Dave Grohl recalls working on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
We just f*ckin’ rocked it in a little rehearsal space that was like a barn.”
Grohl said, “I remember writing ‘Teen Spirit’ in our rehearsal space, and I liked the riff that Kurt [Cobain] came up with because it’s percussive. Those muted, stabbing strums in between the chords really leant to the pattern of the drum riff.”
He said that the band was writing a new song "everyday," adding, “Of course, no-one had any psychic foresight to imagine that Teen Spirit would go on to do what it did.
Grohl admits he didn't know the lyrics but realized the power of the song once the band took it to the studio.
He said, "I think everyone was more focused on songs like "In Bloom" or "Lithium" or "Breed." Nobody paid too much attention to "Teen Spirit" while we were recording it. We just thought it was another cool song for the record."