Once in a great while does a figure come along who alters the course of a genre and touch the world. Kurt Cobain was such a man. Poised on the edge of genius and insanity, Cobain wrote songs that moved the world. Unfortunately his great success weighed heavily on his poet’s soul and his last composition was a single note shotgun serenade.
Kurt Cobain was a man who was not for this world. The sensitivity and insight that allowed him to create his music also fueled the madness that haunted him. He sought out a balm for his ailment and found a poisoned cure in heroin.
Rock before Nirvana had been reduced to soulless corporate drivel. There was a lack of meaning and sincerity. A few bands struggled against the overwhelming tide of banality. One of these bands was Nirvana who shone like a nova in the pits of Seattle’s grunge movement. Through deep and painful lyrics and outrageous stage shows, Nirvana came to the world’s stage. Here they would burn the brightest.
Nirvana and Cobain made their way to the top of the charts and produced some of the greatest music of the contemporary era. “Lithium,” “Should Have Been a Son,” “Heart Shaped Box” and other songs were a grim yet beautiful alternative to the vapid noise that was rock during the late ’80s and early ’90s. The band’s most known song, “Nevermind” was the anthem for the dispossessed, those who felt that they were lost and forgotten by the masses. His songs were dark poetry, and while many criticized them for containing little more than strange metaphors and surreal imagery, they struck a chord. If you liked Nirvana you had something wrong with you, a disease that allowed you to tap into the magic that lay dormant.
Sure, there have been bands like Nirvana before and men like Cobain are all members in a long list of charismatic and wonderfully disturbed front men, Morrison, Hendrix, Nowell, and others. They all lived a life of fame, pain, and addiction. Dead from suicide, overdoses, or “mysterious circumstances,” these figures are the saints of music. Why is it that so many of the greatest minds in music burn out so soon? Is it something in the lifestyle? Or is it more of a cost of their art? Either way, while they are all dead and long-since dust they continue to live on through their music.
While much has been written about his supposed suicide, Cobain’s death remains a mystery. Theories abound about his death, with investigators placing blame on everyone from his band-mates, to his wife, and his manager. Other than the suicide theory the most common explanation is that angered over Cobain’s decision to quit Nirvana, his wife, Hole frontwoman Courtney Love, attempted to persuade him to continue Nirvana, fearing that if he disappeared from the spotlight her band Hole might disappear as well.
The Courtney theory has only been compounded further by the release of Cobain’s personal journals. Little more than photocopies of the original notebooks, these journals are seen as many fans of Nirvana as nothing more than intrusions into the mind of a dead rock legend. Fans accuse Love of releasing these journals in order to continue her own faulting career; many fans believe that the profits will go towards Love’s infamous drug habit.
Cobain has been in the ground for nearly a decade and his brief but brilliant life still affects the world. He was the Jesus Christ of rock music, a martyr to the cause. Even so long after his death, the music of his band Nirvana continue to be seen as the savior of a genre.
