This is arguably one of the 10 most influential songs in rock & roll history.

Weird Al asked Kurt if he could parody this song. Kurt asked is it gonna be about food and Al said "No it's gonna be how nobody can understand the lyrics!" Kurt loved it.

"Going from sadness to absolute rage" perfectly describes most of GenX

You can't understand how monolithic this song/album was for us 90's kids... before this it was all hairmetal 80's vibe and all of a sudden we had our own voice ! It was literally an explosion 💥

i love how dave grohl beats the drums like they owed him money. a lot of money. on every track.

The first half of the 90s was such a great time in music growing up - Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pearl Jam, Alanis Morissette, Soundgarden, Bush, Hole, Metallica, Green Day, Rage Against the Machine, R.E.M., Smashing Pumpkins, Faith No More, Live, Massive Attack, Portishead.

30 years later and my heart still beats faster to this song.

This video was played on MTV after school. I was about 14... and this BLEW all the 80s hairbands (Motley Crue, Guns n Roses, Poison, etc.) out of the running. It changed the whole music scene to grunge. I was so different from what we were hearing for a decade. I sat on my knees with my mouth hanging open staring at this video... and then started moshing around. A great time in music history!

The reason this song is so great is because it was kinda of a call to arms for all the teens in the 90 that felt dislocated and had no voice in mainstream media. It is more like an anthem than anything else really

Gen-X'er here. Another reason that Nirvana took over the airwaves was because of the sound of other songs at the time. The #1 song just before Smells Like Teen Spirit was by Bryan Adams and was a love song. Smells Like Teen Spirit heralded the exact moment that the Boomers lost the culture war to the new (much angrier) generation. Oh... and Come As You Are is a wonderful Nirvana song as well.

Dave Grohl was the drummer for Nirvana and after Kurt's death, he founded Foo Fighters. Give it a shot dude, it's one of the great rock bands!

I remember the first time I saw this video on MTV. It hit me different than anything I’d ever seen. The next day at school I asked one of my friends if they had heard of Nirvana and he said no. No joke the following words came out of my mouth, “they are going to be huge”. I was in junior high.

In 1992 this shit was GROUNDBREAKING. A counter to hair metal and pop.

It's a little bit difficult to state how iconic this album was when it came out it basically ended the glam rock and hair metal scene basically almost Altogether overnight this album is great. Bleach. In utero is amazing.

Dave Grohl in his interview with Pharrell Williams tells him that the drums in this song are taken from the Gap Band which is why you may have instantly recognized it within the first few beats 🤘🏼but also this is one of the most iconic songs of all time, Breed is one of my favorite songs by Nirvana, pure poetry 🌳🏠

I love watchin your reactions. Especially this one. You’re hearing it the perfect most real way that I would hope for. You feelin all the magic. Like, I felt like I was hearing it for the first time again through watching you. Beautiful. Thank you

The drummer on this album and the unplugged concert is Dave Grohl. He's a phenom, also has a band called Foo Fighters that is pretty essential if you love Nirvana.

IM A 'CHILD' OF THE 60'S ... MUSIC IS/WAS MY LIFE .. IM 73 AND I LOVE NIRVANA ... THE ENERGY AND INTELLIGENCE!

55 years old here. If there's one song that defines my youth, its this one.

Grunge bands are a great rabbit hole

In Australia there is a radio station (Triple J) and every ten years or so they countdown the Hottest 100 songs of all time. This song has never failed to be #1 in every countdown. Iconic song

The amazing thing about Nirvana is we were being fed hair bands for so long and then suddenly this song came out and changed everything. It was like discovering dynamite. My favorite songs are Lithium and Heart Shaped Box.

You really are a 90’s kid at heart. Love it. This wasn’t just a single, it was literally the end of Pop Radio. One day was Wilson Phillips and Roxette - the next day was this song, and everything else fell. It was the first time it felt like “our” music was on top. And it was pretty much exactly like your reaction. WTF…? Play it again. And again. And again. I love almost every Nirvana song. But if I have to pick one, and knowing what you dig: “All Apologies” from IN UTERO, their second, and last, album. It has everything - the rawness, the melody, the heaviness, the pain

Also fun fact the drummer of this band is now the Lead Singer and guitarist of the Foo Fighters

Kurt’s gritty, raw and emotional voice…it has so, soo much texture. When he sings you believe what he’s saying 100%.

I’m Gen X, this came out during my freshman year in college. It’s was like this huge shift from hair bands. Finally, there was someone as messed up and filled with so much anger like we were. We had the worst parents across the board and were mostly neglected. My favorite non-single is “All Apologies” live on MTV Unplugged. It was one of their last performances and always hits me in the feels

Be advised, Nirvana live is a radically different experience, especially with Smells Like Teen Spirit because Kurt hated playing that song due to its overwhelming popularity. He hated that song being the only Nirvana song to many people. The same type of people who used to bully him would show up to Nirvana shows exclusively to hear that one song

Nirvana’s drummer was Dave Grohl. One of the best drummers of that era. He went on to front the Foo Fighters. Played all the instruments on their first album, essentially. He also played drums for Queens of the Stone Age for a while; check out Nobody Knows.

This is the song where everyone remembers what they were doing and where they were the first time they heard it. It changed music. It ended the hair bands and gave a breath of fresh air to the music scene. There had been nothing like it before.

I was 13 when this song came out, and I felt completely blown away. It was like the music I'd always wanted to listen to suddenly "existed". I felt like until that moment, I'd been waiting to hear Nirvana my whole life, but the band hadn't been created yet - and suddenly MTV put them in front of me. I don't think any of my friends were captivated the way I was, but being a fan became part of my identity - at a time when I didn't know how to identify myself. To say the least, they were my favorite band for years to come. When Kurt took his life, I wore a black armband to school to signify the loss. I was picked on for it because I "wasn't even related to him". I guess they didn't understand what affect Nirvana had on music. They certainly didn't care about the effect the music had on me. I still hold a grudge over being picked on.

This song is an icon. It encapsulates the confusion and angst of developing into a young adult. This is why it has transcended the decades since it’s release. Heart shaped box next.

This band got me into playing guitar and writing songs when I was 15 and 15 years later I am still doing it and wouldn't regret it

The whole album is a masterpiece. Kurt was a genius. The drummer went on to do countless projects. His most famous being the frontman for Foo Fighters

You have to listen to Where Did You Sleep Last Night from the unplugged album. Kurt really shows his vocal talents in full bloom

The Queen’s of the Stoneage “No One Knows “ that you reacted to because it was a song you really liked. Same drummer 😊 Dave Grohl now lead singer and guitarist of his band The Foo Fighters ❤

Never realized how awesome the bass groove is to this song until now

This song kicked down the door with authority when it came out. It changed EVERYTHING

Best power trio of our time. Each member, a force of nature, just killing their respective parts

This song slapped when I first heard it in 1991 and it still slaps. Other non-single favourites are Lounge Act, Stay Away, Milk It, Verse Chorus Verse, Tourette's, Been A Son

I've always really loved Heart-Shaped Box, but Nirvana had a string of great songs.

"I'm worst at what I do best, and for this gift I feel blessed". I have always felt that line. I think every artist does to some degree, regardless of medium.

When Grohl comes in, in the first bar, is when everyone falls in love with him. What a friggin die hard, dynamo kick ass drummer he is. Peace! ✌🏼

ANEURYSM is a extremely underrated Nirvana song. And “Where did you sleep last night” is Kurt at another level

This song, this one moment in music, changed more about popular music than possibly any other song you'll ever react to. Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis and I Wanna Hold Your Hand by The Beatles might be the only ones bigger.

Ahh I miss what music used to sound like. I'm probably supposed to be too old (61) to like this. Now you have to listen to Weird Al's Nirvana's song

This is seriously one of the top 5 songs of the 90s. It changed the musical landscape, it's catchy as hell, and it spans genres (now, back then it was firmly "grunge").

I'd love to see your reaction to some other grunge hits like "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman" by Soundgarden, "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam, "Would" and "I Stay Away" by Alice in Chains. It's fascinating, how the entire groundbreaking subgenre of rock/metal music was condensed in just couple of bands and albums.

Nirvana put Seattle grunge scene on the map. Pearl Jam, Sound Garden and Nirvana were on top of the world for awhile in the 90's, and then grunge fell off the map as rock continued to evolve.

Try “Drain You!” Drain You is still my favorite song from this album. Possibly my fav Nirvana song. Or Come as You Are or Bloom!

Thursday Jan 2 1992-Salem, Oregon. I was blessed with the rare experience of seeing Pearl Jam and Nirvana open for Red Hot Chili Peppers, promoting records Ten, Nevermind and Mother's Milk. Still have the shirt, ticket stub and poster.

Now you have a feeling for why it blew us all away back in 91. Absolute classic and one of the most important songs ever imo.

It's hard to pick a "favorite" Nirvana song, but one of them for me is Breed. Kurt was one of the few celebrity deaths that really affected me. I will always wonder what could have been.

It's hard to over state the impact this album had on Grunge music, and the 90's in general. They weren't the first Grunge band. You can argue that they weren't the best. But they were the ones that drug the style kicking and screaming into the light, and cemented the 90's Seattle music scene as part of the cultural zeitgeist. Favorite song? That's hard. It's a toss up between "You know, you're right" (last song recorded before Kurt's death and posthumously released a decade later) or "I Hate Myself and Want to Die" (from the Beavis and Butthead Experience album)

The way you describe the shift from sadness, suffering, agony into abject rage... 40 seconds into hearing this your first time, without even knowing the lyrics... you get it. You really received this song. This song tells the story of his lived experience and you got it. Thank you. Can't wait to watch more these with you.

This is a moment-in-time song. I was 18, first year in college. All these new bands and sounds were hitting. I heard Gish by Smashing Pumpkins the first week I was there. Then this song debuted on MTV. I was alone in my dorm room and I freaked and went to every room I knew and asked who else heard it. Three of us geeked out watching Mtv to hear it again until the album was available. It changed almost everything I listened to.

Ok...dave grohl...front for foo fighters...played guitar...and nine inch nails and nirvana drummer....SUPER TALENT

Try "Heart Shaped Box " :)

Not an album cut, but the song that gives me chills is their cover of Leadbelly's "Where did you sleep last night" on MTV Unplugged. That session also has a cover of Bowie's "Man who sold the world" that is great, but "Where did you sleep", there's a part at the end that just brings goosebumps every time.

I was lucky enough to grow up near Seattle and turned 21 in 1990. I saw Nirvana live several times, not to mention all the other amazing grunge bands coming out of and thru Seattle.

Please consider doing Like a Stone by Audioslave and/or Jeremy by Pearl Jam

If you want to get into Nirvana's biggest musical inspiration, check out The Pixies. A lot of their sound was inspired by the Pixies.

In the early 1990s, four bands emerged from the obscure Seattle Underground, and shook the world to it's very knees. They were: Nirvana Pearl Jam Alice in Chains Soundgarden Please check out all these amazing groups. You will not be disappointed.

Man you just had to have been alive and a music person at the time when this song came out. It singlehandedly took all the pop songs and 80s ballads and flushed them down the bowl. It was crazy everything before this song was released was was forgotten and the entire Rock world was turned upside-down. I've never seen anything like like it.

I came home from class in college. This popped up on MTV. I knew this was a hit. Just like Pearl Jams Evenflow. Nirvana had 3 great albums. The drummer is Dave Grohl, lead singer of Foo Fighters. Probably the world's best human.

Mind-bending that it’s been 30 years….Truly.

Lithium and Heart Shaped Box are two of my all time favorite Nirvana songs

I love that, ‘this is definitely going in the four runner,’ high praise!

The commercial hits are really good to be fair, but the deep cuts are where the real songs are. Check out Bleach or Incesticide or Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, album-wise.

I remember when the song came out because I'm a teenager of the 90s. Just like everybody else has already said it changed everything as far as music goes. Post Malone and Travis Barker, who was the drummer for Blink 182, did an fundraiser at Malone's house for covid-19 during quarantine where they played like 15 Nirvana songs to honor the band and it was actually fire. As I previously stated, I was a teenager during the 90s and Nirvana was a huge influence on me. I thought I was going to hate what they did but it was amazing. I've re-watched that set numerous times. It is probably too long for a reaction because it's 15 songs but it is definitely worth watching sometime. Favorite song: stay away or breed

"Sadness to rage..." You described Kurt's voice perfectly. When this song his it was like being out in the wilderness and seeing a wild animal you'd never seen before. It was like someone singing into your heart. Scary and mesmerizing.

It "sounds odly familiar" because it's ICONIC!! As a child the 60s & 70s music, my husband, and even our kids were, were so relieved and in love when Nirvana and the whole grunge & alternative era came along.

Did you know that the drummer of Nirvana was Dave Grohl, the frontman and singer of the Foo Fighters?? Multi-instrumentalist and a great singer in his own right! Huge talent and a heart of gold - check him out as well as the Foo Fighters ;-) :-) 'The Pretender' smashes everything!!!!

This song single handedly ended the hair metal scene and killed all those bands career.

I first heard this song, while living in Mississippi, on a Chicago AM station I could only get around midnight. The opening riff made me realize that something had shifted. The song perfectly captured how I felt, one moment melancholy, the other moment defiant rage. I came to realize that just about my whole generation felt the same. Song perfectly captures Gen X.

My senior year of high school, 91-92. This song came out, EVERYONE heard it. Even the kids in learning disability classes were singing this. Teachers, too. EVERYONE knew this song. EVERYONE

This was the song of the 90’s. One of my favorites is lounge act.

As a 14 year old drummer when this came out, it Changed my life... Cheers Polo 🍻 👏

I was 18 when this song came out, not only did it change the musical landscape, it changed what kids started wearing and the vibe in movies. Very few artists have had that kind of impact on the mainstream. Downside to that is you become your own parody, which Cobain saw coming.

“Here we now. Entertain us.“ Rock classic lyric.

Glad you liked the song. It really revolutionized music in its day.

Grohl is great, but Kurt was a bonafide musical genius.

This was the only song that first time I heard it asked the person next to me "What is that "" I gotta hear more"....so powerful.. ended up being a Big Nirvana fan for many years, still listen occasionally... Come as You are was the first song I learned on guitar.

You nailed it with the outrage in his voice. Proud Gen Xer.

I saw them live in October 1991 at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit. We hadn't heard the term "Grunge" yet! The first thing I noticed when entering the venue was the really understated stage. You have to remember we were still experiencing the 80's music, most of which I despised! When they took the stage, they looked like nothing we'd ever seen before. No bright spandex. No big, over-processed hairdos. No makeup. For us Gen X'ers grunge became a way of life and a look and we were all the way in!

I remember a friend of mine giving me a cassette tape with this song on it a year or two before it came out. I sat in my car and played this song about 7 times in a row. I remember thinking “this changes everything”, and it did.

The first time I saw this video on MTV I was sitting alone in my living room and I lost my bleeping mind - I couldn't control myself I had to jump up out of the chair and just start banging my head, it was the only moshpit I've ever been in and I was in it all by myself. It's by far one of my most treasured musical memories. RIP KURT - we lost a genius that had so much more to create

As a Mom who grew up in the 70s, I listened to classic rock for years. Then I was raising the kids and my music world was much more minimal. Then one morning I was dropping off the kids at the babysitters before heading off to my desk job in my skirt, heels, and nylons. The DJ announced this new song and from the moment this song started, I couldn't get the kids out of the car fast enough LOL. I was in love with Nirvana from moment one and the love for music was revived in me from that day forward.

I was not a Nirvana fan at all nor the grunge genre. Im not a fan of 90's music really. However, this song...I love it and even though I am a huge music fan who loves so many songs I would put this song in the Top 10 best songs of all time. Its that epic. Its the structure, the vocals, the mood...they captured some kind of magic here

There are a lot of iconic voices in music. Kurt's is probably top 5, arguably top 3, in rock music imo. The slight yodel, the raspiness, it is the personification of grunge. This band, this music, this artist, absolute perfection. They literally changed the landscape of rock music for the better.

First time I heard it I was floored. This song changed music.

This song hit the radio- and changed the entire music industry from 80’s hair bands to grunge- literally overnite!

Need to do Lounge Act. My fave Nirvana song

I heard you say you wanna hear the live version. I recommend Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (Live At The Paramount, Seattle / 1991). That's a great version, everything comes together so well on that one.

This one was an instant hit. As soon as you heard it you wanted to hear it again.

The Grunge period burned so brightly that it consumed itself. Truly the supernova of musical genres. I'm beginning to wonder if any of my generation's(Gen X) musical icons will ever live to see old age. I'm glad to have been there to see it, firsthand, but looking back, it's sad to know what we have lost.

I remember hearing this for the first time in 6th grade. I couldn't believe my ears... I grew up in a house were classical music played. So this, THIS was so raw, angry and AWESOME! First band to lead me on my own ''musical journey''. That eventually lead to other Grunge bands, NIN, Tool, Korn, Slipknot and many more. 😝🤟🤟🤟🔥🔥🔥

The Best comment I have heard yet and have heard 100's of reactions. You said, "Intermission" Freaking beautiful man!

Honestly, one of the best song ever written... In his style, this song will always be #1!

How can I be banging my head and crying at the same time? Nirvana means so much to me it's impossible to pick a favorite song. This is an all time favorite band along with Tool and Led Zeppelin. I'm glad you love them and I will happily follow you down their rabbit hole. All Apologies Lithium Aneurysm Sliver

I wish I could hear nirvana for the first time again. The live album is even better (it's rawer)