" Weird Al " Yankovic has get plenty of rejection throughout his calling . Prince , Jimmy Page , and Paul McCartney haveall deniedthe musical comedian the right to wrick one of their attain Sung dynasty into an irreverent parody . Even so , Weird Al was hesitant to ask for Kurt Cobain ’s permission to spit theNirvanachart - topper " Smells Like Teen Spirit " in the other nineties .
“ I was very nervous , and I did n’t know how he would take my requesting the parody , " Yankovic toldLoudwirein 2014 . The phone call would have been especially face - wracking because he was n’t design to write a put-on that was divorce from the original creative person , as was the eccentric with late hits like " Eat It " and " Like a Surgeon . " His parody " Smells Like Nirvana " was going to make fun of the fact that no one could understand Cobain ’s tongue-tied singing .
But , as Yankovic recounted decennium later , he had no reason to interest . " I explained it ’s about how nobody could understand his lyrics . There was in all probability half a beat on the headphone , and he said , ‘ Yeah , yeah , vocalize like a funny idea . ’ ”
Cobain would have been sympathetic to Yankovic ’s sense of humor . The Nirvana frontman had a reputation for being aserial prankster , pulling stunts like taping an upside down hybrid onto the drive - through windowpane of his favorite fried chicken billet . Other account bind to the striation ’s antics involved light tour bus topology mantle on fire , give out a booster ’s speech sound numbers in a bouncy interview , and inviting the audience on stage to get out security .
" Smells Like Nirvana " debuted in 1992 and it was an insistent achiever . It topped the Billboard charts and earned aplatinumrecord , and Yankovic credited the racecourse for revitalize his career after a brief slump . you’re able to watch Weird Al channeling Cobain in the music video below .
[ h / tLoudwire ]
