Load up on guns; bring your friends
It's fun to lose and to pretend
She's over-bored and self-assured
Oh no, I know a dirty word

Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello

[Chorus]
With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now; entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now; entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido
Yeah, hey

I'm worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello

[Chorus]

And I forget just why I taste
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard; it's hard to find
Oh well, whatever, never mind

Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello

With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now; entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now; entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido
A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial, a denial
A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial



Lyrics submitted by spitfirek7

Track duration: 05:01

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" as written by Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Smells Like Teen Spirit song meanings
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1331 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:well i wont dishoner cobain by analyzing a song he wishes he never wrote. that said the lyrics really personified the whole slacker mentality of genX. i was like 14 at the time and right in the middle of the whole apathy thing
    Flag minty33on May 11, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:...and thus begun 20 years of every new drummer learning this beat and abusing it on his kit in his garage 12 hours a day and trying to make it fit in every rock song every time he plays.

    yeah, you drummers know what I'm talking about.
    Flag kanzeion May 04, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's hard to make perfect sense of this famous tune, but it's pervaded with a sense of self-deprecating sarcasm - "I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now, entertain us" and "I'm worse at what I do best" being obvious examples - and defeatism - "it's fun to lose and to pretend" "well, whatever, never mind" but there's also a pride in the group "our little group has always been and always will until the end". Loud, battered but proud, self-contradictory, incongruous, tough on themselves, laced with dark humour, clumsy but somehow well-meaning - these characteristics have rung bells with a lot of people, and obviously those big, hard-hittingly tuneful but also ugly and discordant riffs helped too.
    Flag finnegan63on May 02, 2013   Link
  • +3
    Translation:The meaning is simple if you have been there..

    "Load up on guns; bring your friends" - Guns= needles friends= encase of fallout
    "It's fun to lose and to pretend" - Euphoric feelings
    "She's over-bored and self-assured" - there is no going back, and she knows it
    "Oh no, I know a dirty word" - Heroin


    "With the lights out, it's less dangerous" - feels secure and satisfied after a shot
    "Here we are now; entertain us" - to messed up, they can't entertain themselves
    "I feel stupid and contagious" - trying it was stupid yet he still introduces it
    "Here we are now; entertain us" - " "
    "A mulatto" - Black-tar mixed with water, turns it brown
    "an albino" - his blue veins seen through light skin
    "a mosquito" - the prick of the needle and checking the drawback of blood
    "my libido" - Heroin is better than sex..
    "Yeah, hey" - thats about all you can say after you've shot enough..


    "Hello, hello, hello, how low
    Hello, hello, hello, how low
    Hello, hello, hello, how low
    Hello, hello, hello"
    -This about a fallout (overdose) other people trying to wake him up, he is at a very low point, very near death

    "I'm worse at what I do best" - doesn't think hes a good musician
    "And for this gift I feel blessed" - he feels blessed to create, though hes on dope
    "Our little group has always been" - Always felt like they were over-rated
    "And always will until the end" - Hes caught, and will be until death


    "And I forget just why I taste" - why did he start?
    "Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile" - it made him feel good while depressed
    "I found it hard; it's hard to find" - hes hardened and lost inside
    "Oh well, whatever, never mind" - no control, no hope, no future

    "a denial" - he denies this part of himself though he knows it exists, a complex confusion all addicts face and nobody else can feel unless they have been where he has.
    Flagged BiPolarBeron February 25, 2013   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:i think the song is about beign corrupted, is about a good boy who became rebel
    -Load up your guns and bring your friends, it's fun to loose and to pretend.
    He lost his integrity and he pretends that he is like the others.
    -She is over bored and shelf assured, oh no i know a dirty word.
    He is not a good boy anymore.
    -Hello hello how low.
    He invites the gang to a party in his house.
    -With the lights out is less dangerous, here are we now entertain us.
    They are doing incorrect things, maybe they call a prostitute because he says here we are now entertain us.
    -I feel stupid and contangious.
    Everyone acts like him.
    -A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido.
    The gang.
    -I'm worse at what I do best
    And for this gift I feel blessed
    He thinks that he is the worst in what he do but everybody thinks he is the best.
    -Our little group has always been
    And always will until the end
    He doesn't have too much friends but his friends are insepareble.
    Flagged JoseJComon January 30, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I believe he is saying that we are so much better than how we are being right now. We have amazing potential, being self assured is looked down upon, even Kurt feels he is worse at making music than he should be. In other words we are forcing ourselves to be in a dead end rut and denying our natural individual incredebleness!
    Flagged Ashi2on January 18, 2013   Link
  • -6
    General Comment:This is racism cuz it bunch of white dudes pretending to be black. Going out in the night to entertain each other with guns and girls. He a mulatto (a black man) trying to fit in in the WHITE world, but cuz it albino mean its too white for him to make it. The mosquito is the white man sucking the blood from the black man and the libido mean the black man is hungry for a dorito.
    Hello x3, is the white man pretending to be nice, but then he turn his back on the black man and say "how low" to insult him. "Im worse at what I do best" mean the white man is bad because he lying. The contagious mean the black man is going to take over, and the denial is the white man not accepting the black man will be running the world one day.
    Flagged jkallredon January 13, 2013   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I wonder what Kurt would think of his tumblr fame...

    Lotta interesting stuff here:

    kurt-confessions.tumblr.com/
    Flagged diacuton January 06, 2013   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:That's all wrong.......I know what it means. I can't explain the connection I have to him right now. The things he had to deal with. The problems he had. They're the same as me.

    This song wouldn't make sense to most of you, I can understand that. I remember this song from my childhood and I heard it recently. This really bothered me until after research on Cobain and this song I figured it out. I also determined the meaning of the song. This song has a message only few may ever get. I truly believe that he was trying to say something in the songs similar to this. Nobody ever got the message until it was too late. When he had to tell everybody up front, because until now, nobody could figure out the meaning of his message....I know what it is. It's too disturbing to me to say anything right now.

    Its a long story but you can email me @ taterbug.eric.boucher@gmail.com and I'll try to explain my findings to anyone. Anybody is welcome, I just can't say it right this second to the public. It's too personal to me as well as him I could imagine.
    Flagged EricSCBon January 04, 2013   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I always thought it was a sarcastic view of how adults view teenagers
    Flagged dream2niteon November 13, 2012   Link

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