Kurt Cobain: Still Dead (And Other Observations)

Intellectual Conservative ^ | 06 April 2004 | Brian S. Wise

[presidio9]

Spin magazine was the first by my observation to put the very dead Kurt Cobain on its April cover to mark the tenth anniversary of his suicide, on 05 April 1994 (his body was found on 08 April). Though he’s nearly twenty-five in this picture, he looks all of seventeen and decidedly sober, one of those rarities. It’s hard to say how often Cobain was photographed sober, but since his death very few publications have thought to publish a decent photo of the man, for fear of not portraying him as a tragic figure.

But at least we have tragic texts. “Kurt Cobain was many things while he was alive – punk, pop star, hero, victim, junkie, feminist, geek avenger, wiseass. But ten years after his death, he’s something else entirely. He’s a ghost [emphasis original] …. [The] bitter finality of Cobain’s end became an indelible part of his story …. No other chapter in pop music history has so much darkness at its center. And no other artist still haunts us in such a powerful, subliminal way.” And so forth.

Chris Norris, who wrote “The Ghost of Saint Kurt” for Spin, may or may not be a fine writer in everyday life, but the article goes on as though beehived old blue hairs are lining up outside Cobain’s house to see his furniture. Easy, Norris. We understand that some journalistic liberties are taken when it comes to writing tribute pieces about popular figures, but come on. If you’re going to say no other chapter in pop music history has so much darkness at its center (and in doing so, at least ignoring the likes of Syd Barrett, the former Pink Floyd lead singer who went crazy and stayed there, a different consideration from being addicted, depressed and ending it all), you’re implying that since “Rock Around the Clock” there has been nothing worse, which is more than a little silly.

But Kurt Cobain was what he was, and a decade later we are left to consider the question (“Was Cobain a performer of real significance or an over-hyped flash in the pan?”) with the full benefit of retrospect. Helpful to remember that what makes a performer unique isn’t just his abilities but the moment in time in which he is “discovered.” Consequently, what made Cobain special wasn’t necessarily his ability to write and perform the catchiest hooks in popular music (which he certainly did), but the confluence of musical events that made him palatable to very large, young audiences.

If released either five years before or after the actual release dates in 1991, both the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and the album Nevermind would have come and gone without one-twentieth the fanfare. In 1986, bubblegum pop was still big enough to overwhelm anything different; in 1996, Nirvana would have been thought of as just another band arriving too late to the party, in the way we today consider some of the other capable bands that surrounded Nirvana, such as Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains.

Instead, what happened was that Nirvana signed with Geffen (from a fine little label called Sub Pop; for its loss, Sub Pop negotiated what proved to be a tremendously profitable percentage deal against Nirvana sales, after a certain number of units), a company that had so little faith in the band it printed only fifty thousand copies of Nevermind for its initial release, and didn’t hurt itself in promotion. That was, until MTV got hold of the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the rest being history.

Nearly lost in the Norris article is the fact that a radio station in San Diego, KBZT, now plays “all your favorite grunge hits,” meaning that it has switched to an alternative music format; also meaning that Nirvana has once again taken center stage. Is anyone surprised that Cobain has found a new audience? The dynamics that made his music so fashionable thirteen years ago are in place again today, just as they were then.

Modern popular music is a repetitive, plastic, tedious wasteland directed primarily at teenage babysitters and their babysitting money; an industry in desperate need of several shots in the arm from something large, intrusive and different. And while there are bands making large, original strides forward – Queens of the Stone Age comes to mind, as does Slipknot – they aren’t striking the sort of nerve Nirvana struck, most likely because not enough people aren’t fed up, yet. Hopefully they will be very soon.

[martin_fierro]

Most rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read. -- Frank Zappa

[Support Free Republic]

---

Thanks for the pic sciencediet :0)	Donate Here By Secure Server Or mail checks to FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794 or you can use PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD- It is in the breaking news sidebar!

[ffusco]

Anyone remember Ian Curtis of Joy Division? By comparison, Nirvana seems like silly pop music by an over-rated hack.

[presidio9]

I want to go on record as saying that I think Nirvana was one of the most important bands in Rock N Roll history. The author's obsevation that the band's success was a result of a unique confluence of events is particularly asinine. The same could be said about any popular cultural phenominon.

[bobjam]

Many in Gen-X had a lot to be fed up with. On the surface, they were fed up with the big-hair bubble gum bands of the 80's. The likes of New Kids on the Block and Millie Vanillie only made it worse. Deeper though, many perceived themselves as having been shortchanged by the social experiments of the late 60's and 70's. The attempt to find solace for the latch-key childhood and broken homes in wanton materialism proved a failure. Gen-Xers as a group felt they had an emptyness with nothing to fill. Later in the decade, many discovered something that would fill that emptyness- God. The rapid growth of contemporary churches is a sure sign of that discovery.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Interesting. I never got into Nirvana as they hit the scene right after I got out of college. There have been other music tragedies of course. Stevie Ray Vaughn was one for me as I saw him play in Atlanta in the summer of 1990 just a week or so before he was killed. Morrison, Hendrix, Bonham, etc. were are genre icons who's losses meant a change in the music itself. Cobain is another in a long list.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Keep in mind the old addage that success is where preparation and opportunity meet. The opportunity was there for them to affect change. The "glam rock" genre had just about run it's course then and it was time for something new.

[rattrap]

F***ing Barf! Cobain was a talentless hack who played rehashed 70's rock. The only thing that bothered me about him taking the easy way out was that I'd be forced to listed to that garbage 24/7 for awhile. Bah!

[KateUTWS]

"Love Will Tear Us Apart"...angst on vinyl.

[1L]

Why are we wasting bandwidth on a low-talented idiot who succeeded more by taking his own life than by anything he ever did in life?

Calling Cobain or Nirvana "important" or anything other than a "waste of time" is totally stupid.

[BigSkyFreeper]

The "glam rock" genre had just about run it's course then and it was time for something new.

Some of the "Glam rock" acts tried to become a part of the changing climate of rock music, they went so far as to change just how they sounded. The "glam rockers" undoubtedly carved out their own sounds for years, but once Nirvana showed up on the stage, everyone wanted to sound like Nirvana. It's like KISS doing disco back in the days. When disco died, they carved out their own sound.

[joesnuffy]

The General concurs...

[ffusco]

Insight


Guess your dreams always end
They don't rise up just descend
But I don't care anymore
I've lost the will to want more
I'm not afraid not at all
I watch them all as they fall
But I remember when we were young
Those with habits of waste
Their sense of style and good taste
Of making sure you were right
Hey don't you know you were right?
I'm not afraid anymore
I keep my eyes on the door
But I remember....

Tears of sadness for you
More upheaval for you
Reflects a moment in time
A special moment in time
Yeah, we are wasted our time
We didn't really have time
But we remember when we were young
And all of God's angels beware
And all you judges beware
Sons of chance, take good care
For all the people not there
I'm not afraid anymore
Oh, I'm not afraid anymore

Ian Kevin Curtis 1956-1980

[martin_fierro]

I want to go on record as saying that I think Nirvana was one of the most important bands in Rock N Roll history.

The Record Shall So Reflect.

Not that anyone gives a flying f*** anyway.

<|:)~

[presidio9]

Admit it: You hang on my every word. After reading my opinion, you immediately went to Amazon and bought "Nevermind."

[Chi-townChief]

I think Cobain just listened to too much of his own music and finally said: "A lot of this just really sucks" and KA-BLAMMO.

[GSWarrior]

"Rock music is mostly about moving big black boxes from one side of town to the other in the back of your car."

--David Thomas

[Conservomax]

Rehased 70's rock???

Are you saying that just to say it or do you really feel that way?

[MJM59]

Every time I hear about Gen-X and angst, I want to vomit. I would like to see these kids walk a mile in their grandparents shoes. The biggest hardship kids today have to face is when the cable goes out.