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Impellizzieri Blog 4

We have discussed many songs that were sung and basically redone completely from the original. One we did not mention was “Smells Like Teen Spirit” which was originally written and performed by Nirvana. Tori Amos did a cover of this song and completely changed it up. She turned a rock song with a harsh, deep voice to a pleasing and more quiet voice. The original song is from 1992 while Tori’s is from 2008. She slows the song down immensely and plays the piano in the background while singing it. But in Nirvana’s version, there are the typical instruments of a hard rock band and no piano. Nirvana is an American rock band with the lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain. They were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014 and have won many awards such as the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. Tori Amos is an American singer, song writer and pianist. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range and she has also won many awards. The meaning behind the name of this song is actually because the singer of Nirvana apparently smelling like the deodorant Teen Spirit. The lyrics are meant to convey a mystery about Nirvana. Something similar between the performances are the lyrics stay the same and that is about the only thing that stays the same. There are way more differences including the overall meaning behind the song is changed and Tori has softer verses. The melody is enhanced by her voice. Like I mentioned, the , meaning of the song is changed when Tori delicately plays the piano and sings much more softly because the entire mood of the song changes.

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