Kurt Cobain Died 17 Years Ago
Kurt Cobain R.I.P .
When Kurt Cobain shot himself into the great beyond 17 years ago today, did he take rock 'n roll with him?
Sometimes it seems that way.
In all the years since that horrible day, when a distraught 27 year old man killed himself in the most self-obliterating way possible (he shot himself in the face), rock 'n roll hasnt been able to send another great band, or movement into the commercial stratosphere.
The early '90s grunge movement, which Cobain and Nirvana ignited, hasn't seen a parallel wave in the nearly two decades since. Think about the biggest selling rock bands to emerge post grunge - acts like Linkin Park (third rate rap-rock), Velvet Revolver (superstar vanity project), My Chemical Romance (emotionally bankrupt emo) and Daughtry (4th generation grunge-pop).
It's not a pretty legacy.
While no shortage of great rock groups have emerged in the time since - from the now defunkt White Stripes to Brooklyln's art-freak-out band TV on the Radio - they thrive in cults rather than in the mainstream.
That may have actually pleased Cobain, who saw music as something sacred and exclusive, not a force for the masses. Yet, for the populists among us, that's just another reason to see today's anniversary as a sad occasion.
The other, far larger one - Cobain's death itself -represents something unprecedented in the history of rock. All other pop stars who died young did so due to an accident. JImi, Janis and Jim Morrison didn't intend to die (though, eerily like Kurt, they all did so at age 27). Of them, Kurt alone meant to put a period on his life - and a particularly angry one at that.
No one can know the full reasons for someone's suicide. It's among the most individual and private acts a person can perform. But from the evidence, it seems like Kurt did mean to punish someone besides himself with his violent act. And that someone was the audience - the force that became his bane through their very worship. When you hate yourself as much as he apparently did, the love of others only seems that much more invasive, counterfiet and threatening. It's a sad cycle of psychology and, also, a deadly one.
There's only one balm for this - and that's the music itself. Kurt didn't leave a lot, but the pieces he did offer changed the world for a time. And it still has the power to move and provoke. It surely will for many more sad anniversaries to come
YouTube - Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box live
