Kurt Cobain Feb. 20

Tragic Melody:  The Life of Kurt Cobain

“Famous is the last thing I wanted to be.”  This was what Kurt Cobain said yet he and the other members of his Seattle-based band, Nirvana, became the toast of the country and the world.  As the band’s leader, songwriter and vocalist/guitarist, Kurt Cobain’s star was the brightest.  Causing immeasurable controversy, Kurt Cobain officially died by his own hands on April 5, 1994.

Kurt Cobain’s Troubled Past

There are three words that can describe Kurt Cobain’s early life:  turbulent, insecure, and violent.  He was a sickly kid who loved music, who did not fit in and was punished for it.  His medical condition and his unhappiness led to drug dependence even at an early age.

Kurt Donald Cobain was born in the town of Hoquaim, Washington on February 20, 1967.  He came from working class stock.  Six months after his birth, his family moved to the logging town of Aberdeen.  This was where his troubles started.

Kurt Cobain had recurrent bronchitis and was therefore unfit for the logging town.  Though he was charming when he smiled, he rarely did.  His family was poor (once, he even got a chunk of coal for Christmas) and he was continually sick; there was nothing much to smile about.  When it seemed that his life couldn’t get any worse, his parents began to have worse spats which ended in divorce.  He was seven at that time.

Kurt Cobain became not unlike an unwanted piece of property, shuttled from parent to relative to parent.  He became even more withdrawn and had difficulty getting accepted by his peers.  He preferred music and art over athletics so he was physically and verbally abused by the jocks.  The nice nerds could not relate to his musical inclination.  He didn’t particularly like the junkies but at least these people liked the same music he did, so he began hanging out with them and started using pot when he was in ninth grade.

Kurt Cobain’s Nirvana and Stardom

Kurt claimed that his music is the expression of all his pent-up angst and rage against an unfair world.  Obviously, more people could relate to his sentiments than he previously supposed for Nirvana and Cobain ascended to stardom.

Kurt had run through lots of bands before he formed an alliance with Novoselic.  Their first Album was Bleach in 1991, they were signed on by Geffen which subsequently produced their second more successful album Nevermind which sent them mainstream.  This album’s single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had the singular honor of being dubbed as the “anthem of a generation.”

Though Nirvana’s success shocked Kurt Cobain, what really provoked him was the way his songs were interpreted.  Apparently, what went on paper and what was heard by his millions of fans were vastly different.  As a case in point, Nirvana’s single “Polly,” which carried anti-rape sentiments, accompanied the screams of a gang rape victim.

Kurt Cobain:  The Beginning of the End

Kurt Cobain was besieged by fame, his ulcers, his doubts, his frustration, and his rage.  He acquired a heroin addiction, an allegedly heroin user wife Courtney Love, and a daughter Frances Bean.  He unsuccessfully tried to kill himself by taking 50 painkillers washed down with champagne.  He used a gun next and finally succeeded.

His death drove thousands of teenagers and fans to Seattle for a vigil.  Some chose to faithfully follow Kurt Cobain’s tragic melody and ended their refrain by killing themselves.