Song of the Day 10/12: Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

I saw a story last week by a mom whose tweenage daughter told her the term “preppy” equates to “people who wear Nirvana shirts.” It seems that what the youngster called “old band shirts” have replaced sweatshirts emblazoned with merchandiser names (remember Hollister?) as the uni du jour among a certain set. It’s a humorous take on how one generation’s icons become another’s clichés.

The author was bemused by the idea of Kurt Cobain as a prep, and found that many of the kids sporting the duds were unfamiliar with the music of the bands they were wearing. This shouldn’t have surprised her. Next April will be the 30th anniversary of Cobain’s death, and where are today’s kids going to hear grunge?

This video, for example, has 1.7 billion views on YouTube. How many do you think are by anyone under the age of 16? Rock was already struggling for attention when the song from “Nevermind” was released as a single – it only reached No. 6 on the Hot 100. But it saturated MTV and both rock and college radio, turning it into grunge’s breakout hit. It remains the song most associated with the genre.