“Smells Like Teen Spirit”
by Tori Amos (originally by Nirvana)
from the album Crucify
1992
Buy the album on Amazon

I had something else totally in mind and was working through what to write, and then I got busy and forgot to post until Lance just reminded me. I’m late for EST and probably Central, but I’m going to make it in Mountain Time. Even though I had already thought through my other choice, this pick just came to me in a flash and seemed like the better choice.

I remember in my sophomore or junior year of high school when a guy who I wasn’t that close to but was in one of my friend circles put this in. He and I had some overlap in our Venn diagram of music interests – he was more into stuff like funk and probably ska (he may have introduced my friend Joel and I to RHCP), but I remember we were all hanging out and he said something like “check this out – this girl covers Nirvana” or something equivalent. We were all pretty hooked. Nirvana was still fairly new to us, Tori Amos was totally new,  a woman playing piano didn’t at the time seem like something any of us would be into (even if she was topless on the cover), and a woman playing a piano version of Smells Like Teen Spirit was kind of amazing. I don’t remember if buying this single got me into Tori Amos or if it didn’t fully happen until Under the Pink came out, but that time started a pretty long burning love of everything Tori (which simmered to a tiny spark after a few years), and her covers have always been especially great.

Also, Wikipedia says Kurt Cobain described this as “a great breakfast cereal version”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRuTkB9L5jc