10 Songs You're Not Supposed To Understand

Ever since the start of Nirvana's career, you could pretty much count on Kurt Cobain's lyrics to not make sense. Though there would be exceptions from time to time like "Polly" or "Sappy," 90% of Cobain's songs were centered around melody that just so happened to have words attached to them to make everything flow better. His music may have defined a generation, but best of luck trying to extract any meaning from "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

From one line to the next, Cobain's phrases seem indecipherable, with contradicting statements like "I'm worst at what I do best" being put alongside primal screams of being stupid and contagious. It may seem more than a little confused on the surface, but the song's meaning lies less in the lyrics and more in the attitude.

Despite not saying the title anywhere in the lyrics, the song is the pure encapsulation of the adolescent mindset, with each line feeling like a separate thought from Generation X's disenfranchised youth.

In that respect, "Teen Spirit" is based not so much on its lyrical structure, but rather on the way it presents these phrases like a barrage of information that slowly grips the teenage mind. To call this song total nonsense may not be that far of a stretch, but when it comes to something as potent as "Here we are now, entertain us," Cobain was the only man who could make that phrase work.