I know this song is probably about how Capitalism, ahem, capitalizes on pop culture by getting bands to endorse things and by using popular artists as living breathing billboards BUT sometimes I like to pretend that Kathleen wrote this song about Kurt. Hear me out, Kurt was open about his adoration of Sonic Youth, and Kathleen used to hang out with Kurt before Nirvana blew up. Pretty much every fan knows that Kathleen gave Kurt the inspo for Smells Like Teen Spirit after they "stayed out all night" and got wasted and talked for hours. I like to think that Kathleen sensed Kurt's insecurity and how he longed for acceptance and this song is kind of a reference to the fact that Kurt maybe placed too much significance on other people's opinions of him. Of course, this is a total long shot and I pretty much just made up an entire scenario in my head but I think it adds a totally different aspect to the song - instead of it being about brainwashing and choosing not to think for yourself, it could be about insecurity and being afraid to think for yourself. Either way I don't think its really about Thurston Moore at all.
I know this song is probably about how Capitalism, ahem, capitalizes on pop culture by getting bands to endorse things and by using popular artists as living breathing billboards BUT sometimes I like to pretend that Kathleen wrote this song about Kurt. Hear me out, Kurt was open about his adoration of Sonic Youth, and Kathleen used to hang out with Kurt before Nirvana blew up. Pretty much every fan knows that Kathleen gave Kurt the inspo for Smells Like Teen Spirit after they "stayed out all night" and got wasted and talked for hours. I like to think that Kathleen sensed Kurt's insecurity and how he longed for acceptance and this song is kind of a reference to the fact that Kurt maybe placed too much significance on other people's opinions of him. Of course, this is a total long shot and I pretty much just made up an entire scenario in my head but I think it adds a totally different aspect to the song - instead of it being about brainwashing and choosing not to think for yourself, it could be about insecurity and being afraid to think for yourself. Either way I don't think its really about Thurston Moore at all.