So...music. Everyone knows I love it. No surprise there. I started this entry back on April 8th, but I thought it sucked so I scrapped it and started over again. I started it because I wanted to commemorate the 14th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's body being found. Not to be morbid; more because I'm truly curious what would have happened had he lived, and I'm truly sad that he died. He was 27 when he died. That's just young; way too young. He left behind a very young child, and I imagine there will always be a hole in her life where her dad should be. I still remember the way I felt when he was found dead. I thought Nirvana was this crazy and cool new sound; way different from the hair metal I had been listening to up to that point. Once Nirvana came on the scene, it changed my thought process about music. I stopped listen to the "party, girls, booze" type stuff and started listening to things that were much more introspective.
I have a coworker that I chat with a lot about music. He's my parents' age, and he's very, very religious so our views sometimes are divergent. He likes some pretty cool music, but he doesn't know much about the people who make it. I've always been one of those people who feels that you have to know where the artist is coming from to "get" their music. I do a lot of research on musicians I love. It helps me enjoy their music 100 times more just knowing who they are and what their lives have been like. I was the one who burst my coworker's bubble that James Taylor hadn't lived a white picket fence life and had been a raging heroin addict. I have that effect on people. Maybe next week I'll tell him how Elvis died. ;)
Anyway, one night we were discussing music and the people who make it when the subject of self-destruction came up. We both had different thoughts about WHY so many creative people are hellbent on hurting themselves. He thinks it's the lifestyle. Do I think the lifestyle helps? No. However, I think there's more to it. I think that the creative arts attract tortured people. To be creative, I think one has to have a certain amount of pain inside trying to get out and vying for attention.
The interesting thing about Kurt Cobain is that he just liked playing music by all accounts. Fame was actually the worst thing that could've happened to him. He didn't handle the spotlight well and didn't enjoy being looked up to, according to those who knew him best. It does make me curious why someone like Cobain even wanted a recording contract. I've heard it's because he never thought Nirvana would get famous. It still makes me think...
I think certain people are just self destructive because they want to be, because they don't cope well with life or because their lives have just been too full of pain to continue. Kurt Cobain would've bottomed out on drugs, alcohol, or some other vice if he had been Kurt Cobain, real estate agent in Omaha, NE. Jim Morrison would've led a troubled life even if he'd taken a different path. There are scores more, and it's worth considering what would've happened if those people had lived. A lot of really creative people die young and some by their own hand. Janis Joplin, Hendrix, Morrison and Cobain were all 27. That's really just at the beginning of life. What would've happened to them, to us, to the arts in general had they lived? What else would Kurt Cobain have accomplished? He'd be 41 now. What would he be doing? Would he still be famous? Krist Novoselic & Dave Grohl have said Nirvana died with Cobain (which on a personal note, is what I feel should happen with any band when the singer leaves or dies. John Corabi or Gary Cherone with Motley Crue, anyone?). Would Nirvana have continued had he lived?
There are absolutely scores more celebrities who have lived lives that could be called ticking time bombs. Brad Nowell was 28 when he died. He overdosed before his group's major label debut was even released. Would it have still produced hits if he'd lived, or was morbid curiosity the cause of its success?
Would Jim Morrison have continued to write music and live a nomadic lifestyle? Would The Doors still be performing together like the rest of the members are doing now? The "New" Doors, anyone? Didn't think so...
Is this just pretentious pontificating on my part? Thoughts?
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4 comments:
"I was the one who burst my coworker's bubble that James Taylor hadn't lived a white picket fence life and had been a raging heroin addict."
and, you just busted my bubble.
Lynn
I was never into Nirvana, but it's a shame when some so young die.
ah, yes, nirvana, brings back so many FUN memories :) i :heart: nirvana and all the other alternative bands at that time. i also remember how sad i became when he died :( sigh....
i certainly agree with you on so many parts of this. i don't think the rock and roll lifestyle helps such troubled individuals, adding to their demise; however, if kurt cobain had been mr. real estate, he may not have found heroine, but i think he would've found something else that would've caused him to go at such a young age.
but then again, i have a completely off-the-wall opinion about his death and do not believe his death was a suicide (but that's just me and many say i'm weird lol)
nice blog sarah, so where do you think blind melon would be had the singer not died? they only had one hit....hmmm....makes one think for sure. thanks for sharing your thoughts :)
I just stumbled upon your blog (through Amanda's) and I just couldn't agree more. I remember where I was when I found out he was dead and I recall walking around like a zombie all day. I was utterly shocked. (and I remember where I was when Elvis was found as well as John Lennon)
Super blog!
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