Did Nirvana rip off Pixies’ ‘Debaser’ with the youth anthem ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’?
The story behind ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ feels oddly close to home. Armed with the words etched on Kurt Cobain’s wall by Kathleen Hanna in a moment’s childlike wonderment, Nirvana created an anthem for their generation, unknowingly transforming a quip about a lesser-known deodorant brand into a symbol of youthful rebellion and resilience.
Hanna might have intended to direct a certain amount of bitterness toward the singer when she chose to graffiti his wall with the prophesising words, but Cobain didn’t bother himself much with how they were intended to come across, instead taking it as a “compliment” and summary of their conversation the previous night. In his obliviousness, he wrote a song that captured the generation’s free-spiritedness, using it as a basis to form a broader anthem about liberation.
In his journey to fully established artistic self-discovery, Cobain drew inspiration from several punk and rock pioneers, including Pixies, who he found solace in their ability to speak the truth in a world that rarely did so. After all, Cobain knew how it felt to be an outsider and understood that his ostracisation came from his ability to observe the world around him, leading him to question why so many injustices were normalised.
Pixies undoubtedly had an immense impact on Cobain, which he injected into the band’s 1991 opus Nevermind, particularly with how he toyed with the dynamics between loud and quiet. As he explained to Rolling Stone in 1994: “I have to admit, when I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band — or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.”
Of course, as a crucial part of Nevermind, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ no doubt did exactly that. In fact, the song has drawn comparisons to many of their songs, most notably ‘Debaser’, Pixies’ surrealist composition drawing from some of the icons and masterpieces of the movement, like Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou. Captivated by their decision to make a film based on “nothing”, Black Francis felt compelled to do the same, using “my stupid, pseudo-scholar, naive, enthusiast, avant-garde-ish” approach to reflect the same aura in music.
Cobain alluded to ripping off Pixies before, mainly in discussions about his appreciation for their music, making it not too far a stretch to assume that he took his love for songs like ‘Debaser’—along with Francis’ unflinching disposition in the face of seemingly daring choices— and created ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. While their lyrics differ, the experimenting between softer, considered licks and more anthemic melodies and rhythms mirrors the shifts that Pixies pioneered, proving Cobain’s ability to take established tropes and make them appear rawer as if they were his own, to begin with.
That said, perhaps Cobain’s affinity for Pixies ventures far deeper, starting with and bleeding into all of the reasons he became endeared to music in the first place. For instance, just like Joey Santiago, Cobain fell in love with The Beatles at first listen; “a great way to start any kind of musical endeavour,” according to Santiago. From there, he discovered each and every band the Fab Four influences, including Pixies. As a result, his music became a love letter to all those he adored, blending endearing melodies with the more dynamic experimentalism of those who followed.
