorant I was of what they were doing. Really makes you wonder how far those 3 could have taken it, and makes Cobain's far-too-early death a full-on tragedy in the music world. Now I truly understand the depth of his loss. It's a damn shame.
Small Business Health Care Coverage Benefit Plans didnyou not watch the breakdown. It’s so easy to criticise a piece of art after the artist has conceived it. Simple question for you... answer or don’t as I particularly care for you individual answer as you obviously have no clue but if it is so basic and easy as you infer then why doesn’t every musician out there make a song like this and become rich and famous? Pure idiocy on your part make no mistake.
@@shannonsmithbusinessservic3750 it looks like someone is being jealous because he either had a band that didn't make it,or because he has a tin ear.Keep on selling these benefit plans bud.
Just because you don't like the song, it does not change the reality how well it was made. I do not like Nirvana that much either but when Rick breaks down the melodies and how beautifully they flow, I understand how well made it really is, and how everything in song flows together. Still, it's not my favourite since that's just the way my brain is wired, but I can appreciate the greatness of the song itself.
This songs still blows me away. I always felt Nirvana´s melodies were unique and unprecedented, in spite of their apparent simplicity. Thank you for demonstrating it was the case.
Butch Vig, Smart Studios in Madison, WI. He and his friends used to come into the bar I worked at; the people I worked with/for were part of that group. Butch became a big deal after producing Nirvana I think.
It’s double tracked. Kurt didn’t want to double track his voice until learning Lennon did it. Overdub meaning recording over a section. Please note I’m not policing, just sharing the info.
I never knew that was the line. I've always heard it as "right nay-ow" ("right now"). Sheesh... I still didn't hear "a denial" until Rick isolated the vocal.
Dave's drumming had a lot of funk influence in his playing. For me, that was made Nirvana one of the greatest bands because we think they just a bunch of kids making noise but they very intentional with their music.
I saw Nirvana play the last show they did before Dave joined the band in September 1990. Grohl was apparently in the audience and was approached by Kurt afterwards to join the band. I had never heard of them before and I liked them, but I forgot all about seeing them until Nevermind came out the next year.
Every damn time Rick Beato posts a "What Makes This Song Great" video, I go and re-listen to them, only to be blown away by what I missed musically. I seriously hope your channel never leaves you tube. Thanks.
5:37 - 5:51 There's just something about the chord progression that resonates with me. Especially when it's played on electric guitar with reverb. Amazing.
I was in high school when I first heard this song. It struck me so profoundly, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. It was so unlike anything I’d ever heard and I LOVED it. I’d never had that experience before nor have I since.
I perfectly remember the first song that did that to me.: Fight Fire with Fire. I played the track again and again and again for maybe almost an hour straight, with headphones... it was around 22: 00 pm, I think I stoped just once, to clean a bit of fluff in the stylus, ah the memories
This video has so many good things… ✅ Appreciation of the song and band ✅ Breakdown of musical techniques on the track ✅ Trivia about historical context and production ✅ We get to hear soloed stems from the mix ✅ Rick performs parts of the song
It seems to have become trendy to hate on Nevermind and this song in particular, because its too "mainstream". The whole hipsterish thing. Screw them! Nevermind is an almost flawless album. This song is frikken great!
Nevermind definitely has its flaws and have some weak writing on it but it really doesn’t matter cause people enjoy it. Its an awesome album but don’t overrate it
@@aysitalownatlanch1052 I've always preferred Nevermind to the other albums, other people say that In Utero was his 'tortured expression of his artistic genius' - but Nevermind drew from his poems, so it was still his personality in the songs, and they sold millions to boot. I think a lot of people discount it because it sold, but if it sold it clearly did something right
I still remember my friends and I just staring at the video with our mouths hanging open, and we were like “this must have been like hearing The Beatles for the first time.” We knew it would change music forever. And Kurt is underrated as an incredible vocalist with excellent pitch, interval relationships, great phrasing, and *ATTITUDE.* His control of his volume and tone is also superb - and I come from a tradition of classical singing. Brilliant.
How you could compare this trash to The Beatles not only shows you know nothing about music, you have absolutely no artistic discernment or critical thinking skills at all!
I had a friend call me up on a Thursday night in 1989. "Hey Kevin," he said, "there's a great band playing at the Sun Club tonight. Wanna go?" I had a big weekend planned, so I turned him down. And that's how I missed out on seeing Nirvana in a small little punk club in Tempe, Arizona. I made up for it a few years later by watching Soundgarden perform at The Mason Jar.
Great analysis and tribute!! I was a cocktail waitress in college when this came out and I remember it being blasted over and over again at the bar. The energy you would feel each time you heard it was almost overwhelming. Wow, WHAT A SONG.
I was on the Nevermind tour in the UK when the album broke there, the tour was originally booked into 200-300 capacity clubs, we ended up after a few days changing venues nearly every day on route and some shows there were more people outside the venue than in, didn’t know at the time what I was experiencing....
Rick I swear I'd listen you talk about music for hours and hours. You always show an unbelievable amount of passion, love and gratitude for this supreme art, yet in this song analyisis I think you've felt these emotions even more intensely than ever, and this is almost tear inducing for a die hard fan of Nirvana and of good music in general. I hope you'll never stop doing videos!
“ I doesn’t matter if someone knows what they’re doing if they do it intuitively.” I literally just said basically the same thing about the 3 bar leap into the modulation on your Living on a Prayer video. Anyway, “I know what he’s doing and I’m gonna tell you…” is one of your greatest lines Rick 👍👍
I don’t comment often, but I feel the need to on this. We can always do the Pixies comparison as it’s not only warranted and easy, but Kurt said so himself. What some people miss is Kurt’s pop sensibilities “borrowed” from the Cheap Trick playbook - AKA - play the melody... but hearing your piano take, I urge you to listen to Aerosmith’s Dream On for a comparison to the melancholia you mention. I think you’ll see that a bit of Kurt’s singing comes from that era. I mean, Kurt DID write a song called AeroZeppelin. Anyway, I always love your takes and just wanted to add some food for thought, as I think a lot of folks miss the “classic rock” connection in the grunge era. Be well, Rick and thank you for doing what you do. :)
Kurt mentioned in several interviews that he enjoyed Aerosith and Led Zeppelin. I wouldn't be surprised if he absorbed some of the melody writing from them.
Didn't matter that Kurt "didn't know what he was doing." He could HEAR it. He could PLAY it. I've heard a lot of things in my life that are way beyond my abilities to perform them. He had both the ears and the chops.
Imagine Kurt writing smells like teen spirit sitting down at the piano Saying “I think I’ll try a sharp four on the d flat chord to the ninth”. “Intuitive” is an understatement
He knew everything about music. Period. It came naturally, so he never studied it and probably couldn’t explain it. Prodigies play music and people study it. Hence, the word “intuitive“. That’s what makes him a genius. It was all natural. Get it?
@@tonyz7189 No YOU don't get it, Tony. At this level of skill, ability doesn't arrive out of a vacuum. It comes from an understanding of all aspects of music, INCLUDING technique and theory. Life is not magic, despite what Trump wants you to believe.
I was attending UC Berkeley before this song came out. The school newspaper had a music columnist (what was her NAME??) who talked excitedly about an unknown band named Nirvana. She mentioned them in every piece she wrote. She must have felt so satisfied when the rest of the world caught on.
Their MTV Unplugged album really changed my outlook on Nirvana. The song selections and Kurts dynamic voice showed just how much they understood what they were doing. It’s my favorite album by them, but it requires the other albums to exist to appreciate how dynamic they were.
As a lover of music, when I first heard this song it stopped me my tracks, I didn't know why, it is just that it felt different, it resonated in me. Rick, you just explained why it did...Mucho gracias...keep doing what you do....we are all the better for you.
Rick, playing the melody and pre-chorus starting around 8 min) with those little two and three note figures is an AMAZING way of showing how cool the melody is. Kurt may have not know the theory and the interval constructs, but what an ear. Please MORE of that in future !!!!
Yes, I second this! The figures really helped me understand the theory behind it so much better. It also helps me with writing down notes as I watch along.
Rick, the way you explain the WMTSG songs make me enthusiastic about music I passed over when it came out because "I wasn't into "grunge" or what ever. I've gone back to listen to music after watching your videos, music that I thought I was too hip to listen to. Thanks, Rick. You are opening the ears of the world to new experiences.
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For those non-musicians that have written to me you can donate to my channel through this link on my website rickbeato.com/pages/donate
Or you can become a member of the Beato Club. My Beato Club is exactly like Patreon.
this is why you are on youtube. it took you decades to discover this... dork. you are the enemy of music
i bet rick was a genesis fan when this was released
Can you do nirvana endless nameless next?it sounds genius to me but pure noise to others
@@thgftiigghjfryyhgjiyreg8945
enemy how?
Wow! I loved this video Rick. I really enjoyed it. All your videos are very professional and I learn a lot
“It doesn’t matter if people know what they are doing if they can just do it intuitively” this applies to so much of life.
The difference between genius and science. Natural brio and learning.
@@patrickfreeman8257 Yes. A heart surgeon that has only studied standard operations is a lot worse than one who is so familiar with heart surgery that if something goes wrong he can fix it by intuition
@@patrickfreeman8257 I knew you were sarcastic, that's why I replied to you
@@patrickfreeman8257 I have to agree with @overratedprogrammer here. Sorry bud but he's right
@@overratedprogrammer it was too over his head
"He doesn't know what he's doing... that doesn't matter. I know what he's doing and I'm gonna tell YOU what he's doing" it's something I would like to ear from every teacher
It's encouraging purity, I never took lessons either and write pretty good songs. Not to say learning scales is tainting originality. I am admittedly limited
First of all Muhammad, you left out a key phrase that began Rick;'s comment, which was, "Before everybody starts saying...." In other words, Cobain may well have understood more of the musical theory behind his playing than some would assume. He was a very smart guy and immersed in his music. Secondly, the problem is that 99% of people playing music don't have enough intuitive resources to forego studying some amount of musical theory if they want to succeed creatively and professionally. So for all you hacks out there, don't get too complacent.
THEY knew what they were doing. There's more than one way to signify music. What Rick Beato explained here about the melody is bang on. That said, it's an analysis. The process of making music can be ANYTHING, and that's the power of art.
and actually, he knew what he was doing, that is bs
I think the point is, Kurt may have not have learnt all the music theory like other people did. He might not have learnt all the terminology. But he knew what effect playing certain notes had because he had a musical ear. So therefore he knew what he was doing. He chose the notes for a reason.
"And then they went around two times. Why? Because it's cool."
This is the content I live for, Rick.
+1
That explains so much in rock music.
I screamed Ha! in elation when he said that.
Yeah very cool...
Smells like teen spirit - “Godzilla - The smashing pumpkins 1990 BOC cover”
Come as you are - “The damned - life goes on” / “22 faces - Garden of delight” / “Killing joke - Eighties”
Rape me - “Gwar - Pussy planet” / “Mudhoney need”
For anyone who critisises Kurt Curbain for 'not knowing what he's doing' consider it like this. He was able to create these melodies organically without knowing that they had a name. Without spending 4 years of his life learning music theory. Plus let's face it, most of the people who've studied these melodies couldn't write a song that comes close to Smells Like Teen Spirit. I think that makes him a true songwriting genius.
Yes. If you have the talent and can create the masterpiece, objections about how you crossed that gap amount to nitpicking. And that's probably too nice a word for it.
Completely agree with you.
Boston came close, but I understand.
He ripped the riff from Boston and added his horrible sing sang vocals. Not a genius by any stretch…
Thousands of guitar players write great melodies and rhythms without knowing anything about music theory. Take The Beatles as an example.
I remember reading Kurt Cobain's biography, and to my surprise and delight, that despite his disheveled appearance and don't-care persona, i learned that he was absolutely meticulous with his music. There was a segment that described how their band practices were very serious and that Kurt wld be obsessive and intentional about every note and nuance. That he wld force the band to restart the song if there even a slight mistake. I feel like I needed to add this little detail bc Rick does address the fact that many incorrectly think Kurts music was all intuition. The man was an extremely hard working genius. For me it makes me respect and admire his work even more.
Exactly!!!! THIS COMMENT SHOULD BE MORE POPULAR
Has someone ever thought Kurt wasnt hard working lol? You cant make music like he did without hard work and dedication.
@@remorcist2499 his style is raw so it sounds noisey, ham fisted or improvised, the point is that it isn't, i think is point, people are making.
One hell of a man any generation would admire a person like that besides the age
I think he was relentlessly introspective, and was not all that he could be with his instrument. Watch them live, he screws up the guitar on the verses and solo (on slts) almost intentionally sabotaging the live performance. He writes lyrics that mean nothing, but can be interpreted to be deep. He wasn’t all that he was going to be yet.. the intuition he had about music would have flowered into something amazing had he not self destructed. His voice came up with these amazing melodies that elude to him being extremely intelligent, but the latency between him and his instrument was a bit low.
I don't understand 98% of what Rick says because I have no musical talent or training. However, when I watch these videos, it's more like "this is why you like this song". I also get to hear all of those nuances we all know are there, but are hidden in the mix. I love watching these even though it's way over my head :-)
Exactly this for me too.
LOL same. I have no idea what he's talking about most of the time but I love it.
i fell ya jeff
Rick should do a series of videos with a non-expert sidekick, encouraging their questions & breaking down complex points to the level of the average viewer.
All good teachers do a lot of repitition - he should go back to basics repeatedly.
@@george474747 Problem is it's often hard to break down things to simple concepts. There might be a question for example "What is aeolian?" - There you go, you are just spending 10+ minutes explaining what aeolian is.
You have two choices:
1.) Stick to the analysis like Rick did and don't explain it.
Or
2.) explain everything like children are watching. The latter won't lead to an interesting video.
He has some videos on theory. Maybe you should check those out.
When Rick is air drumming I just know it’s going to be a good day. 2:46
I hate to alarm you but he was playing an actual kit.
Gabriel 22 can't more agree
It would be rude NOT to air drum to this song.
I love when he’s playing air guitar while holding a guitar. That’s a dude that is really enjoying what he’s doing.
Rick air drumming is my ringtone.
Three decades later I'm still waiting for that Teen Spirit moment to come around again. To hear a song that just blows everyone's doors off and becomes a cultural phenomenon. I don't know if I'll ever experience something quite like that again.
we didn't realize how lucky we were at the time
You'll be waiting a long time, unfortunately.
With what’s being mainstreamed today idk if we will get it again
You already forgot about Despacito?
@@pahwraith that was in and out of the mainstream in a few months. Didn’t stay
An interviewer once said to Tori Amos, 'I love how you were able to make that song beautiful'. She responded "oh, I didn't add the beauty, that was already there"
Tori Amos is the female version of Kurt Cobain
@@MagicJonesMusic Kurt Cobain was the male Tori Amos. ;)
Not a fan of her version.
"It doesn't matter if people know what they are doing, if they can just do it intuitively". Right on.
Absolutely... Beatles melodies with all the modal changes... They could do it intuitively....
Exactly.
@@martinpaddle and they had dragons too..😁😁😁
Right?????
@@martinpaddle Great point!
I love how genuinely excited Rick is while talking about this song.
Same! I have seen him excited before but he loved doing this song.
I must admit, I took a large hit of nostalgia myself. This song signifies so much in so many people’s lives. This was the song that EVERYBODY rocked out to. The pop chicks, the nerds, the jocks, the altos, the normies, everyone. This song grabbed at the heart strings and yanked you to your feet. I was lying in bed, my wife asleep next to me and I was playing air guitar and drums with Beato this whole video through, not ashamed to add :)
I hate how he exploiting a great song for money. Hope he get copyright flagged!
@@realbuckwell you sir, are an intelligent individual
@@realbuckwell dum dum
This last words “a denial!” Made me cry. How powerful and gore perfectly executed. I’m an opera singer and this is raw feeling the falling off the scream at the end… OMG!!! Hering him singing alone in your explanation… Jesus goosebumps… what an incredible song.
Oh man, do I ever hear you on this. I’m sitting here in a mess right now with those words ringing in my ears, “A denial… a denail… a denial.. a deniiiaaalllll…” So much of life is this, isn’t it?
Cobain a genius take away his grunge pedal and he probably can't even play all
Notalent ass clown!
@@jh366 Ok, troll...Did you watch the same video everyone else did???
I agree with you completely - it’s a very creative shift away from the rest of the song yet sounds utterly perfect in tone and in sentiment (Rick has pointed out how rare this is in pop music when he discussed “Every little thing she does is magic” by The Police - pop songs almost always fade out with a repeated chorus or a repeated section of guitar and rarely add new material)
Same I well up everytime it's so powerful
I swear - The thing that makes this series even better is when the songs have great drum parts and Rick brings out his drummer face
ta-ka-ta-ka-ta-ka
I wish that he'd do a major feature on Drave Grohl because he's guested on so many influential songs.
The air drumming comes before air guitar in life!
Air guitar!
"People say Kurt Cobain didn't really know what he was doing, that doesn't matter... I know what he was doing and I'm gonna tell you what he's doing. That's really the essence of this.. it doesn't matter if people know what they're doing if they can just do it intuitively. Kurt had an incredibly intuitive sense of melody." For us out there who get tripped up on the specific stuff but can make cool songs, thank you very much. You're a great teacher. Still doesn't hurt to keep learning.
Kurt,
was a genius
shermigz the sky is blue..
Just like people like me who inherently can’t do it, there are people that inherently can do it. I’m thankful they exist, art is the single art I really see as a need(although I respect other artists and those who need that expression)
I recently listened to a podcast about Kurt’s life. The guy had SERIOUS mental issues. Made worse by drug and alcohol abuse. He was a ticking time bomb. Could he have been saved? Possibly. Kurt’s guitar playing by itself is just noise in my opinion. But add those base lines, the drums, and Kurt’s gravely, grunge, voice and it all came together. He was not dedicated to the guitar like most serious musicians. The chords are basic and easily learned. His smashing of his guitars alone tells me he was not dedicated to the instrument. In my very humble opinion he served his purpose on earth and moved on. That’s it. We all move on wether we accomplish anything or not. After all the mess and b.s. I think he lived a pretty good life. Seriously, can you imagine him wearing a tie or tending to his backyard garden? Kurt proved you can live an entire life in just a few years.
He still did it that's the point. I believe he did understand it but just couldn't explain. End of the day the morons saying that he didn't know what he was doing, I don't see those cunts writing master pieces like he did
sometimes you hear a song so many times that you forget why it's so good, but this brought me back to when I was 12 or 13 yo and listened to Smells Like Teen Spirits for the first time. now I remember why it completely blew me away
Well said and big same!
Literally!!! Felt the same way.
How can you love more a song that you already love so much?
Listen to Rick analyzing it and uncovering the beauty and the incredible talent that brought that song to life!
I like most rock and roll music.
"Kurt didnt know what he was doing"
"I know what he was doing and im gonna tell you"
Literally the reason why i watch your videos!
idk its pretty ridiculous, maybe he couldnt read and play music.. but kurt cobain DEFINATELTY knew what n F minor scale was....lmfao
Anyone can come up with something fantastic even without knowing how to do music properly. Relying to your instincts and trying to sound good can sometimes produce something like this.
cole verret definitely
@@d-d-i Yeah, but why go down the anti-intellectual rabbit hole now that you're here. You can do that or your own. Learn!
me and me I get that reference!
I was a DJ on a hit music station when this came out. It hit our audio processing like a chainsaw through cheese. Even the station manager woke up. It's not just the dynamics that work so well on this song. On hit music radio, there's a ton of volume compensating, tone shaping processing going on to make the station "louder" than the competition. (This was back when radio stations had competitors) Just playing soft, then playing loud, doesn't work. It's Nirvana's ingenious use of texture. Density. It opens with one guitar. Simple. Then the drums kick and rest of the group jumps in. LOUD. But the complexity, the density makes it FEEL louder even on overprocessed FM radio. Then the density drops. Guitar playing the fourths. The actual volume level on radio is the same, but it FEELS open, quiet, spacey. It happens several times throughout the song, and those contrasts in density, complexity, helped to push this song well beyond the expectations of the listener.
lol @ even the station manager woke up
Texture within the constraints of hard rock: something Kurt learned from the Pixies, and took to a more visceral place. But the great thing about KC was he went out of his way to name check his influences in interviews. He never hid them. Quite humble really.
yup thats the pixies
In Seattle?
Would the label have done a "radio mix" back in '91? You know, a mix that would take into consideration the heavy processing terrestrial radio stations use? When I was signed to a major label about a decade ago, that's what they did for our radio singles. I don't think they would have done so back then, if only based on my recollection of hearing The Smashing Pumpkins' "Today" on the radio back when it was a hit in '93 or '94: that quiet guitar intro would be really loud and present, and then when everything kicked in, it just sounded quiet in comparison. (Same producer, coincidentally.) So maybe Virgin Records didn't do a radio mix; or the radio station in Chicago didn't use the right mix; or, they didn't do that back then. Just curious. Great comment, by the way.
The local hip hop station I listened to in the '90s played this song. I remember the DJ saying, "We don't play this kind of music but we've getting so many requests for it."
Interesting! 📞
I assume media consolidation plays a role in why such crossover moments are becoming rare, unless the radio station changes its format.
It always amazes me, whenever I hear Kurt's voice soloed, just how strong and full his vocals are. Many rock singers rely on the sonics of the rest of the band to cover up a lack of strength, or a certain awkwardness, but Kurt's vocals sound exactly the same soloed as they do unsoloed.
"Why? Because it's cool."
This is something that rock seems to have forgotten.
I remember the first time I heard this song, the entire impression I had was how cool it was. Damn, it was cool.
Totally, man.
fucking cool as fuck bro.
bourgeois hipsters took over indie rock & made it a hierarchical clubhouse for contrived dorks.
I love the “He didn’t know what he was doing” argument. So neither did The Beatles. A lot of artists don’t. I remember talking with B.C. Kochmit one time. He’s a phenomenal guitarist and great guy to boot. I was telling him about a solo he played and I loved his use of the harmonic minor. He says to me and I quote “I don’t know anything about what you just said. I just play what sounds cool in the song. But I’m glad you liked it.”
Or to be precise: These people know what they are doing. They just don't know how to put words to what they are doing or to analyze what they are doing, because, as Rick says, they do it instinctively..
But they know. The creative process is to try things and keep what sounds right. Kurt Cobain knew what did sound right.
I’ve heard that what’s-his-name from skynard is like that too... plays super cool stuff and has absolutely no clue about the theory behind it (which is fine by me).
LOTS of people don't "know what they're doing" or what the music theory is, but they HAVE put in the time learning their way around the guitar - and around song writing. They've put in the time. They've done their homework. They KNOW what they're doing.
Carlos Santana can‘t read music either....
@@WromWrom Not only instinctually. Something Kurt, the Beatles and hell most every rock star is that they(shock) listened to and played a lot of music. Kurt might not have thought of that section in terms of chords but a guarantee you he'd heard other songs where the bass continues to make the chord changes and the guitar plays the same notes over all of them and thought it was a really cool effect.
So interesting hearing his vocals isolated. He was a much better singer than people give him credit for.
It just sounds like he's yelling to me. :(
@@julieolson9832 It’s primal, affecting, beautiful. This was a man with a lot of pain and his voice channeled it and made it into art
@@ohwellwhateverr I'll agree that it's primal and affecting and painful. And that he was channeling his pain. But pain can be conveyed with a singing voice in ways that aren't yelling and doesn't damage vocal cords.
@@julieolson9832 Singing is nothing but yelling with context... think about it
@@xkuei Not if you actually learned how to sing in a sustainable manner with control of your instrument.
It never gets old. It sounds more modern now than when it came out. If that is even possible
I know exactly what you mean
I get a little emotional sometimes listening to this song and his work in general.
Truly timeless
Greatness
This is called timeless.
It's possible because on the whole music seemed to stop evolving at that point in time. Today we have some superb musicians out there but a decent hole in the writing and composing. Stuff now just seems like a minor offshoot of what was then rather than a rich and evolving tapestry of new. Technical skill went up, creative skills went into hiding. It may have to do with how people access music today vs then, or how much time people have to immerse themselves with endless other media.
Tears in my eyes at 8.27... Kurt was an incredible melody composer. The fact he probably didn't know what he was doing elevates his natural genius. Grazie Rick!
He had a big intuition about emotional, dramatic music … He was also pisces, I think that helps 😉 I just uploaded a piano version of the song…finally. 🎹 🎵
@@Stiegosaurus this is a message that needs to be brought to the masses. Stay in the moment and do what you naturally do. Things just turn out better that way.
It's such a familiar song but when you hear it critiqued like this it brings into perspective just how great it is. I wish I could hear it again for the first time.
Indeed 😮😮😮😮😍❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I feel that exactly. I can remember the exact moment I first heard this song...time...place...every single detail. The hair stood up on my neck, I was struck dumb. I NEEDED to hear this song again, would watch MTV for hours to see the video again and again when it came out, but that first moment I heard this song, I felt the earth move and I knew music would never sound the same again.
@@m2goofy760 it was so long ago.. and i was so young. but this is one of the few songs i remember hearing for the first time. n i completely agree. so much energy n so many emotions came through those speakers.. so many. but kurt's voice.. from the 'spitting nails' to that sincere n overwhelming sadness.. he sings in such an honest way that just hit me in the soul in a way that no other singer has. what i would do to experience it that way for the first time again..
I actually feel like I just did after hearing the vocal melodies played on guitar and piano. I never noticed how beautiful they were, I only heared the rage.
@@m2goofy760 Same man, exactly the same
One of the greatest things about "What Makes This Song Great?" is when Rick starts air drumming. :)
closing his eyes and air drumming !
One of the greatest things about youtube let alone his series :)
DAGADAGADAGADAGADAGA
Rick is young rocker at heart and that's why I keep coming back....
I turned that into a gif
This song is genius. SO simple. SO aggressive. Incredible melody. I have been listening to it for 2 decades and I still want to jump out of my chair when it comes on. Just perfect.
yeah but Slipknot and Rammstein is aggressive too but they are more disturbing.
When I was young I learned to play guitar with Nirvana's songs. These are really good when you start learning because most of his music is pretty simple but still very powerful at the same time. Music doesn't always have to be complicated or extremely hard to play to be very good.
"It doesn't matter if people know what they're doing if they can just do it intuitively" is one of the most inspiring things I've ever heard.
"His ear led him to those notes and that's the real genius of Kurt Kobain" best quote, Ricky!
Sadly.... Kobain had expressed his actual depressed mental leanings! If people would stop fucking around and complimenting anxiety/suicidal overtures,, and instead,, help the poor people that are on the literal edge of life.... and ............. ~!~
Some people’s musical intelligence comes from various senses. Doesn’t have to be built by measuring. In other words most of us know music by sight, but there are some that know music by sound, some by feeling the vibration in their fingers, or even by smell yet, they couldn’t tell you anything about music theory. There’s something incredibly spiritual about that. About those that don’t use their eyes to play at all.
@@NatureandSpirit111 love your comment
Man.
so much great music in the 90s before the computers took over, Alice in Chains, Tool, NIN. Kurt kicked off the party...
@@NatureandSpirit111 your comment man. Damn.
"They go around two times.
'Why?'
Because it's cool!"
I thought.. but.. also to make up a 16 bar pattern?
@@ThePurza 8 bar patterns work too ya know.
It's crazy how different Nirvana was from every other band on the radio at that time.
They weren’t that different from other bands in 91. Who was different? U2 was different very different. While all the bands were doing Grunge or 80s hair band style Rock U2 was creating their own sound on Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop.
@@TheChenny73 I've never liked U2, and it sounds like you do, so I won't trash them. But I will say I always thought they sounded like Depeche Mode and other generic alt rock type bands.
they were just trying to copy the Pixies, but you are right, that was college / indie radio at the time
I don't think many of the people commenting were alive when this song hit. Guns and roses were the biggest band at the time
@@Bossanovawitcha the album Nevermind does NOT sound like the pixies lol. I get that Kurt made attempts to emulate them in certain ways stylistically when he first started writing his early Bleach songs… but the Pixies were not top Billboard artists or considered a household name when Smells Like Teen Spirit dropped. Your uncle/neighbor/cousin/teacher didn’t ALL know who the pixies were and very few ppl outside of a specific indie college radio scene could’ve named more than one song by the pixies back then. Nirvana sounded drastically different from the other top 40 hits of the very early 90s. Don’t be intentionally obtuse just to be contrarian… it’s obnoxious.
I was at my friend Rich’s house and he said “you gotta check this out” and he put on Nevermind. We listened to the whole thing, and when it was over I knew then my life had changed. It blew me away.
Same for me, I've only ever had that for two albums: Nevermind and Rage Against The Machine
Same here. I was 17 working out in my dads basement in 2016... and I put on Come As You Are. Life was never the same again.
After Kurt passed, my dad woke me up in the middle of the night and shaved my head. Three days later he bought me new clothes and made me burn mine in front of everyone in the neighborhood. He was afraid that because Kurt had "killed himself", that teens were going to do the same thing.
To add insult to injury, both Kurt, and later Layne, passed on my birthday.
God it’s so haunting to hear Kurt’s isolated vocals
Couldn't agree more!
Almost surreal.
if you listened to the song often and loud enough (because you were 22 at the time) you could hear the vocals isolated even on the CD.
Don’t ever search for the isolated vocals for “You Know You’re Right.”
The image of Kurt it reveals is devastating in hindsight.
Yes it is weird
Did anyone realize how many 1991 song Rick has done:
Smells like teen spirit,Enter sandman,Garden,Jeremy,Outshined,Losing my religion,under the bridge and give it away and black
That's right. That was the year. Happy to have been alive and get all this in its time.
So?
Best year in music?
That year is a milestone for a lot of things in music, I was born in '92 so didn't see that coming, but I've heard the effects on the long run
Good point, makes me really want a couple of episodes on Pixies tunes to hear Rick's take on their influence.
One thing I noticed about Kurt's melodies that sets them high and above most music is when broken down as by Rick here, they sound like medieval madrigals. This and 'Lithium' are prime examples.
Yes, yes , yes! I've always thought this! I didn't know what it was called, I just imagines someone playing a lute in a castle on a dark rainy day. Thank you.
Hey it's no secret that the Beatles stole musical ideas from Bach, and Cobain was big Beatles fan.
Crazy how Kurt just made this music naturally, he wasn’t trying to incorporate any science or anything into his songs on purpose they just all came out beautifully because he was just that talented and so was the rest of the band.
Whether technically or intuitively, he knew how to express emotion in a way that any listener could experience it right along with him. That's what makes it great. You're just glad to be along for the ride. . . .though good to be able to get off the ride when it's over, too, which apparently and sadly, he couldn't.
You can create so much when you have the creative freedom to make music by ear.
Naturally gifted
@@psnetman this comment was so just.....damn.....that last part is sadly tru
GESTALT - The sum is greater than its parts.
“Here we are now. Entertain us.”
One of the best sung lines in music history.
Great break down Rick 💯
I always thought it was "Here we are, now entertain us".
hello, hello>how low is pretty great as well.. one of the best
As a Gen Xer Kurt was/is our king and that statement just sums up the Gen X attitude perfectly.
@Matthew Philip exactly. I remember those commercials. That’s what makes it so great.
@Matthew Philip that’s subjective, i think the lyrics are great
I was in a cover band when this first came out, and we played it at a high school dance... well, the chaperones did NOT expect what happened when we hit those first chords... ALL the kids ran out to the dance floor and started a mosh pit, which the teachers and chaperones had NEVER seen before! They thought a huge fight had broke out and they ran in and pulled them all apart and kicked them out... all the while we were on stage playing with our mouths hanging open... that's a great great memory of mine!
...thanks Kurt! (RIP)
...and thanks Rick!
Head like a hole.
I was in 8th grade when this came out, same scenario we were at a school dance and this song got put on somehow and it was udder chaos!!
That story rules.
what a spectacular imagination
@@increase9896 imagination? ...not sure I follow your comment.
The best part for me is just how Rick really feels the music (not just here but in all his analyses), he goes all out imitating drums and guitars because it's so captivating. I can't understand how you can listen to great music without gesturing about like a weirdo, it just shows that you're getting the music on a subcontious body level. Which absolutely applies to this song.
I was a senior in high school when this came out in 1991. Think about this: Metallica's "Enter Sandman" had just come out and everyone was listening to the Black Album literally everyday, nonstop, over and over (on cassette back then, so it kept looping on the players.) AND THEN here comes "Smells like teen spirit" and the Nevermind album. We ate, drank, slept, smoked Nirvana. It was like our parents hearing The Beatles for the first time.
While I love Rick's incredible musical analysis of this song, lyrically and emotionally is what really set this band a part for a lot of folks like me at the time. Being a teenager and being in high school really sucks sometimes, if not all the time for some. This was music for the outcasts, the anxious, the lonely, the depressed teens who everyone talked over and never bothered to listen to. Kurt Cobain knew how that felt like. He sang for us. This album was our therapy.
I remember when enter sandman came out, too (I was a kid). And shortly after, Nevermind! ...and all the hair, glam and spandex of the era went to the bin.
I grew up 3 hours away from where Kurt did, and it was a poor, depressed, wet environment, that created alot of moody and uniquely different music. I am 2 years younger than Kurt, same exact age as Dave Grohl. We were all over the map with music, from eagles, Beatles, Black Flag, Violent Feemes, Pink Floyd, Kitaro, Prince, Rat, ect.....
1991 and 92 were amazing years for Rock. I was a senior too. Had the cassete!
Yup you totally get it Steven. Exactly how I feel.
91 and 92 were the last great years for rock, the Black Album was freaking amazing and the end of the year comes Nevermind and every Metalhead starts listening to grunge. I remember listening to Smelling to Teen Spirit on the radio and I just couldn't believe how great it was. I was in my senior year when it came out.
My friends and I had the privilege of seeing Dave Grohl’s first show with Nirvana in Olympia WA at a place called Northshore surf club. He really did bring a lot of power to an already powerful sound, and I also remember when I first heard this song I was just obsessed with the drum beat and how innovative it sounded for such a dirty song. It was a great time to be young
I was in my 30s when Nirvana hit it big, perfect timing as I was just about to give up on rock. Nirvana was a fine mix of hard hitting pure energy & song writing genius. I will always hold up Nirvana as the greatest producers melodic music since the Beatles. The only 2 bands that IMO used repetitive phases well in more than one hit song. Having lost Kurt so young & holding so much prospect for the future of rock music will always depress me. Music needs a New Nirvana, almost had my dream come true when Paul McCartney teamed up with surviving members for a benefit concert. Rumours were flying about a possible future album, so sad it never came about.
@@robbielee2148 New record u say, no kurt, no Nirvana
@@robbielee2148 Best comment in this thread. Nirvana was the Beatles of the late 20th century no doubt about that. I do wonder what could have been. Nobody sings like Cobain anymore, probably because they simply can't.
Yup! I remembered that place in Olympia , also Hell’s Kitchen in Tacoma and the Crocodile , Showbox and others pioneers square small venues in Seattle / Tacoma WA . Great memories , greetings from Kino Bay the Sonoran Desert , north Mexico
"They go around two times... why? Because it's cool."
Lol, I was looking to see if anyone already posted this. I was waiting for him to give some highly technical reason, so when he said "because it's cool" I laughed so hard.
When he asked “why?” I said why NOT
I loved Weird Al's version... when Al asked Cobain if he could parody it, Cobain, familiar with Al's past work asked him "is it going to be about food?" Al responded "no... it's going to be about how nobody understands your lyrics." Lol
I also would LOVE to hear Rick's take on a Weid Al song lol
with these MARBLES in my MOUUUTH (Kazoo solo) (Tuba solo) lol
the gargling solo also is pretty good lol
I just love how he goes “flat eleventh sus nine double venti with that inversion on the snare” and then just ends it with some air drumming. Because that’s really what makes this song great, you just can’t not air drum.
oml yes
I was never a big fan of Nirvana. I do like "Smells like Teen Spirit" And I do appreciate the artistry of Kurt Cobain and the rest of the band. It does, however, really annoy me when people say things like, "He didn't know what he was doing." He most definitely did know what he was doing. He may have not known the standard lexicon of what he was doing. But he definitely had an intuitive knowledge of the structure and syntax of music.
My daughter is the same way. She does very sophisticated things with her music. But struggles with her "theory" classes. I keep trying to tell her, "Hun, you already know this. All this class is doing is teaching you to communicate to others what you intuitively know."
Unintuitive truth that often clouds any discussion of stuff like music theory: You can understand something without learning it, and you can learn something without understanding it. You learned to use adjectives long before you knew what an adjective was. You can develop an encyclopedic knowledge of a subject and be unable to apply it.
Oh u know his daughter personally?
I am not a particular fan of this song, finding it too earnest, but I do really like Heart Shaped Box a hell of a lot.
Love how you phrased that
your daughter has clearly been exposed to great music throughout her life, otherwise she wouldn't have developed that intuition... fair play mate!
I've heard Smells Like Teen Spirit a million times, and now I just heard it for the first time, again.
Totally. Honestly I got bored of playing teen spirit on guitar despite the song being the main reason why I started guitar last year. After watching this video, I decided to start learning the fingerstyle version to listen it's beautiful melody. Smells like teen spirit is the reason why I keep wanting to learn guitar
Its been 10 years i haven't gotten "nirvana fatigue" whatsoever, ages like fine wine.
I think Kurt was an absolute genius lyricist. I mean he said the lyrics were just written in the moment and didn't mean anything but like... the chorus, sung from the perspective of his audience, "Here we are now, entertain us," then sung from his perspective, "I feel stupid and contagious," like he's saying "Who the hell am I that you people are listening to me?" then he starts having what sounds like it could be a profound thought in the final chorus, "I found it hard, it's hard to find.." and he kind of just gives up "Oh well, whatever, never mind." like... I don't know, I absolutely love those lyrics. This isn't my favorite Nirvana song, but you just have to admit it's amazing in basically every way.
I hear what your saying. I too like the song & album but its not my favorite. Bleach is my favorite cd despite not like every song and Radio unit friendly shifter is probably my favorite tune !
Great music doesn't need vocals or lyrics.
It has meaning. Right now I only remember the lyrics of Smells like teen's spirit:
Load up on guns, bring your friends
It's fun to lose and to pretend
_Making fun of the 'cool kids'_
She's over bored and self-assured
Oh, no, I know a dirty word
_Making fun of cheerleaders_
With the lights out, it's less dangerous
_Probably mocking children/maybe also him as a child, being afraid of the dark_
Here we are now, entertain us
_Probably a dig at hair-metal who were more show = entertainers than anything_
I feel stupid and contagious
_He feels like a loner as he's different_
A mulatto, an albino
A mosquito, my libido, yeah
_Krist, Kurt, Dave, a rhyme for good measurement_
I'm worse at what I do best
_what he likely heard all his childhood_
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group it's always been
And always will until the end
_a sarcastic dig at all those people who told him they're better than him_
And I forget, just why I taste
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
_probably because of his stomach? or an inside joke I don't know of_
I found it hard, it's hard to find
Oh well, whatever, never mind
_I'm a loser, but I don't care_
A denial, a denial
_Goes both ways, he's been denied 'into society' and he's refusing to adapt to be part of it._
I mean he's not here to tell me I'm wrong, but I pretty much think I got this right. He also gave the lyrics meaning by how he sang/played the song, which could be the opposite of the lyrics at times.
Not only that, but starting an album off with "Load up on guns, bring your friends" creates such tension, as if something huge is going to happen. And it happens
@@JanaXV You pretty much nailed it. The "taste" reference is about heroin but I guess you probably knew that. "Tasting" is when you use occasionally and are trying not to get hooked on it. Few people succeed. It's too good.
The emotion I got from watching this is the same as the emotion Rick gets when he hears that delayed kick in the chorus.
This one gave me chillls and watery eyes. Especially at the end with Kurt screaming "a denial".
Thanks Rick. For making me feel. For your amazing contribution to the history of rock.
You're keeping rock alive. You don't know you're doing that. But I know. And so do all your fans. Because now, you don't just have followers. You have fans.
Cheers, man!
Look at Rick's face. He was feeling that vocal too.
I really like this series even though I don’t understand like 90% of the music theory lol. I think it’s because you explain the feel of the songs along with the technical stuff. Example: “Flat 6th to 5th” means nothing to me but saying it sounds “haunting” and “melancholic” gives me enough of a connection point to feel like I‘m following along because I can definitely hear that.
Appreciate all the work you put into these videos!
This is me too lol
U should learn some theory. Makes the music even more inspiring
Wow CORF, couldnt have said it better myself.
with you on this corf, totally
I believe that it has to do with the 5th and 6th. Instead of them just being the perfect intervals you make them flat. And that adds to the tone. You’re ear is naturally wanting a perfect 5th. And the 6th itself isn’t normally used. At least what I understand about music
I always get chills when I hear Kurt's isolated vocal tracks for this song. So much passion and intensity.
Visceral is the best word I've heard used to describe Kurt.
Stephen Rosenfelder - tortured visceral angst. Does that get us there?
It’s about time he did some more nirvana. One of the top 5 bands of all time
I love that you spotlight the main melody of this song, especially the chorus, because it's so gorgeous and has this classic melancholic progression of notes that wouldn't have been out of place by Beethoven. That beautiful core melody by Cobain is also why I think it's been covered by so many different artists and styles -- pop, jazz, blues, classical, etc.
I was 10 when this album came out, and the crazy thing was my Dad bought it. My Dad is a boomer that would normally listen to mid-1960's music like The Beach Boys, The Lovin' Spoonful, etc. Probably the newest record he owned was Michael Jackson's Thriller. So when he bought this it was a shock to me and suddenly my Dad was cool in my eyes and we could both enjoy music together.
Ha, great story. 😊 You have kids now? The Lovin Spoonful are actually pretty cool, too. 😄
So funny, my HS yearbook, every girl "I liked listening to the Beach Boys while you drove me to school in your firebird" Having a 67 bird did wonders on the chick scene and still a boomer I love Kurt and so much of the alt 80s that were stomped on by the Jackson age
How differently my life would've panned out if I had that experience. My dad took my guitar away for months, when I started playing Nirvana obsessively and stopped caring about my grades in school. Lol
I think that tells you two things: that your dad has excellent taste in music, and the album is high quality music.
Kurt screaming "a denial" at the end, just hearing his voice alone without the instruments gave me mega chills.
Same. Just incredible.
Dave Ghrol after hearing Rick's video: "So THAT's what we were playing!"
Who's Dave _Ghrol_
Dave Grohl after seeing this comment: "So THAT'S how you spell my name!"
@@benyoung4305 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Nah Grohl was a talented and knowledgeable musician even back then. He knew exactly what they were doing.
Every comment after these videos
*Your comment*
Lmao
I was way into Subpop in the late 80s, and while I somehow missed Bleach I was 18 so my brother and I would flip between Headbangers Ball and SNL on Saturday nights. During one flip Teen Spirit came on. It was THE seminal moment.
I remember running to my room to find something to write on and seeing a placard from flowers some girl gave me and writing the word NIRVANA on it, not knowing how within months they would be a household band saved from the lost annals of late night MTV.
It was Gen X’s Beatles on Ed Sullivan moment.
This is the greatest overall rock song ever, and always will be because nothing will be like that again. It’s the modern demarcation line.
Your game-changer comparison nails it. Last week I introduced my younger brother to _Teen Spirit_ and by way of introduction first showed him _I Want to Hold Your Hand_ on Sullivan.
I agree, Cobain and Nirvana are on the same level talent wise as the Beatles. Of course they didn’t last long enough to build the catalogue and resume Beatles did.
I saw the Melvins open for Nirvana in Seattle in 1990 and I didn't even know who Nirvana was. I was only interested in the Melvins show at the time. I turned to my gf and said "Nirvana? Sounds gay." Lol
low-key humble-brag of "flowers some girl gave me"!
Kurt would not be pleased! Only kidding, it blew my mind as well
@@ally7055 Haha…true. Wish I could remember who it was but everything changed seeing that video.
I'm willing to bet mostly everyone experienced some kind of 'moment' when they first heard this song. Thank you Rick for helping us recapture that feeling almost 30 years later.
I didn't think it was so special, i was already listening to allot alternative music at the time that did not get the broadcast push Nirvana did. Some of it sounded like Nirvana some of it didn't the point being the music industry is very fickle with allot of talented musicians who don't get "The Big Break" or fame because of specific marketing campaigns employed by recording & distribution companies. There is only so much money & contracts to go around & if the record industry decides your it, you will be heard on rotation ad nauseum at lest at the time..............a little bit different now in the internet age of digital music & self publishing but still the record companies get to pick who they promote & we the sheeple get to gobble it up like its the next best & greatest whether its good music or not.
Funny how Kurt was sick of this 'great' song almost immediately, and probably wished he hadn't written it.
Yep. I remember the first time I heard this song, it was with the video in 1992. It hit a chord, even though I could barely understand the lyrics. I remember where I was and how taken I felt by it, I was 14.
Marketing or not , the song is great in itself.
@@laubowiebass A few days after mtv started airing it they began running subtitles underneath, lol. I'll never forget that. When I first saw the video, speaking as a player for ten years already, I turned to my pregnant wife in bed and said "This is the next big band, this will be enormous." like she was at the time. I want to say Late summer 91 or so. He should still be here. The cultural loss between him, Lennon and Marley can never, ever be overstated. These are not just people we liked, but people we actually needed.
Randy950 indeed!
The way he can break down music theory is honestly baffling.
It's really not that difficult. Music is a language. If you practice speaking it [hearing it] [thinking it], you will be surprised at how fluent you become in no time at all.
@@bry2k interesting but music is like art, either you have talent or you do not. Unfortunately my drawings would be stick figures--LOL
@@bobkaddy4012 Conceiving of an original melody or unique chord progression is "art". Music theory is NOT art - it is "craft". 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration. If you draw enough stick figures, you may not become Michelangelo, but you will eventually draw the best damn stick figures anybody has ever seen. 😂 And since art is subjective, some may then consider your mastery of the craft of stick figures to be great "art".
His enthusiasm is contagious isn't it?
That is called talent
The fact that he “didn’t know what he was doing” is what makes it even more impressive. That means it came to him naturally. Amazing breakdown Rick. Thanks.
Sorry fellas....he knew
As a budding shredder in the late 80’s early 90’s I was upset by the grunge movement, and lack of “virtuosity” in the new music.
Looking back it was a much needed wave of honesty and raw personal emotion to the music industry. It isn’t by chance either that the groups using more rich song structures and melodies are the one we’re still talking about. Some of those songs are real gems.
Kurt watching from above...
"I did what now?"
He has been blocked for a week.... by big brother.
@Clint Cowan or maybe they just made it easier to play?
I'm sorry if I sound like a looser I'm so new but HE DIED hes a legend 😭🤚
he knew what he was doing... obviously all of those complicated chords dont happen by accident.
lol, so true... but I think on some level he knew his greatness and talents. It just didn't fit with his entire disdain for success to acknowledge and embrace it, so instead he hated himself for it. A complicated, troubled guy who was immensely gifted, and left the world as quickly as many of the other revolutionaries who came before him.
13:00 Rick's piano playing of this song in that slower tempo is incredibly haunting and beautiful.
That's the sign of amazing song writing, no matter the instrumentation this is incredible. It's like the songs off 808s and Heartbreaks or Johnny Cash's covers.
the secret chord
I never had much of an appreciation of Nirvana. But after hearing this breakdown, I have to say that I now better understand why everyone always called Cobain a genius.
When I'd hear the song in the past, I'd think, "Yeah, it's a song. Not bad, not great."
Now I get how ignorant I was of what they were doing.
Really makes you wonder how far those 3 could have taken it, and makes Cobain's far-too-early death a full-on tragedy in the music world. Now I truly understand the depth of his loss. It's a damn shame.
Small Business Health Care Coverage Benefit Plans didnyou not watch the breakdown. It’s so easy to criticise a piece of art after the artist has conceived it. Simple question for you... answer or don’t as I particularly care for you individual answer as you obviously have no clue but if it is so basic and easy as you infer then why doesn’t every musician out there make a song like this and become rich and famous? Pure idiocy on your part make no mistake.
I was the exact same way until my buddy showed me their unplugged album. It just hits in a different way.
@@shannonsmithbusinessservic3750 it looks like someone is being jealous because he either had a band that didn't make it,or because he has a tin ear.Keep on selling these benefit plans bud.
@@johneldridge1345 rude..
Just because you don't like the song, it does not change the reality how well it was made. I do not like Nirvana that much either but when Rick breaks down the melodies and how beautifully they flow, I understand how well made it really is, and how everything in song flows together. Still, it's not my favourite since that's just the way my brain is wired, but I can appreciate the greatness of the song itself.
This songs still blows me away. I always felt Nirvana´s melodies were unique and unprecedented, in spite of their apparent simplicity. Thank you for demonstrating it was the case.
"Because it's cool" is an answer that I go to use everytime somebody make me an overrational silly question.
I heard a story where Kurt was adamantly against the overdubbing of his vocals until the producer told him that John Lennon overdubbed vocals as well
Butch Vig, Smart Studios in Madison, WI. He and his friends used to come into the bar I worked at; the people I worked with/for were part of that group. Butch became a big deal after producing Nirvana I think.
It’s double tracked. Kurt didn’t want to double track his voice until learning Lennon did it.
Overdub meaning recording over a section.
Please note I’m not policing, just sharing the info.
its true but Vig told him the Beatles used to do it i think there's a Video on Vig actually talking about it
If you listen really close you can actually hear John Lennon in the mix ;)
*doubled
That last “a denial”. Sent shivers up my spine and a tear to my eye. Powerful stuff.
I never knew that was the line. I've always heard it as "right nay-ow" ("right now"). Sheesh... I still didn't hear "a denial" until Rick isolated the vocal.
When I was younger, I heard it as "I deny ya!"
Me too mate, me too :-(
it's what made the song incredible IMHO
I always heard it as "let me die now" and even knowing that is incorrect I still hear and sing along that way.
Dave's drumming had a lot of funk influence in his playing. For me, that was made Nirvana one of the greatest bands because we think they just a bunch of kids making noise but they very intentional with their music.
I saw Nirvana play the last show they did before Dave joined the band in September 1990. Grohl was apparently in the audience and was approached by Kurt afterwards to join the band. I had never heard of them before and I liked them, but I forgot all about seeing them until Nevermind came out the next year.
Every damn time Rick Beato posts a "What Makes This Song Great" video, I go and re-listen to them, only to be blown away by what I missed musically. I seriously hope your channel never leaves you tube. Thanks.
Amen to that Brother (or Sister haha).
Loved the smile when you said « doesn’t matter. I know what he is doing ! »
The Kimi approach.
Rick could breakdown jingle bells and you’d come away thinking wow what a song
Well I would imagine. Just because it's a short lighthearted song doesn't mean it's been memorable all this time for no reason.
Love this comment. Maybe we should urge Rick to do so....
That made me legit laugh out loud
@@luigicappetta348 Me, too. I can dig it.
I want him to break down the remix. Y'know, the "Batman smells..." version?
5:37 - 5:51 There's just something about the chord progression that resonates with me. Especially when it's played on electric guitar with reverb. Amazing.
Kurt's wonderful use of the submediant
I was in high school when I first heard this song. It struck me so profoundly, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. It was so unlike anything I’d ever heard and I LOVED it. I’d never had that experience before nor have I since.
I had this same feeling with REM and Royal Blood.
I perfectly remember the first song that did that to me.: Fight Fire with Fire. I played the track again and again and again for maybe almost an hour straight, with headphones... it was around 22: 00 pm, I think I stoped just once, to clean a bit of fluff in the stylus, ah the memories
Same story. 🤘
What about the first time you heard Justin Bieber? Lol
Haha, I just posted the exact same experience!
This video has so many good things…
✅ Appreciation of the song and band
✅ Breakdown of musical techniques on the track
✅ Trivia about historical context and production
✅ We get to hear soloed stems from the mix
✅ Rick performs parts of the song
It seems to have become trendy to hate on Nevermind and this song in particular, because its too "mainstream". The whole hipsterish thing. Screw them! Nevermind is an almost flawless album. This song is frikken great!
Nevermind definitely has its flaws and have some weak writing on it but it really doesn’t matter cause people enjoy it. Its an awesome album but don’t overrate it
@@aysitalownatlanch1052 its definitely legendary. No overrating occurred in that comment.
@@aysitalownatlanch1052 I don't hear no flaws all i hear is rock
@@aysitalownatlanch1052 I've always preferred Nevermind to the other albums, other people say that In Utero was his 'tortured expression of his artistic genius' - but Nevermind drew from his poems, so it was still his personality in the songs, and they sold millions to boot. I think a lot of people discount it because it sold, but if it sold it clearly did something right
People that hate on Nevermind will become deaf in heaven.
I still remember my friends and I just staring at the video with our mouths hanging open, and we were like “this must have been like hearing The Beatles for the first time.” We knew it would change music forever. And Kurt is underrated as an incredible vocalist with excellent pitch, interval relationships, great phrasing, and *ATTITUDE.* His control of his volume and tone is also superb - and I come from a tradition of classical singing. Brilliant.
How you could compare this trash to The Beatles not only shows you know nothing about music, you have absolutely no artistic discernment or critical thinking skills at all!
"Why? Because it's cool."
That's what it's all about, right there.
I had a friend call me up on a Thursday night in 1989. "Hey Kevin," he said, "there's a great band playing at the Sun Club tonight. Wanna go?"
I had a big weekend planned, so I turned him down. And that's how I missed out on seeing Nirvana in a small little punk club in Tempe, Arizona.
I made up for it a few years later by watching Soundgarden perform at The Mason Jar.
This is where one of my fav bands came from and played. The meat puppets haha
“You keep telling yourself that buddy”! Btw, I love Soundgarden
I live in Tempe. What club?
Btown78's Random videos Reread his post...
Anyone know where the #4 comes from? Switch into Lydian? Tks!
A Beato, an albino, a mosquito, my libido...Yeah, hey!
*an Albini .... fix't
lmfao.
hahahahahaha
😂😂😂😂
Best laugh I've had in a while 😂😂
Great analysis and tribute!! I was a cocktail waitress in college when this came out and I remember it being blasted over and over again at the bar. The energy you would feel each time you heard it was almost overwhelming. Wow, WHAT A SONG.
"What Makes this Day Awesome?"... Rick's air drumming and his amazingly rich and thoughtful take on a song like this.
I was on the Nevermind tour in the UK when the album broke there, the tour was originally booked into 200-300 capacity clubs, we ended up after a few days changing venues nearly every day on route and some shows there were more people outside the venue than in, didn’t know at the time what I was experiencing....
Lucky u
That's awesome man, I was still listening to def Leppard at the time this went on. Blew my mind when I caught up about 3 months later haha!
Rick I swear I'd listen you talk about music for hours and hours. You always show an unbelievable amount of passion, love and gratitude for this supreme art, yet in this song analyisis I think you've felt these emotions even more intensely than ever, and this is almost tear inducing for a die hard fan of Nirvana and of good music in general. I hope you'll never stop doing videos!
Not to mention the fact that his passion is in depth in hard work. 12 hours work for 22 min. Vid.
“ I doesn’t matter if someone knows what they’re doing if they do it intuitively.” I literally just said basically the same thing about the 3 bar leap into the modulation on your Living on a Prayer video. Anyway, “I know what he’s doing and I’m gonna tell you…” is one of your greatest lines Rick 👍👍
"What Makes This Song Great", or as I like to call it "Why I've Been Playing This Song Wrong for 15 Years"
hahaha
😂😂
"Kurt didn't know what he was doing"
Yeah, but doesn't that make it even more impressive that he was able to do it?
People are just jealous that they don't have that kind of natural talent
Paul McCartney couldn't read music, and it never stopped him.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Exactly the argument I made 30 years ago. Unfortunately I wasn't Paul McCartney and it stopped me.
Natural talent. It can't be taught.
People are too quick to denigrate and fail to appreciate.
I don’t comment often, but I feel the need to on this.
We can always do the Pixies comparison as it’s not only warranted and easy, but Kurt said so himself. What some people miss is Kurt’s pop sensibilities “borrowed” from the Cheap Trick playbook - AKA - play the melody... but hearing your piano take, I urge you to listen to Aerosmith’s Dream On for a comparison to the melancholia you mention. I think you’ll see that a bit of Kurt’s singing comes from that era. I mean, Kurt DID write a song called AeroZeppelin.
Anyway, I always love your takes and just wanted to add some food for thought, as I think a lot of folks miss the “classic rock” connection in the grunge era.
Be well, Rick and thank you for doing what you do. :)
ComaBoy Grohl is a MASSIVE Cheap Trick fan as am I and other musicians with taste and an ear for top notch songwriting ✊️😊
Tbh nirvana don't sound like the pixies or cheap trick..rhey sound like mix of vipers melvin scratch acid and early on butthole surfers
Wasn't that opening riff ripped off a Boston song? I can't remember which song though.
@@gdeezy You're probably thinking of the "More than a Feeling" chorus which has a similar structure to it
Kurt mentioned in several interviews that he enjoyed Aerosith and Led Zeppelin. I wouldn't be surprised if he absorbed some of the melody writing from them.
Man I love how excited Rick is in this video. You can tell how much he likes the song.
Rick's businessplan in one sentence: "I know what he's doing and I tell you what he's doing!". Yes please and thank you, Sir!
Didn't matter that Kurt "didn't know what he was doing." He could HEAR it. He could PLAY it. I've heard a lot of things in my life that are way beyond my abilities to perform them. He had both the ears and the chops.
Imagine Kurt writing smells like teen spirit sitting down at the piano Saying “I think I’ll try a sharp four on the d flat chord to the ninth”.
“Intuitive” is an understatement
you think he didnt know music theory??
I just do.
-Joker
He knew everything about music. Period. It came naturally, so he never studied it and probably couldn’t explain it. Prodigies play music and people study it.
Hence, the word “intuitive“.
That’s what makes him a genius. It was all natural. Get it?
@@tonyz7189
No YOU don't get it, Tony. At this level of skill, ability doesn't arrive out of a vacuum. It comes from an understanding of all aspects of music, INCLUDING technique and theory. Life is not magic, despite what Trump wants you to believe.
Couldn't agree with you more !!
I was attending UC Berkeley before this song came out. The school newspaper had a music columnist (what was her NAME??) who talked excitedly about an unknown band named Nirvana. She mentioned them in every piece she wrote. She must have felt so satisfied when the rest of the world caught on.
I'm 40 years old, listening to this song since ever and this was like the first time again. Thank you, Rick.
"'He didn't know all that'. And he didn't need to". Love it, especially coming from a guy that understands so much about theory.
Their MTV Unplugged album really changed my outlook on Nirvana. The song selections and Kurts dynamic voice showed just how much they understood what they were doing. It’s my favorite album by them, but it requires the other albums to exist to appreciate how dynamic they were.
I love Kurt singing, "Where did you sleep last night," on that Unplugged. I can listen to it on repeat, over and over.
Same here; I resisted Nirvana and most of the bands except Alice because of media saturation. Kurt's death and Unplugged helped me reassess.
As a lover of music, when I first heard this song it stopped me my tracks, I didn't know why, it is just that it felt different, it resonated in me. Rick, you just explained why it did...Mucho gracias...keep doing what you do....we are all the better for you.
Rick, playing the melody and pre-chorus starting around 8 min) with those little two and three note figures is an AMAZING way of showing how cool the melody is. Kurt may have not know the theory and the interval constructs, but what an ear. Please MORE of that in future !!!!
Yes, I second this! The figures really helped me understand the theory behind it so much better. It also helps me with writing down notes as I watch along.
PRECISELY the comment I was about to leave. Very cool.
Rick, the way you explain the WMTSG songs make me enthusiastic about music I passed over when it came out because "I wasn't into "grunge" or what ever. I've gone back to listen to music after watching your videos, music that I thought I was too hip to listen to. Thanks, Rick. You are opening the ears of the world to new experiences.
Those haunting 9ths and 11ths explain why Tori Amos was able to do such a compelling cover.