Kurt Cobain: 10 Years Later

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Today is the 10 year anniversary of the day Kurt Cobain killed himself. Fans of Nirvana should light a candle. This thread is for rememberance of the man and the band.

While admittedly not Nirvana's biggest fan ever, I will say that Nirvana's music definitely had a big impact on my early teenage years. "Nirvana: Nevermind" was the first album I ever actually went out and bought (on TAPE...remember those?). It was an album that really got me into music in a serious manner. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was the first song I ever learned how to play on the drums. In fact, I learned how to play the drums initially by listening to that album over and over and air-drumming along. (For those unaware, I've been in and out of bands since I was 13, touring briefly with a few, and took my music career very seriously...until I realized that I didn't know a single musician over 30 who wasn't either a waiter or a music teacher. So I decided to move on. Anyway...)

I started liking them less and less with every kid I saw in my school sporting their brand-new Wal-Mart purchases Nirvana T-shirts. So die-hard fans may see me as a bit of a turncoat. But I always remembered how much the Nevermind album meant to me in the early year, and still enjoy it to this day. Despite this, at the time of Cobain's death, I remember thinking "what's the big deal?" Don't get me wrong, people killing themselves is always a big deal. But I never saw him as the "John Lennon of Generation X" that so many people saw him as. Maybe I was missing something, may not. I may never know.

This morning, when I heard on the radio that today was the big 10, I spent the day thinking about what kind of music Nirvana would be putting out today had Kurt just gotten some friggin' help for his depression/addiction. Wondering what his take would be on today's popular music. Wondering if the Foo Fighters, whom I love, would ever have been formed (probably not). It's funny how things work out in life. But while I didn't appreciate Nirvana enough at the time (not just the band or even Cobain, but what they represented), when I see a Christina Aguilera video or hear Limp Bizkit's atrocious singing on the radio, it really makes me miss Nirvana, and the rest of the grunge scene for that matter.

Here's to you, Kurt.

 

That was a very balanced summary. Well done.

I, personally, am no fan of Nirvana or their music but I recognise that they do seem to have had some a notable impact on musical trends through the '90s and today so should be remembered for that at least.

 

Well, this'll probably just kill the whole "Nirvana - voice of teenaged angst" thing, but I enjoyed their music as well. I guess this just proves that music can reach across many age groups if its played from the heart.

 

Ah... Nirvana.

*moment of silence*

It's interesting to think about it - I mean, his/their impact on music is already huge - imagine how massive it would have been, had not Kurt offed himself. Where would we be today, and what would be different about the music we listen to? Crazy...

 

I myself was am a bit young to remember too much of Kurt Cobain, so it never hit me that hard. But I think the fact that he still has so many loyal fans all these years later says something about him.

To Kurt
*raises his glass

 

Just another whining grunge band from Seattle that ruined the thrash scene

 

Here's an interesting snip about Nirvana (specifically "Smells Like Teen Spirit") from Martin Popoff's recent book, The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs Of All Time :

 

My relation to them is pretty similar to your Death Rabbit. Except that I didnt start to listen to them in earnest until just six months before he killed himself. Then after his death the interest superboomed and like yours my interest faded when every single silly little kid ran around with a Cobain or Nirvana shirt and of course that I thought that suicide is silly, selfish and stupid.

 

joacqin, I had that same feeling when Metallica came out with "ONE"

 

I thought that it was pretty much accepted that he didn't kill himself, but was shot...

 

This is an interesting (long) read, though I'm not completely convinced...

Justice for Kurt

 

I used to be a really big fan of Nirvana (the opening riff to "come as you are" had me hooked), but now I'm not so interested. The first album I went out to buy was "from the muddy banks of wishkah" which i listened to over and over till i got bored of it.

 

I would have to think that if Nirvana (and Kurt) had survived they would have gone in one of two different directions...either broken up leading to a string of unsucessful projects, or gone the way of another of their contemporaries, Pearl Jam, and continued to record and tour with ever diminishing followings.

It is a sad truth that Kurt's suicide was instrumental in vaulting Nirvana from a band that was very popular within the grunge crowd to an American icon, and also helped insure that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was designated best rock and roll song by Rolling Stone 12 years after it's release.

"Polly wanna cracker"

Rest in Peace, Kurt.