Teenage angst has paid off well / Now I'm bored and POLLed: The ILM Nirvana poll results thread (Poll #69)

Big thanks to everyone who took part, this was a lot of fun to do.

Those results in full:

(Placing / Track / Points / Votes / #1 votes)

1 Smells Like Teen Spirit 737 27 2
2 Heart-Shaped Box 707 29 4
3 Drain You 703 30 2
4 Lithium 668 25 3
5 On a Plain 655 28 2
6 Serve the Servants 632 22 3
7 In Bloom 576 23 1
8 All Apologies 571 22 1
9 Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle 570 23 5
10 Aneurysm 542 20 1
11 About a Girl 534 24 0
12 Breed 532 25 1
13 Dumb 520 23 1
14 Sliver 477 18 2
15 School 474 23 0
16 Come as You Are 469 21 0
17 Lounge Act 469 19 3
18 Where Did You Sleep Last Night 449 18 0
19 Pennyroyal Tea 434 20 0
20 Scentless Apprentice 407 21 0
21 Dive 368 12 2
22 Very Ape 364 19 0
23 Been a Son 364 17 1
24 Sappy 333 14 0
25 Negative Creep 332 15 2
26 Milk It 313 15 1
27 Radio Friendly Unit Shifter 273 12 0
28 Something in the Way 232 11 0
29 Polly 230 12 0
30 Love Buzz 228 11 0
31 Blew 208 10 1
32 Rape Me 208 10 0
33 Swap Meet 182 8 1
34 Territorial Pissings 178 10 0
35 Stay Away 133 7 0
36 The Man Who Sold the World 127 7 0
37 tourette's 119 7 0
38= I Hate Myself and Want to Die 112 6 0
38= Sifting 112 6 0
40= Molly's Lips 106 6 0
40= Floyd the Barber 106 6 0
42 You Know You're Right 105 5 0
43 Endless, Nameless 98 6 0
44 Oh, the Guilt 94 5 0
45 Paper Cuts 93 5 0
46 Do Re Mi 84 3 0
47 Even in His Youth 67 4 0
48= Verse Chorus Verse 67 3 0
48= Beeswax 67 3 0
50 Spank Thru 66 3 0
51 Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam 65 3 0
52 Son of a Gun 64 3 0
53 Oh Me 62 3 0
54 Hairspray Queen 59 3 0
55 Marigold 55 4 0
56 Curmudgeon 55 2 0
57 D-7 46 2 0
58 If You Must 45 2 0
59 Scoff 43 2 0
60 Downer 37 2 0
61 Opinion 32 2 0
62= Big Long Now 31 2 0
62= Mr Moustache 31 2 0
64 Lake of Fire 29 2 0
65 Aero Zeppelin 25 1 0
66 Plateau 22 1 0
67 The Money Will Roll Right In 21 1 0
68 Here She Comes Now 20 1 0
69= Turnaround 18 1 0
69= Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip 18 1 0
69= Seasons in the Sun 18 1 0
72 The Other Improv 17 1 0
73 Big Cheese 14 1 0
74= Old Age 13 1 0
74= Stain 13 1 0
76= Pen Cap Chew 12 1 0
76= Mexican Seafood 12 1 0

My own ballot, 1-20:

Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle
Pennyroyal Tea
In Bloom
All Apologies
Dive
Aneurysm
About a Girl
Come as You Are
On a Plain
Serve the Servants
Sliver
Oh, the Guilt
Drain You
Very Ape
Been a Son
Dumb
Breed
Sappy
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Lounge Act

Favourite album: In Utero

Was sad that Oh, the Guilt didn't make the 40, it was hovering around the low 30s to start with but hey.

Also worth mentioning that for the first week of voting Heart-Shaped Box was way out in front for the top spot.

valuing musicianship: like punk never happened :)

i had forgotten.

My ballot:
Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle
Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
Smells Like Teen Spirit
About a Girl
Lithium
Very Ape
Come As You Are
Serve the Servants
Lounge Act
Milk It
In Bloom
Heart-Shaped Box
Polly
Tourette’s
Dumb
On a Plain
School
Pennyroyal Tea
Drain You
Scentless Apprentice

Favourite album: In Utero

xp :(

(j/k)

Was there anything that didn't make any votes at all?

Hmm, "Pay to play"

'Beans'

'The Landlord Is A Piece Of Shit From Hell'

Wow, surprised the results turned out so populist, as Morbs put it, in the end - I figured the reliably contrarian ILM, of all places, would have been sick of "Teen Spirit" by now. I harrumphed about the board's collective addiction to challops in my ballot email to Mark and yet I rooted against a #1 placing for "Teen Spirit" (as you can see, the song still made my list). Guess I'm part of the problem!

Drain You
Dive
In Bloom
Serve the Servants
Lounge Act
On a Plain
Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Heart Shaped Box
Dumb
Breed
All Apologies
Scentless Apprentice
Son of A Gun
Pennyroyal Tea
Milk It
Territorial Pissings
Floyd the Barber
Stain
Sifting

Yeah a few other With the Lights Out tracks I think, also Moist Vagina and the song from the KISS tribute album (xposts).

in my own email to Mark Gavin

I don't exactly think SLTS is the sort of hit single that is unrepresentative of the band in general.

Oh, it's not unrepresentative, it's just that I've heard it that many times that it's gone a bit stale for me. That, and I think they have far better songs.

Starting to think I should have put "In Bloom" at #1. Such an amazing song. That solo is like the sound of the sky ripping in half.

i'm not even reading this thread because it's probably full of nevermind hating, b-side loving wackos

in bloom
smells like teen spirit
scentless apprentice
dumb
on a plain
serve the servants
come as you are
about a girl
negative creep
lithium
radio friendly unit shifter
downer
blew
drain you
heart shaped box
rape me
love buzz
been a son
the man who sold the world
school

i really enjoyed torque's cover of "in bloom" on that recent tribute comp. they totally nailed the guitar solo.

xp Well, yeah.

Dumb
Do Re Mi
Swap Meet
Been a Son
Something in the Way
Beeswax
On a Plain
Polly
If You Must
Spank Thru
Scentless Apprentice
Endless Nameless
Come as You Are
Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Thru the Strip
The Other Improv
School
Heart Shaped Box
Milk It
Drain You
Very Ape

favorite album: In Utero

Blew
Dive
Drain You
Aneurysm
You Know You’re Right
Lounge Act
On A Plain
Paper Cuts
Love Buzz
Sifting
Breed
Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
Something in the Way
Very Ape
Downer
Big Long Now
Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Come As You Are
Dumb

Been a Son
Lithium
Sappy
Scentless Apprentice
On a Plain
Lounge Act
Very Ape
I Hate Myself and Want to Die
Breed
Aneurysm
Heart-Shaped Box
Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle
All Apologies
Pennyroyal Tea
Drain You
Tourette's
Oh, the Guilt
Milk It
Old Age
School

Serve The Servants
Drain You
In Bloom
On A Plain
Sappy
Heart-Shaped Box
Sliver
School
Very Ape
Breed
Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
Been A Son
Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle
Turnaround
Territorial Pissings
Tourette’s
Endless, Nameless
Lithium
Negative Creep
Pen Cap Chew

favorite album:
Nevermind

Nirvana covering Devo was always such an eye-opener for me, things like that are a window into Cobain's taste beyond the obvious influences that people associate him with, plus "Turnaround" totally kicks ass

i think the song i've enjoyed the most listening to the poll results that i didn't think of voting for is "Swap Meet," really overlooked that one

yes!!!

Milk It
Dumb
Lithium
Aneurysm
Negative Creep
Pennyroyal Tea
Where Did You Sleep Last Light?
Very Ape
Drain You
Lounge Act
School
D7
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Stay Away
Scentless Apprentice
Sappy
Breed
Molly’s Lips
Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
Swap Meet

favorite album: In Utero

i don't dislike "You Know You're Right" but i kind of appreciate seeing, some years after all the hype that attended its release, that it's been more or less discarded as an inessential leftover and not The Great Lost Nirvana Single.

maybe it's just that it's one of my favorite Velvet's songs, but I love their version of 'Here She Comes Now' that's on the Fifteen Minutes tribute.

i enjoy "you know you're right" as a song but the mix on the self-titled 'best-of' is atrocious. would have been good with rawer 'in utero' style production, imo

scoffing @ #1

scoff away

Dive
Drain You
Aneurysm
Come As You Are
Floyd the Barber
In Bloom
Curmudgeon
Lounge Act
Spank Thru
School
Scentless Apprentice
Very Ape
Breed
Hairspray Queen
Dumb
Beeswax
Negative Creep
Blew
Oh the Guilt
Swap Meet

Lounge Act
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Sappy
Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Son Of A Gun
Pennyroyal Tea
Lithium
Molly's Lips
You Know You're Right
All Apologies
Endless, Nameless
Rape Me
Breed
Territorial Pissings
Sliver
School
In Bloom
Polly
Stay Away
Heart-Shaped Box

album: Nevermind

1. “On a Plain”
2. “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
3. “Heart-Shaped Box”
4. “All Apologies”
5. “Dumb”
6. “Sliver”

Thanks Gavin!

Frances Farmer Will Have her Revenge on Seattle
Aneurysm
Dumb
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Heart Shaped Box
Serve the Servants
Aero Zeppelin
Swap Meet
Love Buzz
Lithium
The Man Who Sold the World
Sifting
Milk It
On a Plain
Hairspray Queen
Mr Moustache
Big Long Now
Paper Cuts
Lounge Act
Where Did You Sleep Last Night

I didn't vote because apparently I have a terrible memory for Nirvana song titles (all through the countdown I was going "hmm... <goes to youtube> oh yeah, this one!") but thank you all for the joy I felt when School - Sliver - Breed came up in quick succession

"Sliver", "Sappy", and "Dive" were the ones I didn't vote for that I was happiest to rediscover through this poll.

Also, thanks, Gavin!

im remembering so many songs too!

TOKEN EASTERN SONG!

https://youtu.be/rmFcXfRGYWI

Won't post my entire list, but I was the guy that voted for Breed as my #1.
#2 was On A Plain.

huh, nobody voted for Talk to Me. I almost did, maybe I should have.

didnt vote but probably should have. genuinely surprised at SLTS taking #1. i thought Aneurysm was a shoo-in

oh man that velvets cover is amazing and i'd somehow never heard it before

kurt screaming out the chorus just feels right

would have voted for it

Considering also what was left off that's not a bad list of songs - as a legacy of a decent songwriter I think it holds up pretty well.

really i do suspect those of you who don't think "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is one of Nirvana's 20 best recordings of pure frontin'

^^^^^

i didn't vote for it, but my thinking was more like "it would be just outside my top 10 but it doesn't need my vote and i can make room for more songs"

really i do suspect those of you who don't think "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is one of Nirvana's 20 best recordings of pure frontin'

― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius)

You and I seem to have very different taste in Nirvana songs, but I would agree with this.

Heart Shaped Box
Serve The Servants
Do Re Mi
Curmudgeon
Milk It
Oh The Guilt
Beeswax
Hairspray Queen
Breed
If You Must
The Money Will Roll Right In
Been A Son
About a Girl
Son Of a Gun
Endless Nameless
Blew
Scentless Apprentice
Drain You
Scoff
Pennyroyal Tea

xp Yeah "Turnaround" kicks so much ass. Although out of the 4 covers from that session, their version of "Son of a Gun" pulls on my nostalgia strings the most.

#43-59 comprise most of the Nirvana jams I still pump on a somewhat regular basis.

"Francis Farmer" getting the most #1 votes means it's the actual winner.

"Scoff" getting only two votes is kinda absurd