Memoria... The 20th Anniversary of the Death of Kurt Cobain
We didn't know it at the time, but 20 years ago today, music fans lost a beloved artist, one who was never able to fully share with us the depths of his potential talents. Kurt Cobain died from a self-inflicted gunshot on approximately April 5th, 1994, according to the coroner’s report, but we wouldn't learn the tragic news for three more days, when an electrician who came to Cobain’s house to install security lighting discovered his body. In his last, tragic act, Kurt Cobain, the accidental revolutionary and unintentional voice of a generation, sowed the seeds of his transformation from rock star into legend.
But what begets a legend? Never comfortable with his fame or place in popular culture, Kurt would likely disagree with this description. In fact he would more than likely be affronted at the suggestion. Sad though it may be, the fact is, true legendary status generally isn't conferred upon an artist until after they are gone.
Writing about legendary music figures is always a challenge, in no small part because so much has already been written about them. There is no point in rehashing what led up to Kurt’s suicide, what could have been done to prevent it, or conspiracy theories cooked up around his death. All that really needs to be talked about at this point is the man, his music and at what point on the popular culture scale does his legacy fit in?
The easy thing to do in this instance is to interview an expert on Cobain and the era, but in an attempt to take this piece in a different direction from the obvious, I ventured into different corners of the Internet in search of Nirvana’s fandom. Among the people I talked to, was an incredibly dedicated and well-spoken Nirvana fan named Sean, who hails from New Jersey. We conversed over the course of several hours, discussing Kurt Cobain and his legacy. Sean had some very insightful thoughts on Kurt and Nirvana, made more interesting by the fact he isn’t old enough to have heard the news many of us woke to on April 8th, 1994.
Liner Notes: How and when did you get into Nirvana?
Sean: I got into Nirvana when I was 12 (I'm 25 now). So I was actually too young to know them as a band when they were around, but my generation was the first to have the Internet in basically every household. I'd seen the band on TV before, but never paid close attention. Then everyone started downloading music, so I needed to expand my horizons. I remembered the longhaired blond dude screaming on TV and downloaded “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, actually listening for the first time. Probably haven't gone longer than a month without hearing them since.
Liner Notes: That is very similar to how I got into some of my favorite artists, all of whom were mostly inactive when I discovered them as a teenager. What was it about Nirvana’s sound, and more specifically Kurt, that drew you to them?
Sean: Like most people listening for the first time, I couldn't understand the lyrics. But the distortion, I'd never heard guitar distortion in such a way. When the chorus kicked in on that first go around, and the guitars took on that dirty rumble, I was very intrigued. It was so much different than the pop music every generation seems to be flooded with. Naturally, sitting at the computer (and) listening, I looked up the lyrics. Then I could actually understand them as I listened and I began to enjoy it even more. Not long after this, I was listening to them in the computer room of our house (no middle class kid had their own computer back then, it was always in some common room) and (a family member) walked by and asked what I was listening to. I told him Nirvana, and he said, "Oh, that guy’s dead, turn it off." I argued it wasn't true, but when I looked it up, I found out the news. That's when I also discovered there were entire books about (Kurt’s) life, and then I became even more fascinated.
Liner Notes: How long had you been listening to them before that revelation?
Sean: Only for a few weeks.
Liner Notes: That must have come as quite a shock to you.
Sean: Sure. I don't recall exactly, but I'm pretty sure before that I was bragging about how I was gonna go to one of their shows. It was a bummer. It meant the music I had already downloaded and bought was all there was ever going to be. (There would be) no excitement waiting for a new album to be released. That's a s****y feeling, even when you're talking about people you've never met. Stranger’s deaths having an effect on you is not a common experience. It's strange.
Liner Notes: You are on the younger side for a Nirvana fan. Did you ever get grief from your peers for being into them?
Sean: Not really, I made a point to hang out with the "punk" group of kids in middle and high school. Most of my friends now are around 30; I'm the youngest in my social groups in most instances.
The only grief I’ve gotten is that I play Nirvana too damn often. They know if I get off my bar stool and head to the jukebox, or if they get in my car and I'm driving, they're likely going to hear Nirvana. So the grief would be just that I play them too damn often. But not for my tastes.
Liner Notes: Where do you see Kurt and his music now, 20 years later, in the grand scheme of popular music culture?
Sean: Personally, I see them as the last Rock & Roll band of cultural importance. Their level of achievement and fame is only rivaled by their predecessors, the greats of rock’s past: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, etc. These people and these bands became cultural icons because of their music, to the point where they were influencing entire generations of young people. I see Kurt and Nirvana as the last manifestation of greatness on that level.
As far as what they did with that influence, I feel it's greatly overlooked. They did try to do some good with their influence. In so many interviews they spoke about bands that didn't have the recognition they had. They were telling young people to turn off MTV and go to some shows, find bands no one ever heard of, appreciate good music without having pop radio tell you to.
I've always made it a point to find good music that deserves to be heard based on it's own merit, not on that of reviews or popularity. That and they always advertised punk rock values; that doesn't mean anyone who signs a contract is selling out. It means get a shitty guitar, get some friends, and make some noise. F*** the quality, you do it yourself and you do it because you love it. That's all. [Do it] to experience and appreciate total freedom, musical freedom, and even beyond, to whatever other medium it is inspires you. I believe that's what they did for popular music culture.
Liner Notes: Do you think the legacies of Nirvana and Kurt will take that next step down the road and truly be recognized by a wider audience on the same artistic level as Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix and the other greats of that era?
Sean: I do. I think anyone who really looks at Rock & Roll subjectively would absolutely have to include them on that same level. I think perhaps because of the fact that they are in many ways viewed as the last great rock band it is a hindrance on their inclusion on some level. Rock & Roll needs the emergence of that next great music-changing and culture inspiring group to take over the reigns and maybe then they'll be properly perceived, in hindsight, for what they truly were.
Liner Notes: We are in something of a 90's pop culture revival right now (Soundgarden is back, Alice in Chains are back, package tours of 90’s artists over the past couple summers) Would you agree with this and do you think it will do anything to raise Nirvana's visibility to a new generation?
Sean: Sure, yeah. We live in the information age. Anyone can look up anything in just a couple minutes. I'm sure people checking out Soundgarden and whatever other bands are still around (isn't Mudhoney still doing their thing in some incarnation?) (Ed. Note: They never went away, actually!) will inevitably find their way to Nirvana. There are kids out there whose tastes are leaning this way that will soon get to hear Nirvana for the first time. Older people, too. People that would have never listened to Nirvana when they were around are now turning on oldies rock radio stations and guess who's in the circulation? (Ed. Note: Sean is right, I've heard this thing myself.)
Do I think there will be some great resurgence of their popularity? Probably not, but those albums are going to keep selling, at whatever pace, and those songs are going to continue to be downloaded. I don't know what percentage of those listeners are younger people experiencing whatever "grunge" was for the first time, but I'm sure young people are among them. I bet you can find teenagers in every state of the U.S. heading to school today in a Nirvana t-shirt, with headphones in their ears. No question.
Liner Notes: If you had the chance to ask Kurt one question, what would it be?
Sean: I think a lot of people would want to ask the guy some deep, soulful, culturally important question. My first impression of the dude from what I've read is that he would hate that. I'd probably ask him if he would tell me the funniest story or joke he could think of, and in return I would try and make him laugh.
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Kurt Cobain joined the Great Gig in the Sky far too soon. He left behind an oeuvre of three studio albums, one of which contains four radio staples and has itself become an entry on Must Listen album lists of any repute. Whether he liked it or not, Kurt Cobain was an innovator. There are few examples of albums which, quite literally, ignited a musical revolution and Kurt's music with Nirvana most definitely did.
While he wasn't as prolific in terms of recordings as fellow 27 Club members Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison were, Kurt's impact on multiple generations of music fans becomes more pronounced with each passing year.
What begets a legend? When an artist's music and legacy transcends the generation in which their music was created, and makes a significant impact with subsequent generations of new fans, that is what truly begets a legend.
All photos in this article are from Nirvana's concert at the Palasport, Modena, Italy, on February 21st, 1994. The band performed only six more concerts after this, prior to Kurt Cobain's suicide on April 5th, 1994.
All photos via Getty Images. Photographer: Raffaella Cavalieri
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