Kurt Cobain & Music [A Reply]
Channel: axlsnaxle
Date: 2012-04-07

Peter's video:
http://youtu.be/wh-ZdM_dTYE

Coughlan's video:
http://youtu.be/I6KIvfnpyb4

Yes, it is the 18th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death, and yes people give a shit. Yes, people idolize the man, yes I understand it is very much economically effective marketing him as such.

However, you both don't seem to be musicians, so let me give you my perspective on the situation:
'tis a good thing.

It is very much unfair to declare the man a coward, denigrate his character, and make the man seem worthless, or at least overblown, whilst overlooking his contribution (and Nirvana's contribution) to music as a whole.

You can thank bands like Faith No More for opening the window for "weirder" acts in the 1990s, but you have Nirvana, and Kurt Cobain, to thank for allowing a SLEW of musicians into the mainstream. Yes, "undesirables" came to appreciate this music en masse, but it has also allowed people like myself to find good music through Nirvana. 

Take me:
I love ALL TYPES of music. Everything from dubstep to hip-hop to outlaw country, metal, and punk. And thanks to bands like Nirvana, bands that peaked my interest in music, I now have a craving to listen to new bands all of the time.

Idolization is often pathetic, this we can agree on, but you cannot overlook the effect Nirvana had on the overall musical zeitgeist any more than you can overlook Led Zeppelin's popularity and the aftermath of kids who idolized them (like Kurt Cobain). Their effect on their respective musical time periods is very similar.

I understand that the both of you are older, more jaded, and certainly more cynical than I -- but do not lose sight of this. Nirvana was a good band, with solid songs. And though they were and are not the greatest thing ever (nothing is), they have a very important place in modern musical history.

Besides, it isn't Kurt Cobain you should be despising, it is the corporate machine that makes a massive profit off of his repackaged tunes, and Nirvana's rotting corpse. They oversaturate the market with bullshit in order to make a quick buck -- and it is sickening.

Kurt Cobain would certainly be rolling in his grave if such an act were possible.