Today is February 20, and Kurt Cobain would be celebrating his 52nd birthday. Let that sink in for a second — Kurt Cobain. 52. Unfortunately, the events surrounding Kurt’s tragic death tend to overshadow the man himself. Away from the glare of the stage lights, the grunge era’s frontman would show a thoughtful side and a sharp, dry wit. We thought it would be a fitting tribute to remember the life of Kurt Cobain by sharing a few words from the man himself.
I never wanted to sing. I just wanted to play rhythm guitar — hide in the back and just play.
Kurt wore his celebrity like a young boy wears a suit to his cousin’s wedding. His talent propelled him to an altitude his humility couldn’t handle. Once he was a superstar, he craved anonymity. “I’ve found myself doing the same things that a lot of other rock stars do or are forced to do,” Kurt admitted. “Which is not being able to respond to mail, not being able to keep up on current music, and I’m pretty much locked away a lot. The outside world is pretty foreign to me.”
He also grew tired of being expected to be the voice of a generation. “I’m a spokesman for myself. It just so happens that there’s a bunch of people that are concerned with what I have to say,” declared Kurt. “I find that frightening at times because I’m just as confused as most people. I don’t have the answers for anything.”
Maybe this was the magic behind Kurt’s relationship with his audience. Many Nirvana fans claim to feel an immediate connection with Kurt. They felt as though he was one of them — someone who climbed onstage from the crowd and performed.
If you ever need anything please don’t hesitate to ask someone else first.
When he wanted to, Kurt could be genuinely funny. Not knee-slapping funny, but sly and ironic funny. For example, here was his response to a question about his reading background: “I’m not well-read, but when I read, I read well.” His humor was often self-effacing. Maybe he was trying to show the world that he didn’t deserve the pedestal they put him on. “I like to complain and do nothing to make things better,” he once confessed. He even made fun of his own talent: “I sing and play the guitar, and I’m a walking, talking bacterial infection.”
Occasionally, his humor would find its way to the stage. Check out Kurt’s response to a heckler early on in this concert appearance.
Kurt’s Gear
I’ve never considered musical equipment very sacred.
You can understand why this quote might make us raise an eyebrow or two. But this was simply Kurt being Kurt. It turns out he thought a lot about his gear, and he even had a favorite guitar.
Kurt praised Fender guitars for their playability. “I like guitars in the Fender style because they have skinny necks,” he said. As a matter of fact, his favorite guitar was a Fender. “I own a ’66 Jaguar. That’s the guitar I polish, and baby — I refuse to let anyone touch it when I jump into the crowd.” The relationship was so strong that Fender still makes a Kurt Cobain Jaguar, just like Kurt’s beloved model.
Fender Mustang
“I’m left-handed, and it’s not very easy to find reasonably priced, high-quality left-handed guitars. But out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite. I’ve only owned two of them.” Kurt looked to Fender again for his other go-to model, the Mustang. Like everything Kurt liked, he couldn’t resist mixing his praise with a few affectionate jabs: “Out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite. They’re cheap and totally inefficient, and they sound like crap and are very small.”
The worst crime is faking it.
Authenticity was very important to Kurt. Throughout his career, he would share strong opinions about the importance of people being who they were truly meant to be. “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are,” he would warn.
And yet, in his own life, Kurt would never be able to overcome the giant that was his public persona. “I wanted to have the adoration of John Lennon but have the anonymity of Ringo Starr,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a frontman. I just wanted to be back there and still be a rock and roll star at the same time.”
The enormity of the grunge movement overwhelmed Kurt. Flannel shirts, baggy cardigans, unruly hair — he saw it on every street corner. “We’re so trendy we can’t even escape ourselves,” he claimed. In his last days, he saw no way to escape to the anonymity he sought.
In his short, 27-year life, Kurt Cobain left behind a legacy of music, an entire social movement, and the cautionary encouragement to be who we are, where we are — to come as we are. Happy birthday, Kurt. The world misses you for who you were and who you truly are.
