Punk Priestess Patti Smith unveils her video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

She’s been called the “punk rock poet laureate” and made her way into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She’s been named to Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Rock and Roll Artists of all times. She played the final show at CBGB. Now, she’s also a cover artist.

Patti Smith is an inarguable inclusion on the list of early punk icons, and she fits well into that pantheon. Her debut album, 1975’s Horses, is one of the albums that paved the way for punk, and her marriage to Fred “Sonic” Smith of the MC5 is just one more way she fit firmly into the scene.

On her 10th album, Twelve, she has finally made a cover album, which includes a cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. It’s something she has been waiting for the right moment to do, as she told Spinner:

I always wanted to do a covers album, but I didn't really feel I had the range to do the kind of album I wanted to do. As the project evolved, a lot of the songs on the [original] list didn't make the final cut, and a lot of songs that I didn't plan on doing wound up being the ones I chose. They're all special to me for different reasons. But Nirvana was the most emotional experience.

Her version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is a very emotional, ethereal one, as is the video that goes along with it. The feelings evoked by both her version and by the video remind me of the way I felt when I saw a portrait of her by Annie Leibovitz in an exhibition at the DIA. It was taken in Smith’s home here in Detroit after Fred “Sonic” Smith had died, and depicted Smith in her living room, where she’d moved her bed, unable to sleep in their bedroom any longer. It was a feeling of both loss and feeling lost, and the sadness wrapped Smith like a veil.

That’s the feeling I get from her version of “Teen Spirit” as well. Like she’s channeling all of those emotions into this one song. A cover song no less.

The video was directed by Smith’s friend, filmmaker Jem Cohen, and it’s a beautiful piece of work by both of them. Check out the video on Spinner.

If, after the video, you feel inclined to hear more by the punk priestess, you can purchase her cover album Twelve, but a better move might be to pick up her debut album Horses, from 1975. Produced by John Cale of The Velvet Underground, Horses mixes rock and roll and early punk rock with Smith's poetry. It's a classic album for both punk fans and people who are simply into great music.

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