Editing Smells Like Teen Spirit (section)

==Live performances==
{{Listen|filename=SmellsLikeTeenSpirit.ogg|title="Smells Like Teen Spirit" (live)|description=Sample of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, from the live album ''[[From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah]]'' (1996). The band performs the song at a faster tempo and in a lower key than the studio recording.}}

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was first performed live on April 17, 1991 at the [[OK Hotel]] in [[Seattle]], Washington.<ref>''With the Lights Out'' (p. 23) [CD liner notes]. Santa Monica: Geffen Records. 2004.</ref> The performance is featured on the DVD of the 2004 box set ''[[With the Lights Out]]'', while shorter clips are included on the ''[[Classic Albums]]{{'}} [[Nevermind]]'' DVD, as well as the documentary film ''[[Hype!]]''. As the song's lyrics had not yet been entirely written, there are notable differences between it and the final version. For example, the first performance started with "Come out and play, make up the rules" instead of the eventual opening of "Load up on guns, bring your friends". A recording of the earlier version appears on ''With the Lights Out'' and again on ''[[Sliver: The Best of the Box]]''. A similar early live performance of the song is found in the documentary ''[[1991: The Year Punk Broke]]'', filmed during a 1991 summer tour in Europe with [[Sonic Youth]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}

The international television debut performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was on 8 November 1991, on the UK TV series [[The Word (TV series)|''The Word'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livenirvana.com/tvguide/91.html |title=Live Nirvana TV Guide: 1991 |publisher=livenirvana.com |access-date=January 30, 2022}}</ref> Cobain opened by declaring: "I want everyone in this room to know that [[Courtney Love]], the lead singer of the sensational pop group [[Hole (band)|Hole]], is the best fuck in the world."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/best-of-the-word |title=Best of The Word |publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=January 30, 2022}}</ref> Cobain and Love married the following year.<ref name="encore">{{cite magazine |author=Sinclair, Tom |date=February 19, 1999 |title=Encore: Kurt and Courtney's wedding |url=https://ew.com/article/1999/02/19/encore-kurt-and-courtneys-wedding/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]}}</ref>

Nirvana often altered the song's lyrics and [[tempo]] for live performances. Some live performances of the song had the line "our little group has always been" changed to "our little tribe has always been", which can be heard on the 1996 live album ''[[From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah]]''. ''Rolling Stone'' remarked that the ''Wishkah'' version of "Teen Spirit" "[found] Cobain's guitar reeling outside the song's melodic boundaries and sparking new life in that nearly played-out hit".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Ali|first=Lorraine|date=2 February 1998|title=''From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah'' (review)|magazine=Rolling Stone|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/from-the-muddy-banks-of-the-wishkah-19980202|access-date=February 2, 2015|archive-date=October 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001222043/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/from-the-muddy-banks-of-the-wishkah-19980202|url-status=dead}}</ref> A notable alternate performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" occurred on [[BBC]]'s ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' in 1991, during which the band refused to mime to the pre-recorded backing track and Cobain deliberately sang the whole song an octave lower and altered numerous lyrics in the song (for example, "Load up on guns, bring your friends" became "Load up on drugs, kill your friends"). Cobain later said he was trying to sound like former [[The Smiths|Smiths]] frontman [[Morrissey]].<ref>Cross, p. 208.</ref> When ''Top of the Pops'' was cancelled in 2006, ''The Observer'' listed Nirvana's performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as the third greatest in the show's history.<ref>{{cite web|date=July 16, 2006|title="Top of the Pops" shows|work=Guardian|location=UK|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jul/16/32|access-date=October 18, 2006}}</ref> This performance can be found on the 1994 home video ''[[Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Prato|first=Greg|title=Live Tonight Sold Out – Nirvana {{=}} Songs, Reviews, Credits {{=}} AllMusic|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-tonight-sold-out-mw0000120039|website=allmusic.com|access-date=April 18, 2021|language=en}}</ref>