# Best #1 Modern/Alternative Rock Song of the '80s/'90s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417 "2015-01-09T17:44:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/1 "2015-01-09T17:44:06Z")
Now that the polls are done, let’s narrow it down by decade. Since there were only 2 years of charts for the '80s, I’m lumping them in with the '90s picks. I’m including the songs that got the highest scores for each year - in the event of ties, I’ll include both songs that got the highest number of votes. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/2 "2015-01-09T17:57:38Z")
Voted for Oasis. Their song stands above those others. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/3 "2015-01-09T18:02:09Z")
Me, too. It was between that and “Veronica” for me, though I suspect Nirvana will probably pull ahead at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/4 "2015-01-09T18:13:09Z")
This was the toughest vote so far, for me at least. Except for Wonderwall (can Oasis get any more whiny?) and Orange Crush (REM meet the shark. Jump!), I really liked all these songs. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/5 "2015-01-09T18:14:17Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Me, too. It was between that and “Veronica” for me, though I suspect Nirvana will probably pull ahead at some point. I totally agree. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/6 "2015-01-09T18:28:52Z")
I went with “1979”, here. Lots of good choices. Also-rans for me are “Veronica” and “Wonderwall,” but “1979” has special meaning to me. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/7 "2015-01-09T18:31:08Z")
1979 for me too, although I prefer a couple off Siamese Dream even more. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/8 "2015-01-09T18:42:00Z")
N: SLTS. This was the alt song of the decade for me, by the alt band of the decade. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/9 "2015-01-09T18:47:15Z")
I ended up going with Nirvana, though really a lot of these songs are more “like” than “love”. Maybe I’ve just heard them way too much by this point. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/10 "2015-01-09T19:30:36Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > 1979 for me too, although I prefer a couple off Siamese Dream even more. That entire album is great start-to-finish. (That said, there’s a nostalgic vibe to “1979” that I love, and it’s a solid piece of pop songwriting. Then again, all the songs on this list are solid pop songwriting, in my estimation.) ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/11 "2015-01-09T20:00:25Z")
I wanted to vote for Jane’s Addiction, but since I couldn’t vote for _Jane Says_, I didn’t. In any case, the correct answer is _Smells Like Teen Spirit_. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/12 "2015-01-09T20:42:48Z")
Went with ‘1979’, although the other offerings were reasonably strong contenders (yes, including Orange Crush). Although I have to agree with Plankton - if “Jane Says” was there instead of peaking at #6 US, it would have gotten my vote. Nirvana will probably come ahead with this poll with “SLTS”; alas my favorite song of theirs - “Come As You Are” - was barely an Also-Ran, peaking at #32 US Billboard (add another entry for the “Obvious things about a creative work you realize after the millionth time” thread - [the guitar riff on that song is “borrowed” from another favorite song of mine, Killing Joke’s “Eighties”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_as_You_Are_(Nirvana_song)#Release).) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/13 "2015-01-09T21:16:29Z")
Wow, I like a ton of 80s alternative, but I hate most every song on that list. I guess the stuff I liked never got close to number 1. Smells Like Teen Spirit it is, then. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/14 "2015-01-09T21:23:04Z")
Hard not to go with Nirvana. Many in the music industry have compared their impact to that of The Beatles back in the 60s and rated _Teen Spirit_ as one of the greatest albums made. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/15 "2015-01-09T21:35:31Z")
“All Apologies” - I like it far better than SLTS. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/16 "2015-01-09T21:38:59Z")
Nirvana - SLTS. It’s funny, I’m a huge Foo fan, and I think Learn To Fly is one of their least interesting/more boring songs. How did that one make the cut? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/17 "2015-01-09T21:41:38Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Hard not to go with Nirvana. Many in the music industry have compared their impact to that of The Beatles back in the 60s and rated _Teen Spirit_ as one of the greatest albums made. (Nit: _Smells Like Teen Spirit_ was on the album _Nevermind_; otherwise, agreed!) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/18 "2015-01-10T01:03:07Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > (Nit: _Smells Like Teen Spirit_ was on the album _Nevermind_; otherwise, agreed!) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/19 "2015-01-10T01:33:12Z")
Nirvana - All Apologies. Their _Unplugged_ album is one of my all-time favorites. > [@Hamlet](#): > > (can Oasis get any more whiny?) Nothing–and I mean _nothing_–makes me reach to change the radio station (or hit ‘skip’ on Pandora) faster than the opening line of an Oasis song. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417/20 "2015-01-10T02:43:49Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > (can Oasis get any more whiny?) > [@Tangent](#): > > Nothing–and I mean _nothing_–makes me reach to change the radio station (or hit ‘skip’ on Pandora) faster than the opening line of an Oasis song. Not as whiny as _Closing Time_. It makes me reach to change the song whenever I hear it. Which is weird because I like _All About Chemistry_ and don’t mind some of their other stuff. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-80s-90s/709417.md?page=2)