Smells Like Teen Spirit
I am choosing to write about “Smells Like Teen Spirit� because of the influence it had on myself an many of my friends. I think the writer Matt Compton clearly gets across the point that Cobain was “able to so articulately get his point across by being inarticulate.� Compton does so by being repetitive, stressing the point over and over. He really wants the reader to know that confusion is a part of life that Cobain is portraying. By mumbling or screaming mixed messages a person does not know what to feel, or think or even how to act. They feel like an outcast; they want to know what the rest of society is getting out of the song and out of life. When a person is able to get these confused thoughts together they truly understand what Cobain is saying with out clearly saying anything.
This is important to our class as developing writers. It should be noted that there is not a single set way to compose a paper. There certain formats to be applied but there is room for maneuvering within. Maybe a point can be made better by saying it less clearly. One can say many things without actually saying it. By beating around the bush and letting formalities go writing can touch a person by allowing them to bond with the ideas inarticulately put forth.
Comments
I agree with Compton's assement that the lyrics being unintelligable made for the importance of the message and the text. It is not always what is said, but sometimes how it is said. The lyrics for "Smells Like Teen Spirt," captured the angst of teen and 20 something America without the lyrics really providing punch. Instead it was the inflection that created the text. Unlike Dylan, The Beatles, and Joni Mitchell of a generation earlier who used the actual lyrics to present the text, Nirvana uses the way the message was sent as the conveyer of the message.
Posted by: Jason Wicklund | July 10, 2007 5:27 AM