15 years ago, Kurt Cobain blew his brains out with a shotgun. He was high on heroin and had just left rehab. It is quite possible that he would have continued his musical career were it not for these unfortunate circumstances. If he had, it is conceivable that he would have become a great deep musician. Most notable would have been its commercial success, accessibility to the underprivileged masses, and even more than annoying clone-like fashion trends that proliferated at all class levels around the world. Their intentions may have been genuine, but they would have been inundated amid the myriad of advertising slogans generated by their profitability. It’s a real shame, but he probably did the right thing by making fun of himself. He kept it looking genuine.
Having little or nothing to say in the production of their music, Nirvana, disgusted with the production work of musical genius Steve Albini, tried to oppose the recording of their latest album, in a feeble attempt to take control of their lives that were spinning fast out of control. The problem didn’t get too famous too quickly, it wasn’t chemical imbalance or depression, and it wasn’t even advertising executives. The problem was complex, false, and insidious. The emptiness that gnawed at Kurt’s soul drove him mad. It was the struggle of the great artist. The severest critic of one is always oneself.
Go ahead, until now. If Kurt Cobain were still around, to find his music, all one would have to do is write music, download iPod or something similar from Google, and all of his albums would appear. His new solo project would headline Burning Man, or Coachella, and you wouldn’t spend an hour on MTV without seeing him show up somewhere. His music would have likely gone through various evolutionary stages, he would have changed his singing voice, he would have written books, and perhaps he would have appeared in some movies. He would have been missing for a few years and there would have been rumors of Kurt sightings. The divorce would have been very traumatic for him, but he would have found someone else about a year later. He would have channeled that into his writing and eventually the alienated and misanthropic tone of his lyrics would have softened. 15 years would have made him a mature and prolific, if still conventional, composer. It is impossible to say whether his music 15 years later would definitely have been good or bad, but it is easy enough to say with inadmissible precision that it would be different.
He would have lost fans, gained new ones, and perhaps even faded into obscurity, although the latter is less likely. Either way, it would have been interesting to see the evolution of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain and the music they made that millions of people still love to this day. The opportunity to make Kurt Cobain an embarrassment would have been welcome, if for no other reason than at least he would have made some new songs.
