Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle (Drowned Youth: Part V) (Kurt Cobain)

Member Name: Tcraze84

Product:	Kurt Cobain
Date:	12/07/01 (1294 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The best lyricist there ever was, ever will be.

Disadvantages: Obvious, really.

In the history of modern society, there are the inevitable names that are mentioned time and time again as idols. Those who influence, those who inspire, those who give somebody else something worthwhile to live up to. Add to this list perhaps the unlikeliest of all icons, yet the man who almost single-handedly gave a whole generation, sometimes inadvertently, something to work towards and a set of beliefs and attitudes to hold themselves by. Whether they realise it or not, Kurt Cobain has shaped youth culture over an entire decade and beyond. Oh, and you wanna know who Frances Farmer is? Tough; do a search if you must.

Enigmatic frontman of Seattle grunge band Nirvana, indeed the band who spat in the face of the beginnings of manufactured pop music around a decade ago, Cobain was then and is now, respected by most young people, and even some older, more than anybody else I can think of. He struck a chord with a generation, he related to him. Why? The reason is quite simply because he was one of them. Many people try to relate or appeal to the teenage population of the world, but few succeed. But Cobain, growing up in the shadow of a corrupt American society and simultaneously, music, had every young person's dreams, beliefs and attitudes instilled in him from his upbringing. They just didn't know it yet. Indeed, his infamous suicide in the April of 1994 made his, and Nirvana's work accessible to the next batch of unsuspecting, unguided youths. For every one person who was unfamiliar with the already legendary band, there was one person intrigued; and interested to find out more. And that's why, even seven years after Nirvana became no more, they continue to inspire, continue to enchant, continue to act, somehow, somewhere, as the voice of a generation. Potentially, perhaps without even knowing it, the band also hold severe political importance and no doubt inspired so many to do so much. Just as The Beatles were credited for the rise of pop
ular rock music in the previous decade, without Nirvana, virtually every guitar-based band of the present day would sound a hell of a lot different if the impact that Nirvana dealt on youth and music culture had never happened.

Yet Cobain's death at the age of just 27, whilst unbelievably tragic and mourned by so many - even to the present day, potentially held several different, perhaps positive implications to modern society and popular music. Clichés? Yeah. But many still haven't perhaps grasped the sheer importance and impact on, potentially a series of decades, that Nirvana, and Kurt, actually had.

Besides every popular, outgoing kid with the benefit of being brought up as part of a nuclear family, Cobain stood up for - and inspired virtually every withdrawn, misunderstood individual as well. Why? Simple - he was one himself - "I don't know why I'd rather be dead than cool" ("Stay Away"). The divorce of his parents at a young age hit Kurt hard and yet without it, as a musician and lyricist, he may have been so different. An amalgamation of his family issues combined with the anger and hate he held for so many different people as part of his upbringing - the record executives, the "jocks" and "trendies" at school, politicians; resulted in a man driven by emotion - emotion that was subsequently aimed at all of them by Nirvana and the lyrical content of their work. His father got the brunt of Cobain's blame from the family divorce. In "Serve The Servants", the difficulty and angst suffered as part of his childhood is stated almost bluntly. The lines "Teenage angst has paid off well", "As my bones grew they did hurt/They hurt really bad/I tried hard to have a father/But instead I had a dad" reflect this, whilst "I just want you know that I don't hate you anymore" suggests a new-found maturity from Cobain, with "That legendary divorce is su
ch a bore" from the same song emphasises this point further.

Cobain despised conformity (a point emphasised by an outrageous Top Of The Pops "performance" after being forced to mime); yet the signing of Nirvana in the late 1980s to the massive record label Geffen from the independent Sub-Pop and U.S. Billboard-topping single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" contradict this hate almost entirely. Yet he hit back. "Smells Like Teen Spirit", taken from the band's second album "Nevermind" was immortalised yet further on follow-up album "In Utero" - the 1993 release which proved to be the last Nirvana studio release. The track "Radio-Friendly Unit Shifter" criticised the success of "..Teen Spirit" and indeed, some of the popularity bestowed upon the band during "Nevermind" and the subsequent ten million sales - and $550m generated by it. But the track was just one of thirteen that made up "In Utero", an album designed to alienate anybody who the band didn't want to appeal to. It was a test that was well-received and to a certain degree put a dampener on the prospects of the band inadvertently having "sold out", as previously thought by Cobain himself.

One of the reasons Nirvana were so successful was their sheer audacity and open-mindedness. Kurt, appealing in the sleeve of "Incesticide" with the line "If any of you don't like gays, women or blacks; please leave us the fuck alone", proving that Nirvana were not all about their unique sound alone; yet more heavily-reliant on the attitudes expressed by Cobain, who fully expected any true fan to reciprocate, not use as a facade or shield to come across as fashionable or radical. The track "In Bloom" from "Nevermind" was targeting exactly these type of people, those who ironically soon became listeners and "fans" due to the album's phenomenal suc
cess. They probably didn't realise it though; and Cobain's words of warning and disappointment in the band direction if indeed appealing to the "jocks" and those who made his upbringing so miserable were most likely misrepresented. Indeed, the lines "He's the one who likes all the pretty songs/And he likes to sing along/And he likes to shoot his gun/But he knows not what it means" were as blunt as could be with consideration to Cobain's unique style of writing, yet flew way over many people's heads. Understandable then, that Kurt was so concerned with his lyrics being completely misinterpreted by the type of fan who Nirvana were so keen to not connect with. Clearly, Cobain was not cut out for the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. And he knew it. A famous quote from him, "If there was a rock star 101 course, I'd really have liked to take it", merely underlined the fact that beneath the shield around Cobain generated by an ever-growing heroin habit and a whirlwind marriage with fellow rocker Courtney Love, was a sensitive man heavily reliant on morals and balance in society.

Yet behind the outspoken image, Cobain's lyrics provided a sanctuary, of sorts to release the tension and exert his negative emotions to anybody who cared to listen. Of course, he will never be remembered for his guitar or vocal talents, yet his lyrical presence and content remains as relevant and at times, all-too true with reference to his intended targets. His lyricism, a stunning fusion of contradiction, warped sarcasm and biting wit, all part of the reason why he and Nirvana were as influential as they were - and have become. "If you need anything/Please don't hesitate to ask someone else first/I'm too busy acting like I'm not naive/I've seen it all/I was here first" and "Give an inch/Take a smile" are perhaps some of the purest examples of this, whilst bordering on out-and-out, albeit warpe
d, humour. Yet despite all the qualities maintained within the verses of Nirvana, as you might expect, they are neither easily accessible or in the majority, easily deciphered either. "Tourettes", a track from "In Utero" is another change in direction and is almost explicit in its bizarre fashion, whilst "Dumb" retains another quality; that of a simple, almost Haiku-like nature.

But with so much promise, Cobain's conscience got the better of him to a certain degree. So much promise, so much intelligence and moral direction were not to matter and his body was found slumped in his home on the 5th April 1994, just months after the release of "In Utero". Ironically, his suicide note, found beside him on that fateful day, remains a work of almost literary genius and retains the same contradiction, self-hating sarcasm - as in "Smells Like Teen Spirit"; "...Self assured/Oh no, I know a dirty word/I'm worse at what I do best/And for this gift I feel blessed". The note explains that Kurt has lost all feeling and affection for music and performing - something he grew up with and was part of his life for so long. His guilt and devotion towards his fans eventually counteracted. "The fact is, I can't fool you, any one of you. It simply isn't fair to you or me. The worst crime I can think of would be to rip people off by faking it and pretending as if I'm having 100% fun" emphasises this point and simultaneous illustrates the love for his fans and the moral implications that performing had upon him. Effectively, his fear of society degenerating yet further was in fact, his greatest fear. "I can't stand the thought of Frances (his daughter with Love) becoming the miserable, self-destructive, death rocker that I've become". Death-rocker? Again, this just goes to show just how much was bottled up inside him. The sensitivity of the articulate 27 year-old was illustra
ted further, and by his own admission; "Because I love and feel sorry for people too much I guess" whilst another slight contradiction, showed just how misinterpreted he really was. "I don't have the passion anymore, and so remember, it's better to burn out than to fade away"; part of the conclusion of the heartfelt, guilt-ridden message.

Kurt Cobain was perhaps the primary driving influential, iconoclastic force behind an entire generation. That's all there is to say, really. There is no greater compliment or honour you can give somebody. Yet the decline of standards and morals that prevailed, particularly in America in the early 1990s bewildered him. Perhaps he was a martyr. Perhaps, indeed, he was the sacrificial lamb of a nation and of a generation. For him to die of his own accord signalled the hate he felt for almost everything he disagreed with, but for a cause he cared so much for, was maybe the only solution. It was, in his own words, better to burn out than fade away. Yet his presence is felt, even today in both youth culture and popular music to a massive extent. Cobain knew what was wrong with George Bush Sr.'s U.S.A. better than any politician did. The fans could relate to him - and he could relate to the fans, which is part of why he was, and still is, loved by so many.

Had he been alive today, Cobain would have despised what society has become.

Only the good die young? That phrase may well have been coined for Kurt Cobain alone. Typically he, no doubt, would have preferred the young to die good.

Summary: