FREE ESSAY ON KURT COBAIN

KURT COBAIN

For our modern day hero we used the singer and songwriter Kurt Cobain from the band
Nirvana. This punk Seattle band moved almost mainstream almost overnight. Nirvana caught
on fast and changed rock and roll music forever and molded the music of the 90's,
alternative. Cobain had an enormous amount of talent but unfortunately his life was cut
short by a still controversial suicide in his Seattle home. On April 9, 1994, his body
was discovered. He is a hero for many of today's troubled youth because his music
influences how these troubled kids feel. They are able relate to Cobain and his music. 
Kurt Cobain was born in 1967. He lived with his sister and parents two hundred miles away
from Seattle in the small logging town of Aberdine. His aunt, who helped him form his
first band, introduced him to music at a very young age. His parents divorced when Kurt
was only seven years old. Torn up by his parents' divorce, he went to live with his
mother in a trailer. After the divorce, Kurt was forced to look at his life in a
different light. Kurt became extremely anti-social, had few friends, and was picked on in
school because kids thought he was gay or weird. 
Kurt started writing poetry at the age of thirteen, and when he was 14, he received his
first guitar. Throughout high school he was in many bands- Fecal Matter, Skid Row, Brown
Cow, The Sellouts and Pencap Chew. He formed Nirvana during his senior year of high
school with his friends Chris Novoselic and Dave Grohl who Kurt called "the world's best
drummer." Shortly after the band was formed, Kurt dropped out of high school, and his
mother kicked him out of the house. Homeless, he lived under a bridge at the end of his
street. It was here that he would spend time alone writing his own songs.
From his parents' divorce to his mother pushing him out of the house, Kurt had become
even more alienated from other people and life. He was very detached. Kurt hated the
music of big rock bands like the Sex Pistols, Rolling Stones and Aerosmith. He felt their
lyrics were sexist and pointless with no meaning. Kurt was a very sensitive and emotional
person, a characteristic that showed through all of his songs. 
Eventually he became so famous that he a cult following. The songs exemplified the kids'
world. In the song "Dumb" Kurt sings, "I think I'm dumb" over and over again to show how
his years of neglect from his peers at high school and his family made him feel as if he
was to blame. Kids relate to his music because it portrays how the world was so cruel and
how he and the kids' were treated badly. 
He was responsible for the most creative rock music of the last decade. Kurt didn't have
to hide behind face paint or wear tight clothes to grab attention as the other rock
stars. He wore flannels and jeans, something that every other kid wore, and he wasn't
ashamed by it. In one song "Come As You Are" Kurt sings "Come as you are as I want you to
be." He wanted to show the youth that they don't have to follow the crowd and do
something someone else wants them to do to fit in.
Every modern alternative song has a tint of "Nirvanaism" in it. Just like bands that
followed the Beatles, many groups that followed Cobain tried to sound or copy his same
music pattern. In his music he didn't communicate in complete sentences or elaborate
arguments. Instead his lyrics were a stream of conscious insights that inspired and
appealed to the short attention span of his audience. 
We picked Kurt Cobain as a hero because he is different than the conventional hero who
just goes out and saves lives. Kurt was an emotional leader for the troubled youth, and
he gave them a place to escape from a life that was hard to live. His music gave them a
hideaway from the harsh realities of the real world. All they had to do was listen, and
they felt instant relief because they knew that not only they felt the way they did. They
could relate to Kurt and his fragile emotions. In the song "Rape Me" Kurt sings; "Rape
me, my friend. Rape me again. I'm not the only one. Hate me. Do it and do it again. Waste
me. Taste me, my friend. My favorite inside source, I'll kiss your open sores. Appreciate
your concern. You'll always stink and burn." This shows how he believed society took
advantage of him because he was weak and emotional. These kids relate to Kurt. Kurt once
said that he would rather be in pain than fame. His words and music make him a modern day
hero.