Today marks 30 years since Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain passed away. Christian Daun is still actively working for as many people as possible to discover the grunge band’s music.
Officially, I have, of course passed the age when I foist on other people cultural experiences that I myself find inalienable. I am now restrained with book and film recommendations and have almost completely stopped saying: “This must you just listen!”
Nirvana is the exception. Nirvana has always been the exception.
Today it is 30 years since Kurt Cobain’s suicide and it still feels urgent to mission, to convince the unconvinced, of the greatness of the grunge pioneers. Artists like Billie Eilish and Lana del Rey are among the saved, Outkast as well. I get childishly happy for every new recruit, regardless of rank and age. If the music doesn’t bite, it happens that I appeal to the intellect of the difficult flirts.
You are aware that Kurt was a feminist and anti-racist, right?
Did you know Nirvana played at a support gala for rape victims in Bosnia?
It is said that young people gravitate to the music their parents would hate. It certainly wasn’t like that for me. When I was ten years old, I wanted my mom and dad to love Kurt Cobain the way I loved him. The man who summed up my elusive essence with a single guttural scream. It was important to me that they understood. “Do you understand or not?” I said to Mom and Dad. “Do you realize how big this is going to be!”
I got it right.
Kurt Cobain eventually became an icon of John Lennon proportions. Many of those who stood on Seattle’s stages in the early 90s are perceived as cringe today. Not Nirvana, not Kurt Cobain. He remains the height of cool.
H&M’s and other companies’ Nirvana annexation has received justifiable criticism. It says Nirvana on every other garment these days. Profiting from an outspoken anti-capitalist, it is possible to have fairly strong opinions on that matter. During his short life, Kurt Cobain did everything to avoid being a fashion icon and trendsetter. It was like no job he had applied for. But H&M’s move has undoubtedly made the Seattle band accessible to new generations. I get just as bubbly happy every time I see a young emo in the band’s tisha.
To increase the likelihood of such sightings, I have provided my six-year-old daughter Matilda with a wealth of Nirvana merch, but now the purpose was to spread the gospel, not to attract unnecessary reports of concern.
Hollywood actress Hilary Duff in Los Angeles with ice cream from McConnell’s Ice Cream Shop, a baguette from Joan’s on Third and a Kurt Cobain shirt.
Either way, I want all newcomers to like Kurt for the right reasons. It would be sad if he were reduced to an iconic outline in the style of Che Guevara, drained of soul and meaning. On bad days, it thus happens that I am employed by outright rage of appropriation. Does the pimply twelve-year-old in front of me really have coverage for wearing that shirt?
This angry gatekeeper feeling takes me back to Magnus Stenbocksskolan’s schoolyard in Helsingborg, the tumultuous weeks after Kurt’s suicide in 1994. All phonies who suddenly claimed that they had indeed liked Nirvana ever since their debut Bleach and everyday loitered around red-crying, wearing t-shirts depicting Kurt. Mostly with the picture where he looks like he’s wearing some type of kajal, where he looks like some clueless Hollywood hunk. Gross! Everything he was NOT.
They had no shame in their bodies, the vultures. Their persistence left me no choice. Should it be this way, yes, “then I’m done, I can go home”. I thought. Just as satisfied as before. Aware as I was that the “On a plain” reference would fly way over the heads of hittopä fans.
For many years I forbade myself to listen to Nirvana. Still a believer, but non-practicing.
However, after resuming the relationship with my favorite band at the age of 18, I have met Kurt Cobain just about every day.
Met. That sounds a little crazy. So I don’t think Kurt faked his death and that he actually lives in Hawaii where he and I meet in the turquoise waves. I don’t dig the conspiracy theories surrounding Kurt – especially the ones that want him murdered and his wife Courtney Love involved.
I want to put it on the record that I don’t actually collect memorabilia either. But the music, on the other hand, I have made it a dear possession. And I want to initiate more into the secret. Oh, the scream. Oh, the punk uncompromisingness. Kurt Cobain would have been needed today, in our time. He exists, by all means, but only as an afterthought.
Shortcut to Nirvana
You can find the hits yourself. Here, Christian Daun gives tips on the pearls that separate the nestor from the beginner.
“Oh, me”, from MTV Unplugged.
Crazy that this passionate Meat Puppets rendition was cut from MTV’s Unplugged broadcast.
“Big long now”, from Incesticide.
Slippery gem that shows how Nirvana sounded beyond their chart successes.
“Polly”, from the live album From the muddy banks of the Wishkah
The Nevermind version, recorded on a broken budget guitar, is of course nice. But this earlier and harder version from London is a splendid example of Nirvana’s dynamism.
“The man who sold the world”, från MTV Live and Loud.
The band’s acoustic Bowie rendition is broken, listen to this cheesy version instead. Goosebumps when Kurt primal screams in the solo!
“You know you’re right”.
The last Nirvana ever recorded. I hate writing that sentence.
These days, a giant Cobain mural was unveiled in Manchester, near two venues where Nirvana played. And the BBC is showing a documentary about the last days of Kurt Cobain’s life, a film intended to demystify the time surrounding his suicide. In my Nirvana groups on Facebook, I run into fans planning to travel from Australia to Seattle to be in Grunge mecca for the anniversary. I see daily young people from all over the world interpreting Nirvana songs that were never done justice in a studio. This one fan fictionthis loving expansion of the song treasure, I am grateful for.
It’s nice that Kurt Cobain became so big. At the same time, there is something sad about all declarations of love.
Namely, they remind me that there is no more Nirvana music to discover. The vault where the Cobain estate is kept has been searched and made public. No point in hoping for forgotten recordings. Bassist Krist Novoselic has said it, drummer Dave Grohl as well. There are no unreleased Nirvana gems. Still, I have a hard time coming to terms with this fact. Still, I dream of new Cobain music. Well, literally. Damn I don’t remember a single one of the Nirvana songs I composed in my REM sleep! Just think what masterpieces a 57-year-old Kurt Cobain could have accomplished. Now I have to hold on to the hopes of a lousy hologram tour.
I kept my cool during Easter. I don’t have a deep relationship with Jesus, but I will spend this weekend thinking about another guy who died a long time ago.
After that, I continue to mission.
Read more from Christian Daun:
Help, my child worships a brand
Christian Daun, welcome to the Dramaten stage!