10 Rock Bands That Ripped Off Their Own Songs

From the minute that Nirvana went into the stratosphere, Smells Like Teen Spirit was practically an albatross around Kurt Cobain's neck. While he was originally really excited to be saying something that was a lot more sarcastic and witty on record, that went over the average fans' head, leading to the jock demographic latching onto it instead of the indie audience that Kurt was hoping for. When he wanted to move as far away from pop as possible though, those chords were still floating around his head.

In Utero might be a much different beast than what Nevermind did, but Dumb is actually the exact same chords of Smells Like Teen Spirit, only moved down a few keys to sound different. The structure might be similar, but the tone and character of these songs couldn't be further apart. Whereas Teen Spirit was a rallying cry for the disenfranchised that sarcastically asked to be entertained, Dumb is the one moment of bliss in the middle of the record, with Kurt talking about how fleeting it feels to be happy.

After going through some of the biggest highs that any rock star could ask for, Dumb is what happens when none of that is able to satisfy that inner pain, always slipping further and further into depression. You might catch bits and pieces of happiness here and there, but to Kurt, he just feels like he's in a dumbed down state.