Cobain

"This is not to be taken seriously. This is not to be read as opinions. It is to be read as poetry. Its obvious that I am on the educated level of about 10th grade in high school. Its obvious that these words were not thought out or even re-read. this writing style is what I like to call thru the perspective of a 10th grader. her/his attempt at showing that no matter what level of intelligence one is on, we all question love and lack of love and fear of love.

Its good to question authority and to fight it just to make things a little less boring, but ive always reverted back to the conclusion that man is not redeemable and words that dont necersarily have their expected meanings can be used descriptively in a sentence as Art. True english is so fucking boring. And this little pit-stop we call life, that we so seriously worry about is nothing but a small, over the week jail sentence, compared to what will come with death.

life isnt nearly as sacred as the appreciation of passion." -Kurt Cobain, Journals, p.175

I recently read Kurt Cobain's Journals, first published in 2002 by Riverhead Books; a collection of writings by Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana. Although Cobain sadly committed suicide on April 5th, 1994, his legacy lives on today as he remains one of the most iconic musicians in alternative music, or perhaps of all time; in 2006 he was the number one top-earning deceased celebrity in the world according to Forbes. Journals presents a series of private entries, letters, lists, sketches and music ideas all written by Cobain, beginning with a letter he wrote to Dale Crover, lead singer of the Melvins, in 1988 and ending with a bizarre rant about an interview between Sylvestor Stallone and Larry King written in a hotel in Rome shortly before his death. The journals offer some interesting insight into Cobain's vision for the band as well as the evolution of songs that would feature on their albums. Those looking for some great revelation or real words of wisdom may be disappointed; while Cobain's wit and perceptiveness are evident, an over abundance of bitterness and paranoia permeates much of the personal writings and observations. As the journal entries continue and the subject of his stomach pains and heroin use are introduced things get quite dark, but I personally found it more sad than disturbing and I ultimately sympathized with him in his tragic downfall. As a document this is a highly engrossing read, regardless of your approval or disdain in regards to the subject matter or opinions expressed.

Anyone looking for a more coherent autobiographical look at Kurt Cobain should seek out the 2006 documentary by AJ Schnack titled Kurt Cobain About A Son, featuring selected excerpts edited from the 25 hours of audiotape interviews with Cobain conducted by music journalist Michael Azzerad recorded for his book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, which was originally released in 1993 and altered with an extra chapter included in 1994 following Cobain's death. Azzerad collaborated with Schnack to create the documentary, which is a lovingly crafted meditative piece in which Cobain is heard speaking from the beginning to the end of the one and a half hour running time over almost static film footage of locations that relate to his words and the stories he tells. I highly recommend this film to anyone, not just fans of Nirvana, as long as you stay clear of the awful and pointless 1998 documentary Kurt & Courtney. View the trailer for Kurt Cobain About A Son below.