Recording
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Nirvana
- Released
- 1991
- Label
- DGC
- On one list
- Grunge
- Updated
- 2026-08-31
Analysis
9 sections, the first drop at 0:08, 3% of the way in, 20% of it spent climbing.
- Tempo
- 117.5 BPM
- holds throughout
- Key
- F minor
- estimated from the pitch content
- Dynamic range
- 5 dB
- moderate range, typical of a modern master
- Length
- 4:38
- measured from the YouTube master
The record, end to end
Click the track to jump · ← → move between sections
- 0:00Aintro0
- 0:18Bbuildbar 9
- 0:43Bbuildbar 21
- 1:00Cpeakbar 29
- 1:26Cbreakdownbar 42
- 1:57Bbuildbar 57
- 2:12Bpeakbar 64
- 2:40Csteadybar 78
- 3:07Coutrobar 91
Drop at 0:08 (bar 4). A drop is a moment, not a stretch — marked on the track above rather than shaded across it.
0:00 · A · intro
opens the record below its own average energy · instrumental
- Lasts
- 0:18
- Energy
- 0
- Brightness
- 19
- Density
- 50
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy and brightness climbing without a break · sung · one of 4 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 0:25
- Energy
- 31
- Brightness
- 0
- Density
- 100
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy and brightness climbing without a break · sung · one of 4 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 0:16
- Energy
- 54
- Brightness
- 65
- Density
- 9
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · sung · one of 4 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:26
- Energy
- 98
- Brightness
- 100
- Density
- 1
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning · sung · one of 4 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:32
- Energy
- 33
- Brightness
- 24
- Density
- 75
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy and brightness climbing without a break · sung · one of 4 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 0:14
- Energy
- 38
- Brightness
- 77
- Density
- 7
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · sung · one of 4 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 0:28
- Energy
- 100
- Brightness
- 98
- Density
- 3
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · instrumental · one of 4 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:27
- Energy
- 75
- Brightness
- 82
- Density
- 1
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
the closing fall · sung · one of 4 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 1:32
- Energy
- 54
- Brightness
- 58
- Density
- 0
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
Brightness and density are scored against this record's own sections, not against music in general — they say how its parts differ from each other, and nothing about how it compares to anything else.
- drums
- the drum kit, separated from the mix
- bass
- the bass part, separated from the mix
- vocals
- the voice, separated from the mix
- other
- everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings
Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.
- intro
- opens the record below its own average energy
- build
- energy and brightness climbing without a break
- peak
- sits at the top of this record's range
- breakdown
- energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning
- steady
- holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling
- outro
- the closing fall
Measured from the YouTube master on . Section labels describe how the energy of the recording moves, not its musical form — a machine can see loudness climb and jump, it cannot hear a chorus arrive. Anything we were not confident enough to state is left out rather than shown with a caveat.
Ranked No. 1 in Grunge
Cobain called it an attempt to write a Pixies song. Four chords, a quiet verse, an unintelligible chorus, and the end of one era of popular music inside three months.