About Me
To whom it may concern:
This space is dedicated to mourning and honoring Kurt Cobain, whose contributions to the band Nirvana and influence on Generation X were undeniably profound and, for lack of better words, crushingly deep.
In reading this, you are being offered insight into what kind of man Kurt was, perceive him however you will. Fellow Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic describe him thus;
"We remember Kurt for what he was; caring, generous, and sweet. Let's keep the music with us. We'll always have it forever. Kurt had an ethic towards his fans that was rooted in the punk rock way of thinking: No band is special; no player royalty. If you've got a guitar, and a lot of soul, just bang something out and mean it--you are the superstar. Plug in the tones and rhythms that are universally human. Music. Heck, use your guitar as a drum. Just catch a groove and let it flow out of your heart. That's the level Kurt spoke to us on: in our hearts. And that's where the music will always be, forever."
One moment, an act of mysterious kindness Michael Azerrad remembers Kurt for;
"In the wake of his death, there was one image of Kurt that refused to leave my mind. It was from the Reading Festival back in the summer of 1992. Still wearing the full-length doctor's smock he'd worn during the show, Kurt walked off stage, hand in hand with a little boy who it turned out had terminal cancer and had wangled his way backstage. Kurt slowly descended the stairs from the stage as a lone Kleigl light beamed down on him. All in white, his blond hair gleaming, he looked just like an angel, the boy a cherub. There was a horde of people all around Kurt, but somehow the light never hit them. No one made a sound. It was very quiet, especially after the thunderous noise of the show. The crowd followed him down an alleyway made by the backstage tents and then he turned a corner, still hand in hand with the little boy, and was gone."
Larry Smith, Kurt's uncle, reflects on the unique sense of honor Kurt possessed.
"Kurt didn't feel the general mold of society in a logging town and so he was beaten on by people who didn't understand him. One day I heard he was in a fight a few blocks away. When I ran to the scene, the fight was over, however I heard from a friend that Kurt was assaulted by a burly 250-pound logger type. Evidently Kurt did not even fight. He just presented the bully with the appropriate hand gesture every time he was knocked down until the bully gave up."
Kurt wouldn't fight, for his own reasons. But he wouldn't run away or back down either. He stood his ground, and re-defined what was supposed to be a fight in doing so.
Those who knew Kurt saw him as a man of principal and compassion. Those he helped thought him generous. His fans worship his talents, and his intelligence. He was conclusively a moving person who affected many many people.But here is the story of how Kurt Cobain changed me. This is my first encounter with Nirvana and Kurt, How and Why I remember him. when I tell this story, I'm going to try doing it in a way I've never really done anything before. I'm going to type exactly what I feel, straight from my heart.
"I was born a year before Kurt committed suicide. I never got to experience Nirvanamania, or buy any of Nirvana's albums until recently. I never even knew Nirvana existed until my stepfather introduced me to my first Nirvana song, "On a Plain". I instantly fell in love with it, and so he showed me a few more songs he had. I heard "Heart Shaped Box", "Rape Me", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and "All Apologies". The moment I heard these songs, I knew that this was infinitely different from what I was used to hearing (I raised myself on Metallica, because I hadn't expanded my musical horizons at all). At that very instant, I asked for more Nirvana, and it was awhile before I ever got any. My first album was Unplugged. I never was really a fan of live performances, but this was so different. It was something magical. The way Kurt sang...everything about it was so perfect. He'd managed to depict my exact emotions through his music. He was performing precisely what I was feeling to an audience, and to me. Being hooked from then on, I kept collecting Nirvana. I ended up owning every album, single, and song there was to find. From there I started studying Kurt, since he was the figure in the band I could best relate to. When I started, I knew nothing about him (other than his role in Nirvana). I bought a copy of his Journals, Come As You Are: the Story of Nirvana, Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain, Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects, Nirvana: Teen Spirit, and a book of their lyrics. I started off reading Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana first. I learned how the band had gone from being nobodies to being instantly famous, but I also learned about Kurt's life. I observed so many similarities. We were born to parents whose marriages ended in divorce, and we each had fathers who weren't the fathers we wanted them to be. Neither of us had very many friends, and we both sought refuge in the world of music. Upon learning more about him, I was inspired. I knew what I wanted to do; utilize music in a way that might change the world, a way that will make my views heard!
Kurt doesn't deserve to be remembered for his faults, not when he's done so many good things. We have what he left behind. There are all the lives he's had an impact on. There's his music. A musically historical treasure, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which upon its release became the anthem of our generation. A song so powerful that while listening to it...you just want to break something, to scream as loud as you can. It's a song that smashes its way through to your very core, making every fiber of your being buzz with energy you never knew you had. It's the song of the decade, and the song of decades after that. What Kurt Cobain did will stay with us forever. The things he has done are legendary, and will inspire people's lives centuries from now. In this way...he is immortal, because a legend never dies."
