There is really no arguing that Kurt Cobain was truly a voice of a generation, Gen X to be exact. Everyone knew who Kurt Cobain and Nirvana were basically overnight as soon as “Smells Like Teen Spirit” hit the airwaves nationwide, but do you think you know who Cobain really was? Yes we can go on and on about how Kurt Cobain pioneered the modern Alternative sound or inspired artists to be themselves when expressing themselves on stage, but no one really knew who Kurt Cobain was except for Kurt.
In an incredible interview from 1993, Kurt Cobain talks to renowned British rock reporter Jon Savage and explains, very candidly, his perspective on his identity. He goes into his life in high school how he didn’t have much male friends and how he gravitated toward the women in his school and how that changed his perspective on the music he was listening to.
Cobain goes on to say, “Although I listened to Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, and I really did enjoy some of the melodies that they’d written, it took me so many years to realize that a lot of it had to do with sexism, and the way that they just wrote about their c*** and having sex.” He also goes on to explain that once punk rock came about, everything just came together.
If there is anything anyone can take away from this interview is that Kurt Cobain was an incredibly complex individual who perceived the world in such a way that I think hasn’t been seen since. Take a listen to the interview and let us know what you think.
Joe Hawk