Smells Like Nirvana by “Weird Al” Yankovic

"Smells Like Nirvana" is a parody of Nirvana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", written and performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic; it was released both as a single and as part of Yankovic's Off the Deep End album in April 1992. "Smells Like Nirvana" was written during a three-year career low for Yankovic after the financial failure of his film UHF, but captured the quickly-rising popularity of grunge and Nirvana's success. The song was written to poke fun at the fact that many people had a hard time understanding Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain's lyrics in the original song. After being unable to contact Nirvana by conventional means, Yankovic called Cobain while the band was on the set of Saturday Night Live, where Cobain quickly gave permission to record the parody. Recording the song was a change for Yankovic and his band. Usually, the group were forced to record several overdubs. "Smells Like Nirvana", however, was relatively straightforward in its musical composition. To promote the single, Yankovic created an associated video for the song that parodied the "Smells like Teen Spirit" video. The parody video closely mirrored the original; Yankovic even went so far as to hire several of the same actors and use the same set. "Smells Like Nirvana" was met with critical praise and helped to re-energize Yankovic's career. Cobain considered the parody as a sign that they had "made it" as a band. The song is one of Yankovic's most successful singles and was his second top 40 hit in the United States, reaching number 35 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks. The song's video was nominated for a 1992 MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video.