Sorry for the late post. My original plan went astray when I discovered the link to the Elvis Costello performance I wanted you to see has been blocked. But that's OK as Plan B is pretty good too, featuring nothing less than the ...
Best. Video. Ever.
This is Nirvana's grunge rock classic Smells Like Teen Spirit. This is the song that defines 1990s counter culture. In my opinion this is one of the greatest rock songs of all time, if not the greatest. And the video is something else. There's the band, the tatted up anarchist cheerleaders, the creepy janitor (every school has one) and the pep rally that has gone terribly, terribly wrong. Trust me, the pep rallies at Glacier High are nothing like this.
This is Nirvana's take on that universal theme, youthful alienation. It goes where Catcher in the Rye and Rebel Without a Cause once tread. The lyrics (posted below) are the poetry of teen angst.
Now compare Spirit to this 1990s hit.
Same decade. Same music genre. But could the music and message be any more different?
Also, is there any doubt which lead singer later died tragically by suicide and which went on to star in his own reality dating show just a few years ago?
So what do you think about these contrasting messages, both of which are well represented in the annuls of rock music? Which do you prefer, the tragic-artist posturing of Nirvana or the let's party philosophy of Poison? Do we have to choose?
And add a link to your favorite music on www.youtube.com to share with the class.
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Load up on guns
Bring your friends
It's fun to lose and to pretend
She's overborne and self-assured
Oh no, I know a dirty word
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, 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 mullato an albino
A mosquito my libido
yay
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, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, 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 mullato an albino
A mosquito my libido
yay
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 nevermind
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, 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 mullato an albino
A mosquito my libido
A denial
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Best. Video. Ever.
ReplyDeletein what way can you compair nirvana to poisen? not at all the same genra polar opposites. death of tragic teen, antachist, rebellion, it was me. poisen realisticlly is too peppy and preppy hairband, my tase runs more Axil Rose, Guns and Roses. Maybe that is my personality or just me in a whole. there has to be some sort of ballace, but no its one or the other.
Its hard to really say what lead each leader to their fates, while Kurt Cobain was a druggie was posien as well? idk cobains use of drugs, you can tell in the way his eyes are in the vid, reminds me of the way my x looked on heroin, which was cobains drug. as far as posien? bad acid trip or what?the cloths say gay dude all the way.
Pity about the Costello video.That was one of my favorites too! Regarding Best. Video. Ever.
ReplyDelete??? (Glee it aint, that's for sure). You really cannot compare Nirvana with Poison. Sorry Teach, they are completely different decades and genres. Also, that was probably the worst Poison song you could pick..Try "Talk dirty to me" or the sappy but good "Every Rose has its Thorn".Metal Hair Band Power ballads like those ruled the parties in the '80's. Kurt Colbain's angst started in early 90's,I believe, with the rise of grunge.The man was a genius, but doomed.What message was he trying to send? It looked kinda spooky to me~ But if I remember right, High School was kinda spooky. For another good example of an original Seattle based 90's grunge music try Pearl Jam. Also keep trying to find the Elvis video. Me, I dont know how to insert hyperlinks yet, so if you youtube Aha~"Take me on" you will see an original MTV video. It is so '80's, kinda corny but good. (I am such a sapp!) Peace-out!
Maybe I should have said compare and contrast. You can compare anything to something else. This may be a case of comparing things that have as many differences as they do similarities.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there is considerable overlap between Poison and Nirvana. Bret and the boys’ most successful studio albums were released in 1988 and 1990. Bleach, Nirvana's first album, was released in 1989, and Nevermind, the album that contained Smells Like Teen Spirit, was released in 1991. Nirvana released one more album before Kurt Colbain's death in 1994.
Poison peaked just as Nirvana (as well as Pearl Jam) was emerging. Both bands play a type of music that I think is fair to characterize as "hard rock." But the styles and messages are very different.
Is it possible that the decline of the hair bands was related this new esthetic presented by bands such as Nirvana? Was the emergence of grunge anything like the emergence of punk rock in the mid-70s? Most rock historians view the emergence of punk as a response to the excesses of the glam rock of that decade.
Maybe something else is going on. What was happening in the society at large in the late 1980s? Sure, hair bands had ruled the airwaves by decade’s end for a while. Was there something else going on in society that fueled the emergence of a new, darker sound?
So here's my story, the volume on my computer is broken and I don't think the people at the college would appreciate it if I shared this video with everyone or maybe they would. I know this is a lame excuse and I'm also not a big fan of the 80's so I had a really hard time even watching that music video without sound. I apologize if that offended anyone. I have to admit that the one from the 80's had a much different vibe than the newer version. So if this is inaccurate, once again I apologize.
ReplyDeleteWow..What a question. To accurately sum up my impression of both movements I would have to say Bleh. Talking about the excesses of hair bands or the whiny nature of grunge I have very little good to say, but I will give Nirvana the point that their music connected well with a demographic beyond "ZOMG THIS IS FUN MUSIC" I cant say I enjoy the melancholy that grunge brought into the forefront of music, nor can I say the excess of guitars that hair bands put into. My personal preferences stray closer to punk and the strange spiral of punk infused music that has come from it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDwlGbEcJ6Y&feature=fvw would be one of my favorite bands, some of the others I enjoy lack any main stream popularity, at least enough to have music videos. Its nice to have lyrics that are meaningful without being depressing.
ReplyDeleteI won't try to speak to what was going on during this era to cause the drastic change in music, frankly because I wasn't alive. That being said, I was/am a huge Kurt Cobain fan. I wrote an essay in high school about how he was my hero for revolutionizing music. (Apparently that's a red flag for 'get that girl into counseling, she's gonna jump' - maybe you should have been my teacher, Rob!). I will say that obviously, overall outlook on life seems to have had a bearing on the differences in fate of these two lead singers. Whether they were both on drugs at the time or not, they were probably doing it for very different reasons. Kurt seems more like the type that used them to escape problems, thus the overdose. I don't think that was the case with anyone in Poison - their music shows a zest for life that his definitely did not. Probably why they were able to recover enough to stay alive and he wasn't. Dave Grohl seems to have turned out just fine (FooFighters), so I'll guess that Nirvana's approach was most likely fueled entirely by Kurt.
ReplyDeleteAs for my favorite video, here's one I like because it was way before its time also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3AoiVMQqX4
The darkness related to Nirvana and other grundge bands of the 90's seems to have more of the tone of rebellion, or a dissatisfaction with society's norms. The Poisin video seems to be wild and rebellious with their clothes and hair, but really nothing new. A few rockstars singing about getting with a girl. The grunge movement seems to coincide with a generation feeling "out of place" in their own culture, similar to the 60's, but definitely darker.
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