The Man Whom The World Sold Kurt Cobain, Rock's Progressive Aesthetic, and The Challenges of Authenticity PDF

The Man Whom the World Sold: Kurt Cobain, Rock's Progressive Aesthetic, and the Challenges
of Authenticity
Author(s): Mark Mazullo
Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 84, No. 4 (Winter, 2000), pp. 713-749
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/742606
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Institutions, Industries, and Economics
The Man Whom the World Sold:

Kurt Cobain, Rock's Progressive
Aesthetic, and the Challenges of
Authenticity
MarkMazullo
Punkthusrepresents
a deliberately
scrawledaddendum to the "text"of glamrock-
an addendum to
designed punctureglam rock'sextravagantlyornatestyle.
-Dick Hebdige,Subculture:
themeaning ofstyle(1979)
DickHebdige'sanalysisof the unexpectedrelationshipbetweenpunk

(e.g., the Sex Pistols)andglamrock(e.g.,DavidBowie),whichappears
in his landmarkstudyof Britishyouthsubcultures, givesus a perspective
fromwhichwe can beginto investigatethe caseof Nirvana.'The most
high-profileexemplarof Seattle's"grunge" movement(a punk-inspired
youth subculturewith emphasis music),Nirvanaskyrock-
particular on
eted to famein 1991with the major-label releaseof Nevermind, an al-
bumthatshookup the musicindustrywith its rareabilityto crossover
into severalmediaformats:MTV,top-fortyradio,collegeradio,and
album-oriented rock(AOR) radio.2The musicof Nevermind (andhere
one mustacknowledgethe contributions of its producerandmixer,
ButchVigandAndyWallace)wasableto findits placein disparate
popular-music streamsbecauseit dippedjudiciously, andperhapseclecti-
cally,fromrock'shistoricalreservoirof sounds,styles,andtechniques.3
Similarly,Hebdigehadfoundin punkof the mid-to late 1970sevidence
of an " 'unnatural' an "unlikelyallianceof diverseandsuper-
synthesis,"
ficiallyincompatiblemusicaltraditions" emanatingfromBritishand
Americanyouthsubcultures throughoutthe 1960sand 1970s(London
pub rock, South End R & B, northernsoul, reggae,American proto-
punk).4 Both punk and its progeny,including grunge,can thereforebe
understoodin termsof a propensityto tap into rock'saccumulatingstyl-
istic resourcesand create seemingly impossibleunions shot throughwith
socioculturaland music-stylisticambiguities.5
713
714 TheMusicalQuarterly
Theseambiguities wereexhibitedby Nirvanaon MTV's"Un-

plugged" in
program late 1993 (afterthe releaseof theirsecondmajor-
labelalbum,In Utero).6Amidsta postmodernmdlangeof musicstands,
candelabra, salon-styledraperies,andpsychedelicflowerspaintedon the
floor-a nouveau-corporate scenariodesignedto shortenthe perceived
gapbetweenpopularcultureandhigh art-sat KurtCobain,the fa-
mouslyirritablegrungeidol.The scenariowasunequivocally peculiar:
America'smostplugged-inbandturningoff the juice,offeringkinder,
gentlerrenditionsof theirhot-bloodedsongs.In a preconcertinterview,
Cobaintoucheduponthe aptnessof Nirvana'sappearance on the pro-
gramby discussing,of all things,aesthetics:"Ireallywantto changeour
styleof music.I wantto do somethingdifferent... reallydifferent.And
I wantto have enoughgutsto do that.If it alienatespeople,that'stoo
bad.... The Beatleswentfrom'I WannaHoldYourHand'to Sgt.Pep-
per's.Thatwasa massiveprogression. And I justwantto experiment."
Thus,if onlyforan houron "Unplugged," Nirvana'simagewastrans-
formed.Musicalreinforcements-inthe formof an additionalguitar
anda cello-were calleduponin the absenceof electricityanda mixing
board.7And, perhapsmostcuriously, a coverof DavidBowie's1971song
"TheManWho Sold the World"wasincludedon the set roster.8
With this attemptto transform himselffroma grungeguitar-basher
into a sincereacousticsongwriter, Cobainrevealedhis deep-seated
hungerto be includedin the rosterof greatrockartists(thatis, musi-
cians,not merecelebrities).An appearance on "Unplugged" servedthis
legitimizingfunction byplacing Cobain's name (via Nirvana) on the list
of respectedrecordingartistswhohadalreadyappearedon the popular
program-whichincludedsuchveteranactsas R.E.M.,ElvisCostello,
Neil Young,BruceSpringsteen, PaulMcCartney, PaulSimon,andElton
John,as well asNirvana'srivalcontemporaries, PearlJam.Indeed,ac-
cordingto the rockcriticDavidFricke,the "Unplugged" appearance
constituted"amajorstatementof aestheticsandpurpose" forCobain,
one into whichhe poured"agreatdealof thought,effortandfeeling."
Reportingon Cobain's"senseof imprisonment" both withNirvana'sfor-
mat ("thebullroaring powertrio") and the songsthatresultedfromthat
format, Frickereported "Unplugged a chanceto makemusicof
that was
nuanceandcut his songwriting rightto the ivory-whitebone-a chance
to be heard,not justapplauded."9 whileCobainquietly
Interestingly,
avoided acknowledgingapplauseafterhis own songs-itself rathersub-
dued behaviorfrom a man who would often sneer at and openly ridicule
his audiences-he was noticeably more agreeableaftergetting through
the Bowie cover and even offeredhis fans a rarestage smile. (Before
singing the song, he had warnedthe audience, "Iknow I'm gonna screw
TheManWhomtheWorldSold 715
this up,"an apologywithwhichhe wouldneverhaveprefacedone of his

own songs.)
Whatdo we makeof this strangeconcoctionof grungeandglitter,
punkandprogressive? Again,Hebdige'sanalysisis revealing.He sawthe
use of fashionto createa subversively ironicimageof middle-classness as
the "commonground"of 1970s-stylepunkandglam.Bothtraditions
championed,in otherwords,a counterhegemonic strategyof resistance:
each involveda symbolicrefutation(primarily via the accoutrements of
fashion-jewelry,hairstyle,andclothing)of the dominantideologyof
Britishculture.The differencebetweenthe two,however,is moreto
Hebdige'spoint.Despiteits appealsto glam's"stiltedlanguage" of fash-
ion (its "extravagantlyornatestyle"),punkwasconcernedwithmain-
tainingglam'scountercultural ideologywhileremovingits undesirable
elements.The "problem" withglamwasthat its line of resistancewas
foundedexclusivelyon genderterms.As Hebdigeexplains,Bowie'sform
of resistanceofferedthe Britishworkingclassa heretoforeunexplored
option:"anew sexuallyambiguousimageforthoseyoungsters willing
andbraveenoughto challengethe notoriouslypedestrianstereotypes
conventionallyavailableto working-class menandwomen."The an-
drogynouspersona manifested in Bowie's various alteregos (ZiggyStar-
dust,AladdinSane, and the thin white duke)wasa manifestation of
Bowie'saestheticof escape,a "meta-message" thatappliedto class,sex,
even personality. This escapistroutine,however,in the end reducedthe
workof Bowie,whowas"patentlyuninterestedeitherin contemporary
politicalandsocialissuesor in working-class life in general,"to a socially
irresponsibleculturalformleft only to be deploredin the officialculture
of popularmusichistoryandcriticism.10 Indeed,as Hebdigepointsout,
the entireBowiephenomenon-with its "incipient6litism,"its games
of "makebelieve,"andits "pretensions to artandintellect"-appalled
andeven angeredmanyrockcriticsforwhomauthenticityin rockwas
deeplyfoundeduponits sociallyoppositionalstatus.Thusthe stylecodes
of glam,with its austeremusicalandtextuallanguagesanddetachedin-
tellectualism,weretransformed in punkinto a class-obsessed, politically
engagedculturalphenomenonintenton flauntingits socialrelevance."
Cut backto Nirvanaon the stageof MTV's"Unplugged," perform-
ing Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World." This particular song,from
the 1971albumof the samename,is hardlythe quintessenceof Bowie's
musicalstyle. (His breakthroughcame a year later,with the U.S. release
in June 1972 of The Riseand Fallof ZiggyStardustand theSpidersfrom
Mars.) However, "The Man Who Sold the World"is not far off the
classic-Bowiemark,for it displaysone featurethat was to become a
defining element of his most famouswork:the production-endstudio
manipulation of the recordedsound.Bynecessity,therefore,Nirvana's

"Unplugged" versionleavesout the original's definingaestheticfeature:
the "progressive" sound.12And I wouldlike to suggestthatwe can take
this musicalfootprint-this progressive aesthetic-as a musicalversion
of whatHebdigediscussesin fashiontermsas glam's"extravagantly
ornatestyle."
Consider,then, the Bowieoriginal.Alongwith its traditionalrock
lineupof bass,drums,twoguitars,andvocals,Bowie'sbandon TheMan
WhoSoldtheWorldincludesa Moogsynthesizer, piano,stylophone,13
andvariousproductionelementsthatputit in the categoryof such
British"progressive" or "artrock"bandsas Yes,Genesis,andKing
Crimson.In particular, thereis Bowie'svocalon the title track:double
tracked, with the two tapesrunat differentspeedsto effecta sonicdelay
that createsthe ghostlysound.14 The productof thiscombination-
four-piecerockbandandtechnologicallydistortedvocals-is an un-
earthlyrenderingof the traditionalrhythm-and-blues-based popsong,
whichformsonly the rawmaterial,the subtextthatlies underneaththe
manipulations of the "collaborative The problemwithNir-
artist."1"
vana'sversion(if one wishesto see it thisway)is that it is only a weak
allusionto glam's"extravagantly ornatestyle."None of the production-
enddistortionis there,andall one hearsis Cobain'sversionof a bouncy
popsong-with Bowie'sguitarriffandbubblystaccatoscalesmatched
unsatisfyinglywithCobain'semphatically(and,to thislistener,regret-
tably) undistorted vocals.(If Bowie'sandPeterGabriel'svocalsrepresent
the disembodiment of the voice in 1970s-styleprogressive rock,Cobain's
almostheartbreakingly at
strainedattempts reaching a similarexpressive
level serveto remindus thatpunkandgrungeweresupremelyrootedin
the body.16)Dupedby MTV'scorporatepretensionsto art,Cobainap-
peared,at leastto this viewer,lonely,angry,confused,andperhapsnot
quiteas talenteda musicianas he hadbeenmadeout to be, straininghis
alreadyfailingvoice andmissinghis opportunity entirely.17
Lessthana yearlater,KurtCobainwasdeadfroma self-inflicted,drug-
inducedgunshotto the head,andthe Nirvanaphenomenoninstantly
gainedthe statusof myth.-8Arguablythe singlemostimportantepisode
in the historyof Americanpopularmusicin the lasttwodecadesof the
twentiethcentury,the Nirvanastory-the uncannyriseof Nevermind on
multiple charts the
(and,by association, roleof this musicin multiple
socioculturalarenas), the transformationof KurtCobain into a John
Lennon-like generationalidol, and the sad debacle of Cobain's (and
Courtney Love's) celebrity-offers an occasion to discussAmerican
popular-musicculturefrom a varietyof vantage points (many of which
Hebdige'sbookwasinstrumental in bringingto light).In whatfollows

I wouldlike to commenton the storyof KurtCobainandNirvanafrom
a numberof theseperspectives: the aestheticsof rock,generationalcul-
the
turalpolitics, culturalideologyof authenticity,andthe important
butgenerallyunexploredrelationshipbetweenculturalandpersonal
authenticity.Severalideologicalreadingsof the Nirvanaphenomenon
areeasilyconstructed,andmanyhavebeenexpressedin the literature:
grungeas oppositionalcounterculture, artrockas bourgeoismanipula-
tion, Cobainas the "voiceof a generation," Cobainas gender-bending
rebel.19I intendthis essayas an exercisein travelingdowna numberof
suchpaths,exposingmanypositionsandplacingthemin conflictwith
one another.I alsowantto raisea topicthathasnot yet been addressed
in the Cobainliterature-the questionof whetheranyof thesecontex-
tualthemescan be discernedin the musicitself.20
Perhapsmostimportant,I wantto thinkaboutthe Nirvanaphe-
nomenonin termsof resistance,thatall-purpose ideologicalstampused
pervasivelyin contemporary culturalcriticismto brandpopular-culture
textsas oppositional.It is an incontestablefact,a sociologicalgiven,
thatNirvana'sfansunderstoodthe band'smusicas a formof resistance-
to Americanmainstream musicculture,to Americansocialnorms,or
at leastto theirparents.However,the degreeto whichthesefan-based
expectationsarealignedwiththe artist'sconceptionof culturalworkis
eminentlydebatable.I arguethatwhileCobainalludedto a deeperaes-
theticpurposein his work(the desireto "progress" like Bowieor such
bandsas the Beatlesor R.E.M.21), his fanshungeredfora moreradical
socialmeaningin the musicandthereforeclaimedforNirvana'soutputa
pseudo-countercultural ideology.Along theselines,the journalistSarah
Ferguson has writtenthat Cobain"succeeded beyondhis wildestdreams
of combiningpunkandpopandcreateda Frankenstein thatby its suc-
cessseemsto invalidatethe thrustof its rebellion."22 But,at leastinsofar
as the sentimentshe expressedin manyinterviewsweresincere,Nir-
vana'smusicin no wayrepresented Cobain's"true"musicalambitions.
In otherwords,contraFerguson,I arguethatCobain'swildestartistic
dreamsseemnotto havebeenrealized.Instead,the culturalandpolitical
dreamsmanifestin the so-calledrebellionof grungebelongedlessto
Cobainthanto his devotees.
When we turnourattentionawayfromCobainandonto his fans,
we enter the realm of reception aesthetics. And it is at the intersection
of popularmusic productionand reception that we can formulatesome
of the most provocative questionsof all: What is at stake in the tensions
between the culturalpolitics of the artistand those of the fans?Can
commercialpopularmusic function as resistanceat all in a time in
whichopposition(or,better,rebellion)functionslargelyas a marketing
category?23Doesthe widespread appealof Nirvana'smusicafterNever-
mind,its entreeinto the middle-
andupper-classyouthmarkets,in any
waycomplicate the matter? what
Finally, do we make of the uncomfort-
ableconvergenceof severaldisparateconceptionsof authenticitythat
areexpressedin the production,dissemination,
andreceptionof popular
music?Myaimin this essayis to exposeandbeginto exploresomesuch
questions,not to answeranyof themdefinitively.
Dipping into the Well: Grunge, Punk, and Pop

If we areto understand Nirvana'ssociocultural roleas representative
of the kindsof politicalstancesthatcommentators have linkedto the
grunge movement, we will want to know somethingaboutNirvana'sre-
lationship to that movement, in both socioculturalandaestheticterms.
Letus begin,then, with the music.The firstissuethatmustbe addressed
is the extentto whichNirvana'smusichasbeenproperlycategorized as
grunge.
On the one hand,the grungemovement,originatingin Seattlein
the mid-1980s,canbe understoodas a fashionphenomenonin muchthe
samewayHebdigediscussedwithrespectto punkandglamrock.The
wordsignifies,in otherwords,not onlya musicalstyle,buta socialpose
or attitudeand (forthosewho wishto believein uncomplicated associa-
tionsbetweenmusicandpolitics)a corresponding political belief
system.24 Mostnotably,grungeconjuresan imageof the clothingof the
PacificNorthwest:the "rippedjeansandfadedflannel"thatone finds
not only in media-driven characterizations of grunge,butalsoin the title
of a recentdiscussionof grungein the academicpress.25 The disheveled
lookis closelytied to Seattle'sstreetculture,a cultureof heavydruguse
anda cheerlessassortmentof "vegananarchists," "forgotten white
trash,"and"trolls"(homelessteenslivingunderbridges-as Cobain
reportedly didfora timewhilea teenagerin Aberdeen,Washington).26
As a music-historical category,however,grungeis renderedprob-
lematicby its conflationof severalspecificmusicalrepertories of differ-
ing periodsin Americanpopular-music history.In the late 1950sand
early1960s,forinstance,the termreferredto suchgaragebandsof the
PacificNorthwestregionas the Kingsmen,the Wailers,andthe Sonics.
The Kingsmen's"LouieLouie"is perhapsthe most well-known example
of the earlygrungesound:densely texturedwith infectiousriffs,distor-
tion, feedback,and booming bass lines. In the mid- to late 1980s, the
term "grunge"-and to some extent the originalgrungesound-was
TheManWhom
theWorld
Sold 719
resurrectedin the Seattle undergroundscene.27In particular,the inde-

pendent SubPop label maintaineda rosterof bands that together formed
what became known afterNirvana'snational and internationalsuccess
as the new grungemovement:Tad, Mudhoney,Blood Circus,Afghan
Whigs, and, as a later entry onto the scene, Nirvana itself.28And
grunge'ssound was a resultof particularmusicaldevices: accordingto
Russ Garfield,a Los Angeles-based drumtechnician known in the busi-
ness as "the Drum Doctor,"who aided Nirvana and Butch Vig duringthe
recordingsessionsfor Nevermind,grunge'ssignaturesound is indebted to
the "Terminator" snaredrum:"asix-and-a-half-by-fourteen-inchbell
brassBlack Beautydrumthat weighs ... at least five times heavier [sic]
than any other snaredrumI've got."Another crucialpiece of equipment
is the FenderBassmanamplifier,which provides"heavier,double-
trackedfuzz."29Both help to provide the thick mix and heavy feedback
that defined grungeand ultimately,afterthe mainstreamsuccessof such
bands as Nirvana, Soundgarden,and the Smashing Pumpkins,became a
common productiontechnique in college-radio-orientedrock.
In addition to having roots in the bands of the PacificNorthwest
scene of the 1950s and 1960s, late-1980s and early-1990sgrungealso
sharedan affinitywith two largerpopular-musicstreams,punk and
metal-a relationshipexemplifiedin such sonic attributesas heavy
distortion and feedbackand a relative simplicity of musicalmaterials.
Given this general definition, Nirvana cannot be easily classifiedas a
grungeband. Largelybecause of the musical inclinations of Cobain, its
songwriterand frontman,the music of Nirvana inhabits a place some-
where between American hard-corepunk of the earlyto mid-1980s
(the Circle Jerks,Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys,X) and the vast and
diverse sphere of pop-rock.Consider,for example, Nirvana's"RapeMe"
(In Utero, 1993), a song that illustratesseveral elements of Nirvana's
standardpractice in formal,melodic, and textural terms.The calm sim-
plicity of the verse, to which four lines of text are set, concludes with a
spitfirecrescendo into the raucousrefrain,which itself comprisesfour
statements of a single line of text. The repetition of text in this fashion,
characteristicof punk in general, accentuates the relentlessnessof the
music. But instead of soundingsimply like punk, "RapeMe"comes
acrossas a classic pop song, if perhapsstrippeddown to its post-punk
garments:textures in block alternation,unproblematicformalproce-
duresand structures,suddenshifts within a terraceddynamicplan, and a
notably narrowrange in the vocal line.30
Indeed, Cobain often spoke of the influence of pop in his own dis-
cussions of Nirvana'smusic, but it is difficultto know exactly what he
meant because he conflatedmany disparatepop traditionsand styles:the
earlyBeatles,classicMotown,Britishteeny-bopper bandslikeHerman
andthe Hermits,the Boston-based underground groupthe Pixies,and
the mid-1980sgrungepioneersthe Melvins.Moreto the point,he spoke
reverentlyof pop-andpunk-inflected rocktraditions,particularly
the
workof the PixiesandR.E.M.He pointedto the jangly,shimmering gui-
tarsoundthatR.E.M.-the Athens,Georgia-based bandwhoselead
singer,MichaelStipe,Cobainidolized-madea standoutelementof
theirmusicin the mid-1980sas one directionthathe mighttakein his
futurework.(Cobain'sadmirationforMichaelStipewasmultifaceted:
Stipe'spersonalintegrity,the band'spoliticalintegrity,and,aboveall,
Stipe'stalentsas a singerandsongwriter.) Buteven in the workthat
CobaindidaccomplishwithNirvana,we can observethat,whileit is
clearlyon somelevel indebtedto the grungesound,it is morerhythmi-
callybuoyant,morethinlytextured,andsonicallycleanerthanthe mu-
sic of Nirvana'sgrungecounterparts. Further,it seemsto havebeen the
general consensus of rock criticsthat it wasNirvana'spopelementthat
allowedthemto breakout of the Seattlesceneandinto the mainstream.
The producerButchVigandthe mixerAndyWallace,forinstance,
tunedin instinctivelyto the poptendenciesin Cobain'ssongsin giving
the albuma glossysheenthroughuseof a choruspedal-an aspectthat
causedsomedegreeof discomfortforthe bandmembers,especially
Cobain,who wasstill thinkingin termsof the low-budget,independent
scene.31
Cobainthe Songwriter
In the firstarticleprintedon Nirvana,whichappearedin a Seattle-based
'zinein 1988,the bandwascharacterized as a significantanomalywithin
the grungemovement:"Thisis not a clone band.The group'salready
wayaheadof mostmortalsin the songwriting department."32The same
tone wasevidentin earlyNirvanareceptionin GreatBritain.In the first
articleto appearon Nirvanain the influentialLondon-based magazine
MelodyMaker,the criticEverettTruealsoemphasized the craftand
strengthof Cobain'ssongwriting: "WhereNirvanadiffersfrommostof
theircontemporaries is in the strengthof Kurdt's songwriting.Among
thosein the know,Nirvanaaresaidto be creamof the crop .... [F]ar
frombeinga meltingpotpourriof everyloudnoiseimaginable, Nirvana
craftstheirsongswith a diligencenot seen this sideof Creation."33 De-
spite their journalistichyperbole (which situates them less as serious
criticism than as pressfor the up-and-comingband), these quotations
demonstratethat one importantrecurringmotive in Nirvana'scritical
reception was in place earlyon. Cobain'sstatus as a songwriter(and, re-
latedly,the "poeticgenius"of his lyricsandthe profundity of his musical

delivery)wasalwaysthe elementof Nirvana'smusicthatset the band
apartfromlocalpeers.
The practiceof songwritingbecamethe subjectof the mostin-
depthdiscussionin Cobain'sRollingStoneinterviewwith DavidFricke,
whichtookplacebackstageat Chicago'sAragonBallroomon 27 January
1994.Given the auspiciousness of the occasion(a solo interviewin
RollingStone), the interviewcan be understoodas Cobain'stimeto be
to
serious, speak like a musician,in muchthe samewaythatthe "Un-
plugged"appearance hadfunctioned.The primarymessageone getsfrom
Cobainin this interviewis thathe wasbecominginterestedin makinga
kindof musiche hadnot yet hadthe opportunity to make.Frickebegan
by commenting on the "formula" that he haddiscerned in so manyof
Nirvana'ssongs:the transformation fromthe acoustic,"slow-boilverse,
usuallysungin a plaintivegroanovermutedstrumming anda tempered
backbeat," to the electric"chorusof immensepower-chord staticand
primalhowling."34 Cobain'sresponse to Fricke's
observation revealshis
discomfortwith the band'spresentmusicalsituation:
I'mgettingso tiredof thatformula. Andit is a formula.

Andthere's not
muchyoucandowithit.We'vemastered that-forourband.We'reall
growing prettytiredof it. It is a dynamic
style.ButI'monlyusingtwoof
thedynamics. Therearea lotmoreI couldbeusing.Krist,Dave,andI
havebeenworking on thisformula-thisthingofgoingfromquietto
loud-forso longthatit'sliterally becoming boringforus.It'slike"OK,I
havethisriff.I'llplayit quiet,withouta distortion box,whileI'msinging
theverse.Andnowlet'sturnon thedistortion boxandhitthedrums
harder."I wantto learnto go in betweenthosethings,gobackandforth,
almostbecomepsychedelic in a waybutwitha lotmorestructure. It'sa
reallyhardthingto do,andI don'tknowifwe'recapable of it-as musi-
cians.35
Particularlyimportantto Cobainwaslivingup to the standardset

by the bandthathaddefinedthe alternativeor collegemusicscenein
the 1980s,R.E.M.36 The comparison betweenNirvanaandR.E.M.may
seemfromtoday'sperspectiveto be quiteunfounded: R.E.M.'sprolific
recordingstestifyto an aestheticof experimentation
andprogressthat
Nirvanahadnot even comecloseto attainingin its relativelysmall
discography. However, it is worth quoting Cobain again at length on this
influence in order to observe the smooth shifts, in an almost stream-of-
consciousness style, that he makes among several topics: a frank discus-
sion of Nirvana's present state of affairs; an adulatory account of the way
in which R.E.M. has come to terms with the same dilemmas that Cobain
722 TheMusical
Quarterly
saw himself and his band facing;a reflectionof the culturalpower of

music-industrylabels;the relationshipbetween recordingartistsand
their fans;and, finally,a hint towardthe aesthetic of progressto which
he claimed to have aspired:
I can'tsee thisbandlastingmorethana couplemorealbums,unlesswe
workreallyhardon experimenting. ... I'mreallyinterestedin studying
differentthings,andI knowKristandDaveareas well.ButI don'tknow
if we'recapableof doingit together.I don'twantto putout another
recordthatsoundslikethe lastthreerecords.I knowwe'regonnaputout
one morerecordat least,andI havea prettygoodideaof whatit'sgoing
to soundlike:prettyethereal,acoustic,likeR.E.M.'slastalbum[Automatic
forthePeople(1993)].If I couldwritejusta coupleof songsas goodas
whatthey'vewritten.... I don'tknowhowthatbanddoeswhattheydo.
God,they'rethe greatest.They'vedealtwiththeirsuccesslike saints,and
theykeepdeliveringgreatmusic.That'swhatI'dreallyliketo see this
banddo. Becausewe arestuckin sucha rut.Wehavebeenlabeled.
R.E.M.is what?Collegerock?Thatdoesn'treallystick.Grungeis aspo-
tent a termasNew Wave.Youcan'tget out of it. It'sgoingto be passe.
Youhaveto takea chanceandhopethateithera totallydifferentaudi-
ence acceptsyouor the sameaudiencegrowswithyou.37
Of course, if Cobain wanted to be known as a legitimate songwriter,he
would not want to be categorizedas someone who workedaccordingto a
formula.And we are remindedof Cobain'scomments in the preconcert
interview on MTV's "Unplugged."While he once claimed to "justwant
to experiment,"it seems clear by now that the "Unplugged"experience
was not exactly the kind of experimentationthat Cobain had in mind.
Instead,we can suggestthat Cobain was looking (especiallyin his planned
projectwith Michael Stipe of R.E.M.38)to appropriatesomething of the
"extravagantlyornate style"that he saw in such pop-rockpredecessorsas
David Bowie. The surfacechanges in instrumentationand the abandon-
ment of electricity and electronics for a more "authentic"acoustic sound
on the "Unplugged"set were less an attempt on Nirvana'spart to find a
new path of composition than to create a perfunctoryalternatetake for
corporatemarketingschemes.In his pre-"Unplugged" interview,then,
Cobain referredto experimentingin the studio.
The Progressive Aesthetic in Rock

Cobain's allusions to the primacy of the songwriter, the vision of the
artist, and the compositional act of laying down the track all speak
of what I would refer to as a progressive aesthetic in rock-a pseudo-
modernist vision of artistic self-redefinition. This explains his recurring
TheManWhom
theWorld
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appealsto the Beatles and R.E.M., bands that (among many others)
work(ed) accordingto the belief that rock is a mediumwith valid artistic
potential. Rock'saesthetic of progresscan be understoodas a tendency
towardversatility in music making,beyond the dictates of the massaudi-
ence (which thereforeidentifiesthis aesthetic position as the antithesis
of "sellingout") and beyond a generalbelief that a band's"sound"is
fixed once it has releaseda successfulrecording.Thus, Cobain'sinsis-
tence that his own artisticvoice had not yet been revealed in Nirvana's
music suggeststhat he was envisioning for his musicalfuturea more
deliberatelycomposerlysensibility.
My use of the word "progressive" necessarilyevokes an enormous
subjectof discoursein rock. It is usefulhere to provide an overview of
the variousconnotations of this term in rock so as to make clear the
implicationsof my meaning. Even the most cursoryexamination of
"progressiverock"reveals that the term has been treatedwith a certain
degreeof inexactness by both the journalisticand academiccritical
communities. Broadlyspeaking,the label has come to stand for two dis-
tinct moments in the history of rock. The firstuse is the more normative
of the two: "progressiverock"is synonymouswith "artrock"and thus
refersto the primarily,though by no means exclusively, Britishphenom-
enon of the early to mid-1970s-represented by such bands as Genesis,
Yes,and Gentle Giant-in which technically proficient,educatedmusi-
cians attempted to expand the boundariesof rock by appropriatingsuch
elements of "classical"music as extended keyboardsolos, symphonicin-
strumentation,and radicallyextended composition lengths. While much
recent musicologicalcommentaryon popularmusic has prizedart rock
for its musicalrichness, this traditionhas been distinguishedin general
by the disparagingtreatment that it has received from the journalistic
press.Take, for instance, John Rockwell'scomments on the phenome-
non in The RollingStoneIllustrated Historyof Rockand Rollin 1976, at
the tail end of art rock'smainstreamsuccess:
Thereis a morphology to artisticmovements.Theybeginwitha rudeand

innocentvigor,passinto a healthyadulthoodandfinallydeclineinto an
overwrought feebleold age.Somethingof thisprocesscan be observedin
the passageof rock& rollfromthe three-chordprimitivism of the Fifties
the
through burgeoning and
vitality experimentation of the Sixtiesto the
hollowemptinessof muchof the so-calledprogressive,or "art,"rockof
the Seventies.39
From some quarters, then, progressive rock of the 1970s is considered an

unfortunate anomaly-a digression of effete, overly intellectualized soft-
ness in an otherwise potent, hard-hitting rock tradition.
The seconduseof the term"progressive rock"contrastswith the

first,in termsof both its placein popular-music historyandits stylistic
footprint.Accordingto this conception,"progressive rock"refersto the
"heavy rock"or "psychedelic rock" that rekindled the rock'n'rollmove-
mentin the mid-to late 1960s.40Alongwith Allan Moore,Richard
Middletonemploysthis senseof the termwhencomparingthe hetero-
geneitythatcharacterizes rockof the 1960sto the morehomogeneous
rock'n'rollof the 1950s.In sociologicalterms,accordingto Middleton,
"withinthe rockdiscourseof the time,progressive rockwaswidelyre-
garded as associated
with, indeed as the music of, the 'counterculture'"
of the mid-to late 1960s.41The songsMiddletonchoosesforhis four
briefcasestudiesin progressive rockillustratethe characteristiceclecti-
cismthathe seesin this movement:the Beatles'"Strawberry Fields"
(Magical MysteryTour,1967),Cream's"Spoonful" (FreshCream,1966),
PinkFloyd's"Astronomy Domine"(ThePiperat theGatesof Dawn,
1967),andProculHarum'ssingle"AWhiterShadeof Pale"(1967).Just
as the argumentaboutartrockof the 1970swasthat the musicalprofi-
ciencyof certainartistswasdirectlyresponsible forthesedrasticchanges
in the rockmedium,Middleton's generalideaaboutprogressive rock
of the mid-to late 1960sis that its "development ... wasdetermined
mainlyby intramusical factors-froma desireto explorethe technologi-
cal andmusicalpossibilitiesof the new conditionsof productionset up
in the rock'n'rollmovement."42
Bothof theseconceptionsof "progressive rock"seekto understand
the relationshipbetweena distinctmusicalphenomenonandits sur-
roundingsocialmatrix.Middletonnotesthatrockof the periodaround
1966-67, in contrastto the rock'n'rollof the late 1950s,forinstance,
is bestunderstoodasbeing"rightin the middleof complexsituational
change,wherethe socialformationandthe musicalculturearecharac-
terizedpreciselyby heterogeneityandseeminglytransientaffiliations."43
And Rockwell,despitehis misgivingsaboutthe progressive rockof the
mid-1970s,neverthelessfindsa wayto legitimizesomeof thismusicin
termsof its fulfillmentof rock'sapparentsocialobligationto be radical,
dangerous, andprovocative:the bestof the art-rockbands"shareda
commitmentto unprepared, abrupttransitionsfromone moodto an-
other.Sometimesthe shiftswerebetweentempos,sometimesbetween
levelsof volume,sometimesbetweenwholestylesof music.The effectin
anycasewasviolent,disruptiveandnervouslytense,andas suchno
doubt answeredthe needs of the age as well as anything."44Despite the
obvious divergence in their use of the term, then, both Middleton and
Rockwell considerprogressiverock to be a historicallyspecificbut eclec-
tic musicalphenomenon with clear and importantties to its sociocul-
turalmilieu.Middleton's response,however,to the eclecticismof pro-

gressive rockof the 1960s (in his fourbriefanalyses)leadshim to ques-
tion the appropriateness of the label:"Bythe mid-1960srockas a whole
washardlymonolithic;butprogressive rockwasa particularly heteroge-
neousgenre(comparedto, say,rock'n'roll,whichis fairlytightlyde-
fined).Is progressive rock,then, a singlephenomenonat all?If so, what
makesit such?Is the varietyitselfsignificant?"45
Thesequestionsserveas the implicitbasisforthe mostrecentex-
aminationof progressive rock,whichcomesfromJohnCovach.Align-
ing himself with the of the two definitionsdescribedabove,Covach
first
argues that one central definingcharacteristic of progressive rockis "the
evocationof artmusicwithinthe contextof rockandpop."46 However,
he problematizes this straightforward definitionby establishinga com-
promiseanddatingthe "richperiod"of progressive rockas beingbe-
tween 1967and 1977,whichgoesslightlyfurtherbackthan the view
that definesprogressive rockas a phenomenonsituatedlargelyin the
early-to mid-1970s.Nevertheless,it becomesclearin the subsequent
analysisof Yes's"Closeto the Edge"(Closeto theEdge,1972)thatCov-
ach findsthe mostcharacteristic elementsof progressive rockcomingto
the forein the early1970s,with the earlierphaseservingmoreas a tran-
sition into this periodthana full-fledged manifestation of its defining
properties.Afteridentifyingseveralelementsof artmusicthatfound
theirwayinto popularmusicvia the progressive rockof the 1970s-
extendedlength,various"operatic" aspects,contrapuntal writing,com-
plex metricalschemes,atonality,free-formimprovisation, andinstru-
mentalvirtuosity-Covachdiscussesmanifestations of the progressive
stylethroughoutthe subsequent historyof popularmusic.The "rich
for
period," instance, was followed by the so-calledneo-progmovement,
whichbeganas an underground movementin the early1980s.More
recently,in the early1990s,anotherresurgence-alsoan underground
(that is, nonmainstream) movement-startedto sweepNorthAmerica,
and
Europe, Japan. Given its longandsocioeconomically variedhistory,
progressive rock, in Covach's view, "cannot be reliablydistinguished
simplyon the basisof who is recordingandperforming the music."In-
stead,"itseemsclearthat it mustbe a stylisticcategorythatdependson
characteristics to be foundin the musicaltextsthemselves." 47Thus,pro-
gressiverock, as a musical style,transcends historical and geographical
boundaries.
One of the few music-historicalfacts that all commentatorsseem
to agreeupon, despite their incompatibilitiesin other areas,is the signif-
icance in the history of the progressive-rockphenomenon of the year
1967, which markedthe releaseof the Beatles'epoch-makingconcept
albumSgt.Pepper's LonelyHeartsClubBand.Eachcriticcouchesthe sig-

nificanceof Sgt.Pepperin differentterms.Rockwell,forinstance,argues
thatartrockof the 1970swas"anticipated by Sgt.Pepper."48 Covach
discussesthe album'sdirectinfluenceon one of the mostrepresentative
progressive bandsof the 1970s,KingCrimson.49 WilfridMellers,in his
studyof the Beatles,cites the albumas the primaryinfluenceon the
emergenceof "listeningmusic"in rock,a directionthatwaslargely
responsible fordisplacingdancemusic(if onlymomentarily) in the
popular-music hierarchy.50 And Allan Moore,in his recentbook-length
studyof the album,arguesprovocativelythat"Sgt.Pepper wasthe high
point of a cumulative process which changed the nature of the game
thatwasAnglophonepopularmusic.""5Despitetheirdisagreements over
boththe datingandthe stylisticcharacteristics of progressive all
rock, of
thesecommentators havefoundcommongroundin the useof classical
instruments andthe distinctly"composed" feel of the Beatles'laterwork.
Additionalfeaturesof this common"progressive" groundincludethe rise
of the albumas the characteristic mediumof rock(asopposedto the sin-
gle) andthe emergenceof a moreextendedmusicalform(again,in con-
trastto the radiosingle).The significantpointhereis thatpopularmusic
hadthe choiceafterSgt.Pepperto be "artistic" in muchthe sameway
that"serious" musicwas.
Covach'sbriefbutusefuldiscussionof recentmanifestations of pro-
gressiverockdemonstrates that the tendenciesinherentin artrocklive
on in "underground" movementstoday.However,commentators seem
reluctanteitherto problematize furtherthe music-historical label"pro-
gressiverock"or to considerthe influenceof eitherconceptionof this
termon currentmainstream rockmusic.It seemsno wonderthat,given
the twodisparatedefinitionsof progressive rock,referencesto this term
in journalisticrockcriticismend up soundinglesslikeauthoritative
commentaries on musicalstylethanimprecisecatchalldescriptionsthat
leavereaderswonderingwhatexactlythe criticis hearingin the music
underinvestigation.Comingto termswith thisproblemis difficultbe-
causebothusesof the term"progressive rock"arefoundedupondistinct
music-stylistictendencies from specificmusic-historicalperiods.Because
of the time-honoredusage of the term in both senses, Covach andRock-
well areunquestionably justifiedin usingthe termsynonymously with
"artrock,"andMiddletonis equallyjustifiedin linkingthe termto the
counterculture of the mid-to late 1960s.Butperhapsbecauseof this
confusingduality,the term might be best understoodto refernot to a
specific music-historicalphenomenon i la Rockwell, nor even to a "styl-
istic tendency" i la Covach. Perhapsprogressiverock is best thought of
as an idea, an aesthetic tendency towardversatilityin and development
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of the boundariesof rock in general. Such a claim would neither negate

nor diminish the sense of the other two, more specific,uses of the phrase
"progressiverock,"both validated by the fact that they have been drawn
upon continuously in rock criticism since the time of the music in ques-
tion. But to consider a general progressiveaesthetic in rock (and indeed
in other popularmusic traditionsas well) would allow commentators
both to get aroundthe problemof deciding which use of the term to
employ,and also to begin to find ways of articulatinghow the tendencies
of rock from the mid-1960s onwardcontinue to affect the productionof
mainstreamrock today-not just the underground"neo-progressive"
movements that Covach and other critics identify.
Moore'sidea that Sgt. Pepperwas a "highpoint" ratherthan a mo-
ment of genesis for progressiverock seems especiallyuseful to this new
conception of the progressiveaesthetic in rock, for it suggeststhat such
an aesthetic was alreadyin operationduringthe early to mid-1960s and
was thereforea trend quite apartfrom the art rock that emergedin the
late 1960s and early 1970s.52With the broadernotion of a progressive
aesthetic in rock-or an idea of progressivism-commentatorswould be
free to considersuch aesthetic elements as a purposefullystructuredal-
bum (versusa randomorderingof potential hit songs), a deliberately
"composed"sensibility that willfully exploits the technological resources
of the recordingstudio (versusa conception of musicalcreation founded
more overtly on the visceral, often resolutelyamateurishact of perform-
ing), and an appropriationof nontraditionalinstrumentsas partsof a
continuous streamin rock since the mid-1960s. Further,because some
of these tendencies obviously have their roots in the rock 'n' roll of the
1950s (one thinks, for instance, of Sam Philips'sinnovative use of the
echo effect in his Sun Recordsrecordings),it also allows commentators
to drawstylistic parallelsamong otherwisedisparatemusic-historicaltra-
ditions. Finally-and most importantlyfor the presentanalysis-because
the epoch-makingrise of punk and new wave in the mid- to late 1970s
has been uniformlyunderstoodas a reaction against the art-rockmove-
ment of the 1970s, it has been difficultfor critics to come to termswith
the subsequentconflation of elements from all three of these traditions
(punk, new wave, and art rock) in currentmainstreamrock. The appeal
of the idea of a progressiveaesthetic is that it allows us to notice in post-
punk traditions,for example, evidence of the long-standinginfluence of
progressivetendencies that have been a part of rock since the birth of
rock 'n' roll in the 1950s, without confusingthese tendencies with the
more specializedpracticesof art rock of the 1970s. In a slight contrast
to Covach, then, I would like to posit the idea that progressivismis less
a "stylisticcategory"than an aesthetic tendency,which not only spans
differingmusic-historical
epochsbutalsois capableof operatingwithin
anynumberof stylistictraditions-includingsuchdiversetraditionsas
countrymusicandjazz.
Nirvana's "Endless Nameless": A Frustrated

Songwriter's Hidden Voice
Duringthe recordingsessionsforNevermind at SoundCity studiosin
VanNuys,California(May1991),ButchVigkeptthe tapesrolling
aftera particularlyfrustratingattemptat recordinga takeof the song
"Lithium." Remainingin the soundstudio,Nirvanaworkedout their
disappointment with the "Lithium" trackby playinga semi-improvised
jam with a soundand energyheavilyinvestedin hard-corepunk.This
track,commonlyreferredto as "Endless Nameless"in the literature,ulti-
matelyendedup on all but the firstpressingof Nevermind, as a "hidden
track"thatappearssometen minutesafterthe conclusionof the final
song,"Somethingin the Way."3" Giventhe previousdiscussionof the
Beatles'Sgt.Pepper,we cannothelpbutbe remindedof the famousrun-
off-groovenoisethatconcludesthatotherepoch-making album.Of
course,Nirvana's"extra" soundis moresubstantial, butstill, the effect
is the sameandthe homageunmistakable.54
JimBerkenstadt writesthat" 'EndlessNameless'is nothingif not a
punkanthem:a deconstruction of the rocksongreplacinganycraftingof
melody.""As we haveseen,Cobainhadbeengenerallylaudedin the
journalisticmusicpressas a songwriter whowasuniquelygiftedforwrit-
ing melodies. "Endless Nameless" can thereforebe interpreted as an ex-
tremedeviationfromthe remainder of Nirvana'srecordedoutput.In ad-
ditionto its reconceptualizationof Nirvana'snormativesoundresources,
the trackalsocanbe discussedin termsof its formalcharacter. Afterthe
morethanten minutesof silencethatfollowsNevermind's finaltrack,
"Somethingin the Way,"Nirvanalaunchesinto a raucousversionof the
standardverse-chorus formthatreversesthe positionof the form'stwo
components:a loudanddrivingrefraininhabitsthe initialspace,which
is normallyallottedto the verse.HereCobain'sincoherentscreaming
masksa text that is obviouslypresentbutdeliberately cloaked.The
ironic,self-mockingoverkillof thisstatementparodiesNirvana'stypical
refrainprocedures. In the restrainedversethatfollows,the pathoscom-
monly featuredin Cobain'sverse lyrics is negated by a campy,rhythmic
shimmyand Cobain'smoaning, which denies any semblanceof compre-
hensible text.56
As the hidden trackcontinues, its formalcomponents incremen-
tally breakdown. In a progressionfrom a parodyof the verse-chorus
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form to the abandonmentof that form, both the alternation that defines
the formulaitself and the human voice (arguablythe form'smost con-
spicuousconstant) are dispensedwith. The drumpattern is reducedto
a simple, steady beat, and the guitarnow assumesthe role of vocal
prominence in a lengthy passageof feedback,revving, and occasional
hints at melodic material.In the final dismantlingof the structure,the
two prominent instrumentalforces, lead guitarand drum,are singled
out as separateindividualvoices in a guitarsoliloquy and a drumsolo.
Finally,the track concludes with the sound of Cobain smashinghis gui-
tar (at 19:32). The general progressionof the track, then, proceedsfrom
the clearlyexpressedlyricsof "Somethingin the Way,"to the violent
screamingand nonsensical moaning of the verse-chorussubstitute,to
the abandonmentof human vocal production (which uncannily evokes
the problemsthat Cobain was to have later with his voice).
Some listeners may sense in "EndlessNameless"an improvisatory
sound, but the trackcan also be heard as an extended composition.
Indeed,Nirvana had played it live on several occasions, which suggests
that it was not improvisatoryat all, but rathermore of a planned-outor
"controlled"jam. Since rock is not a traditionfounded upon improvisa-
tion, it may be incorrectto referto "EndlessNameless"as a jam at all.
Rather,"EndlessNameless"might be heard as an explosion of the ele-
ments of verse-refrainform.This makessense: these elements were what
Nirvana workedwith all the time; when they "jammed,"they would
easily and comfortablyfall into the habit of workingwith the same
materials.
Consider again Jim Berkenstadt'sinterpretationof "EndlessName-
less"as a punk anthem. The hidden trackunquestionablyhas the hard-
core punk sound of the bandsoften creditedas influenceson Cobain
(Black Flag, the Circle Jerks).But even though Cobain fought aggres-
sively to have it included on Nevermind,the track is clearlycomposedin
a style that marksit as not intended to be put on a recordin a formal
sense (that is, in the same way a clear-cutsong would be). I would there-
fore interpret"EndlessNameless"-in termsof both its sound'sdeparture
fromNirvana'smore normativepop-inflectedrecordingsand its unique
position as a hidden track-as a significanthermeneutic clue to Cobain's
musical identity. "EndlessNameless"can be understoodas representing
a rareinstance in Cobain'ssongwritingcareerin which another side of
his musical identity is revealed.If one takes Cobain to be sincere in
what he expressedin his RollingStoneinterview with David Fricke-that
he wanted to experimentformallyand stylisticallyin his songwriting-
one might arguethat a deeper (perhapsrepressed)part of Cobain'smusi-
cal voice, a voice within, is operatingin this track.
Nirvana's Fans: The Cultural and Generational Politics

of Grunge
Now thatI have establisheda framework forCobain'sunderstanding of

his culturalwork,let us turnto a discussionof his fans.The breadthof
Nirvana'sinfluenceon the popular-music marketmakesthe taskof char-
acterizingtheirfan basedifficult.One significantimpedimentis ournec-
essaryrelianceon characterizations of thesefansin the popularpress.
Here,one findsthe monolithicterm"generation X"linkedto Nirvana's
audiencein muchthe samestereotypical way, instance,thatone en-
for
countersthe imageof a packof screamingyounggirlsas the quintessen-
tial representation of Beatlesfans.It is no surprisethatNirvanashould
be associatedwith the term"generation X":Nevermind wasreleasedthe
sameyearas the novel thatcoinedthe phrase,DouglasCoupland's Gen-
erationX: Talesforan Accelerated Culture, and Nirvana's meteoric rise
occurredsimultaneously with the infiltrationof thiscatchphrase into
generalAmericandiscourse.57 (Thiswasalsothe yeara breakthrough
independentfilmwasreleased,RichardLinklater's Slacker-anotherim-
portant text in the construction of this generation's identity.)Nirvana
and"generation X"areirrevocably linkedin partbecauseof journalists'
insistenceon holdingup Cobainas a JohnLennon-likespokesperson
forhis generation.The rockcriticMichaelAzzerad,forinstance,after
describinga sceneat a concertin Rome-in whichCobainbecameagi-
tated,climbedonto the speakertower,andthreatenedfansandsecurity
thathe wasgoingto jump-writes:"Ifhe canstandthe heat,Cobain,
extremelybrightandunafraidto takeprovocativestands,mayemerge
as a JohnLennon-likefigure.The comparison withCobain'sidolisn't
frivolous. Lennon, using music screamout an unhappy
Like he's his to
childhood.And likeLennon,he'sdeeplyin love withan equally
provocativeandvisionaryartist-CourtneyLove."58
Cobain'sroleof reluctantspokesperson fora generationwasini-
tiallybased the
upon relationship between him andhis nativePacific
Northwest:his upbringingin thisregionlinkedhim to grungeculture.
WhenNirvanaenteredthe mainstream, however,thislocalizedcontext
turnednational,andCobain'svoicewassuddenlytakenas representa-
tive of his entiregeneration.As anotherof Cobain'seulogistsin the
mainstream pressput it:
Born into a generationthat doesn't want heroes but simplysomeone who

Evenhis suicidenote endedwith
Cobainunderstood.
understands,
"Peace,love, empathy."Yes,he was a remarkablygifted songwriterand
singer,but he was special not so much becausehe was unique but because
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he wasone of many.Disenfranchised andcynical.Awkward andunsure.

Foran enormouscollectionof individuals,Cobain'spassingis the equiva-
lent of a deathin the family.He wasn'ta heroor a guruof anysort.He
wassimplyone of them,someonewho graspedwhattheyweregoing
through,even thoughhe waspowerlessto controltheseforcesin his
own life.59
As a sociological tool, the sweeping category"generationX" itself
presentslittle help in understandingthe demographicmake-upof the
groupto which it is applied-save perhapsby providinga general range
of birth yearsfor its members(roughlyfrom the early 1960s onward).60
One recent commentatorhas cautioned that the literatureon genera-
tions in general "aboundswith hyperboleand unsubstantiatedleaps from
available data."61And researchersattempting to define this generation
demographicallypoint out that while "stereotypesabound ... the collec-
tive identity of gen-Xers-sociologically, culturally,politically-remains
elusive."62For this reason, in the media (and in the popularliteratureon
Nirvana) generationX has commonly signifiedonly a subcategoryof the
largerdemographicthat the term suggests.Of the roughly50 million in-
dividualsthat comprisegenerationX,63the subgroupthat was customar-
ily treated to analysisin the mainstreampress is the groupprofiledin
Timemagazinein 1990, just before the term was coined. The authors
describedthis American generation as generally"lackingin ambition,"
"indecisive,"having a "shortattention span,"and "preoccupied"with
blaming their parents'generationfor their nation'seconomic and politi-
cal problems.64This is the characterizationof generationX that was pro-
mulgatedin the media in the early 1990s, not only in mainstreamprint
venues, but in independent (Slacker)and mainstreamfilm (Ben Stiller's
RealityBites, 1994).65The practicaluse to which the term "generation
X"has been put in the literatureon Cobain and Nirvana-the fact that
this submeaningof "generationX"has maintaineda high degree of
power in general American socioculturaldiscourse-therefore suggests
that we may take the term as signifyingnot so much the generationas a
whole, but ratherthe subgroupof this generation that was most easily
targetedby the media at the time the term firstbecame popular.
Understandingthe culturalpolitics of grunge-one of generation
X's most ubiquitousculturalforms-brings us back to the topic of punk.
In termsof culturalpolitics, several significantdifferencesobtain be-
tween punk (in both its British and its American manifestations) and
grunge. Thomas Shevory discusses these differences in his article on the
politics of 1990s-style grunge. British punk, which began with the forma-
tion of the Sex Pistols in 1975, preceded the American punk movement
and was purely a music of the British working class. While British punk
732 TheMusical
Quarterly
was class driven (and thus received as political, even though its founder,
Malcolm McLaren,later attested that punk was at bottom nothing but
a marketingscheme66),American punk was generationdriven and thus
playedmore into the game of cultural(ratherthan class) politics. Shevory
notes that "Englishworking-classbandsbring their class consciousness
easily into their artisticproducts,while American bands are much more
likely to focus on individualisticthemes: anti-authoritarianismand per-
sonal angst. Nirvana is, of course,paradigmaticin these terms."67Instead
of being overtly political, then, American punk reveled in the politics of
personality.If punk, even the less overtly political American form,knew
what it was rebellingagainst,grungewas different:as Shevory contends,
"in the ideology of grunge,the enemy turnsout to be the self....
[G]rungemusic subvertedpunk leftism with a peculiarlyAmerican ide-
ology of the self."68
The culturalcommentatorSarahFergusonagrees,arguingthat the
culturalpolitics of grunge(and, by association,of generationX) are less
sociopolitical than personal:"Grungeis music for kids who grewup too
fast. They keep reachingback for a childhood denied."69While divorce
was understoodas the primaryculpritresponsiblefor the theft of gen-
Xers'childhoods, Fergusonfocuses more specificallyon child abuseas
emblematicof this culturalpositioning. Quoting CourtneyLove as
having said that "everykid in America who'sbeen abusedloves Kurt
Cobain'smusic,"she concludes that
Nirvanamadeabusethis generation's definingmetaphor. The hit "Smells

likeTeenSpirit"wasan anthemof powerlessrageandbetrayal.It wasa
resounding fuckyouto the Boomersandall the falseexpectationsthey
saddledus withaboutthe rock'n'rollrevolution.And it madepsycholog-
icaldamage-withall its concurrentthemesof childabuse,drugaddic-
tion, suicide,andneglect-a basisforsocialidentity.70
Fergusonadoptsthe phrase"the politics of damage"in her characteriza-

tion of the political content of Nirvana'smusic, arguingthat "Cobain
and his fellow grungeballadeersnever really aspireto protest,preferring
to remain mired in their own sense of inadequacy.The invertedpose of
the music mirrorsthe incoherence of the left and the replacementof class
politics with self-help politics. ... Indeed, grungeexpressesthis genera-
tion's almost willful refusalto reach for largertruths.Instead,it engages
in a kind of mournful nostalgia for a childhood without violation."7
Although Ferguson's article appeared after Cobain's death, these
same themes characterized the literature on Nirvana even during his
lifetime. One reviewer for RollingStone, on the road with Nirvana during
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the In Uterotour of 1993, explored this subjectby commenting on the

audience'sact of singing along to "RapeMe"at a concert in Davenport,
Iowa. The implicationsof this communalsing-along,accordingto this
commentator,had everything to do with generationalpolitics: "It's
doubtfulthat the parentsof those presentwould understandwhy a song
like 'RapeMe' would attain anthem status. But their kids, the latchkey
children of the Nasty '90s, strugglingto overcome the havoc wreakedon
their psyches and their planet by the generation that precededthem,
know why all too well."72
The theme of generationalpolitics is perhapsthe most significant
element in understandingthe culturalpolitics of grunge.Grunge cul-
ture'spolitical identity has typicallybeen describedas thoroughlydis-
tinct from the politics of the youth generationof the 1960s-in popular
parlance,the "babyboomers."After all, this was the generation that sad-
dled them (so the storygoes) with a ruinedeconomy and a devastated
planet. However, the cultural-politicalstances of generation X are
tellingly similarto those of the boomers,especiallywith respect to the
perceived authenticity in their respectivechoices of expressivecultural
forms.Becausemusic played such an integralrole in the mythologization
of their parents'generation, obviouslymusic would play a front-and-
center role in generation X's attempt at creatinga nationally recognized
schism between their generation and that of their parents.73
As I have noted, the most powerfulpopularimage of the "gen-Xer"
promulgatedin the early 1990s was that of the jobless slacker,the lost
soul, the bohemian wannabe. This image, of course,recalls a similar
American culturalimage of the past thirty years:that of the 1960s-style
counterculturalhippie. One popularexplanation for the differencebe-
tween the slackerimage and that of the hippie is that the choice of life
style (most significantly,unemployment)on the part of the generation-X
person is not so much chosen as enforcedby the nation's economy. This
economic situation has been interpretedin the media'saccount of gener-
ation X'sbeliefs as being the "fault"of the boomers.According to Gina
Arnold, the children of this generation "grewup being told that they
were born too late"-beyond the last chance for a trulyfree society, be-
yond the rock revolution.74Indoctrinatedinto the myths of the counter-
culturefromearliest childhood, it was unavoidablethat gen-Xerswould
begin to find, then to create anew, holes in their parents'arguments.The
irony is that this generationhas expressedfrom the beginning its own
appealsto culturalauthenticity,which are also primarilybasedupon a
retreatfrom entrenched American economic, political, and culturalsys-
tems. Thus a new generation, scramblingto differentiateitself from the
previousone, inevitably casts itself in the former'slikeness."75
734 TheMusical
Quarterly
Not only does generationX wish to disassociateitself from the

generation that directly precededit, but it also habituallyseeks to disen-
franchisethe social and culturalprogramsof that generation. Facedwith
growingup underthe numbingspell of marketing,generationX prides
itself on its ability to fish out dishonesty.Becausethe agendaof their
parents'generation also involved this sort of existential sorting-out,
authenticity has become a particularlyactive front in this generational
turfwar.Countercultural1960s style appealsto a "truer"American ex-
perience (and, thus, a truerpersonalexperience for all Americans-in
either the flower-childor the political-radicalmanifestations)have been
deridedby generationX as just another misguidedattempt at escaping
the realitiesof American life (realitiesthat the youngergeneration,
having inherited a far less promisingforecastfor this country'sfuture,see
themselves as more adept at discerningand more justifiedin mourning).
When KurtCobain committed suicide in 1994, these issueswere
broughtinto sharprelief in the many tributes-books, television spe-
cials, radioprograms-that appealedto the notion that Cobain was a
spokespersonfor his generation.Suicide hotlines were establishedacross
the countryafterCobain'sdeath in anticipation of a Werther-likerashof
suicidesby fans imitating their idol. And every majorprint venue in the
countryran obituariesand commentarieson Cobain'sheroic cultural
role. Of particularinterest is a column run in the New YorkTimesby Lor-
raine Ali (now a journalisticmusic critic).76Ali's sentiments servednot
only to articulatesome of the reasonsfor Cobain'sculturalsignificance
but also, because they were publishedby one of popular-musicculture's
weightiest print arms,to reinforceand disseminatethis set of beliefs.
First,Ali addressesboth Cobain'smythical status (his instant canoniza-
tion in the rock annals) and his generation'sdistance from their prede-
cessorsby playingoff a quintessentialcounterculturalline about the
death of one of their own heroes:"Ican't recall exactly where I was
when I heard the news that John Lennon had been shot." In a flash, this
statement imposesa sharpgenerationaldividing line that will inform
Ali's sentiments throughoutthe rest of her commentary.Employingthe
argumentof generationaltension to explain the significanceof Cobain's
death, she assertsthat
the '60sis an erathatmypeersandI areconstantlyremindedwe missed.
A greattimewhenteenswerefilledwithgoodvibesanddidn'tbloweach
other away over a pair of Adidases.They were blessedwith naivet6 and
denial-they believed all things could be good if you tried hard enough.
KurtCobain was one among a league of kids raisedby '60s-generation
parentswho shuttled their children fromrelative to relative in a quest for
personalfreedom.... They sufferedthe fallout of free love, and as adults,
TheManWhom
theWorld
Sold 735
theysell millionsof albumsto peerswho can relateto theirrootlessanger

anddysfunction.
But Ali's relationshipto the idea of generationalsolidarityis unsure.On

the one hand, she seems to wish to discount one of the media'sreigning
myths about her generation:"Ican't tell you what Kurtwas thinking,
though, or how he was feeling. Not all of Generation X has straightlines
into one another."However, she immediatelybacks awayfrom this posi-
tion and persistsin creatingeasy answersfor Cobain'splight. Her an-
swersare provided in the context of nihilism, a characteristicof genera-
tion X that from the beginning has been capitalizedupon greatlyin the
media'sattempt at defining the youngestgeneration'sculturalpolitics.
Ali thus asserts:"ButI can tell you I knew something would happen to
end him. Not because I saw Kurtas some sort of tragicfigure,but be-
cause my cynicism tells me all good things will end. Hope is something
you trick yourselfwith to get throughthe true hopelessnessof life."If
this subtle yet pointed jab were not enough to solidifyher anti-boomer
mentality,Ali's overwroughtending betraysher generation'sanxiety of
influence:"Iwill alwaysrememberwhere I was when the news of Kurt's
death reached me. Now, like my mom with PresidentKennedy or my fa-
ther with Anwar Sadat, I, too, have a moment etched in my mind."
Another cultural-politicalcreed for generation X reinforcesthe
fact that this generation'sculturalpolitics are most ferventlyarticulated
in the context of their music. In a compilation of alternativebands re-
leased in 1993, No Alternative,the writerof the liner notes, Chris
Mundy,asks the listener to take the music included on this compilation
as a representationof a generationand its politics: "Thesesongs ...
serve as a soundtrackto this suspendedmoment in time. As an oft-
labeled, seldom understoodgeneration,we have no better voice than a
communityof bands. ... Music not only has the power to speak to a
generationbut for a generation."" This internal dialogue,which exists
between the individualswho make up a generation and their music,
communicatesthat which this generationbelieves to be its essential
characteristic:integrity.In this particularcase, generationX's integrity
is pointed towardone of its time'smost pressingsocial issues:AIDS pri-
marycare and prevention education (the cause for which the compila-
tion was released). Along these lines, Mundywrites:"Whatyou are
hearing is the sound of these groupsputting their music where their
mouths are-reaffirming their dedication not just to a musicalculture
but to a world community that has been devastatedby AIDS." The argu-
ment, then, is that individualintegrityin political beliefs and action is a
unifyingfeatureof the fans of this kind of alternativemusic.
736 TheMusical
Quarterly
With articulationslike those of Ali and Mundy,the central para-

dox of generation X'sculturalpolitics becomes apparent:firstportrayed
as politically apathetic and concerned only with the politics of personal
identity,generationX found itself in desperateneed to reestablishits
pride and sociopolitical conviction. In doing so, however, they violated
one of their own most deeply held beliefs:that their own generation
was nothing like that of their parents.The assertionthat their music-
"alternative"music-could be likened to specific appealsto political
action broughtthem full circle back to the same kinds of claims made
by the boomersin the 1960s. Gen-Xersthereforeseem to want their mu-
sic to function on both levels: on the one hand, a music most defiantly
not about political protest,but on the other, a music that retainedthe
cultural-politicalpower of the classic rock that they claimed to despise
(and, in such cases as the "Woodstock1995"event, that they openly
ridiculed).Not surprisingly,the literatureon Nirvana is especiallyrich
in this respect.Gina Arnold, for example, claims that "whenI heard
that Nevermind,an albumwhose firstline is 'Loadup on drugsand bring
yourfriends,'had gone to numberone the firstweek of 1992, my first
thought was, 'Bushwill not be reelected.'"78And in one account of
Nevermind'sgenesis, the authorsgo so far as to suggestthat the record
was a productof Cobain'sdisgustwith Ronald Reagan'sleadershipof the
nation. In an interview,Cobain had commented, "Iwas helpless when I
was twelve, when Reagan got elected, and there was nothing I could do
about that."The authorscontinue: "Kurt'ssentiments about Reaganism
support[the] theory that no landmarkalbumhas ever been recorded
when the liberalparty [sic]has been in power in the U.S.-that it takes
a conservative,status-quogovernmentto drive artiststo rebel and craft
great rock 'n' roll."79
Despite these ratheroverblownattemptsat fusingrock and politics,
it is certainlyvalid to interpretNirvana'smusic as emblematicof genera-
tion X-style identity politics-of Ferguson'sidea of "the politics of dam-
age."The central aspect of generationX'scultural-politicalagenda,a
generalsense of alienation, can be discernedin Cobain'slyrics,in Nir-
vana'smusic, and in many douranecdotes from Cobain'slife. However,a
problememergeswhen one leaps to the conclusion that Cobain'smusi-
cal (and poetic) endeavorswere thereforepart and parcel of a largercul-
tural movement that wished to disown the cultural-politicalagendasof
the previousgeneration.To be sure,Nirvana does at times tap into some
of this generationalpolitics. This was the case, for instance, on the song
"TerritorialPissings"(Nevermind,1991), which begins with a briefvocal
introductionin which KristNovoselic providesa derisiverendition of
one of the 1960scounterculture's mostsalientmusicalarticulations of

the peacemovement,the Youngbloods' 1971hit "Get Together." This
quicklyfadesasCobain's"grunge" guitartakesoverthe musicalsound-
space,andthe post-punkrocksongis underway. The title of Nirvana's
song itself,with its hint towardthe roleof expressiveculturein the gen-
erationalconflict,is enoughto carrythe messageof generationalantipa-
thy.As JimBerkenstadt explains,Novoselic'schoiceof lyric"suggests a
sarcasticmessagefromKristandKurtto theirrespectiveestrangedpar-
ents,whosegenerationespousedthe idealsof brotherlyandsisterlylove
but whoseown marriages moreoftenthannot endedup in divorce."80
However,the questionthatmustbe askedof thisphenomenonis
whether(orat leastto whatextent)the unproblematic associationbe-
tweenCobain'sculturalpoliticsandthe politicsof his fansis valid.
The Man Whom the World Sold: Celebrity, Identity,

and the Challenges of Authenticity
MichaelCoyleandJonDolanhave recentlysuggesteda relationshipbe-
tweenKurtCobain'sdeathandthe conceptof authenticity:"Thelarger
questionmightbe, whatcommercialmusichasto do with authenticity
in anyform?The musicindustryinvokestraditionprimarily as another
marketingstrategy.Buttradition,andan authenticrelationto it, clearly
meansmorethanthatnot only to critics... butalsoto fansandmusi-
cians.KurtCobain,afterall, diedforit."81Theirsuggestionis unques-
tionablyprovocative,butalsoprovocativelyopenended.What,for
instance,do theysee as the relationshipbetween"authenticity" and
"tradition"?Do theymeanthatCobaindeliberately killedhimselfin
an effortto reinscribesomeof the sinceritythathe lostwhenNirvana
signedwith DGCandstruckgold?Are theysimplyrepeatingthe famil-
iarAmericanclich6thatfamekills?In this finalsectionI wantto ex-
plorethe subjectof authenticityfurtherandsuggestthatwe mightin-
deedunderstand KurtCobain'sdeath(andlife, andmusicmaking)in
termsof his relationshipwith this powerfulandpervasivecriticaltrope.
Considerthesetwo commentsaboutKurtCobain,whichdemon-
stratethe waysin whichidentityandauthenticityenterthe discourseon
popular-music culture:
There was no line between who he was and what his music was, no arti-
fice, no posing, no false front.82
KurtCobain is not a person. He's turned into something that represents
differentthings for differentpeople.83
738 TheMusical
Quarterly
ApplaudingCobain'sintegrity,the firstcommentatorevokes a ubiqui-

tous sentiment in the literatureon Cobain (and, one might argue,on
rock music in general):the communion between Cobain'sidentity and
his music allowed him to expresshimself authenticallyin his art. Cobain
was special, in other words,becausehis art was sincere. The second com-
mentator,however, insists on a fundamentallydifferentinterpretation:
because of his massivefame, Cobain had no chance at realizingauthen-
tic selfhood, and instead of being proprietorof his own identity,Cobain
was robbedof his "realself,"and the fragmentsof his identity were in
due courseput to the service of a dehumanizingmassmarket.
Taken together,these two statementsform a paradox-an example
of the kind of "irony"that Lionel Trillingonce attributedto the power
of authenticity84-that pervadesthe literatureon Cobain.While Cobain's
music has been received as an authentic expressionof himself (his feel-
ings, his values, and his political and culturalbeliefs), at the same time
it is habituallyacknowledgedthat Cobain'sidentity was made fragile,
perhapseven fatally depleted, on account of his celebrity.In fact, the
veritabilityof the second comment rendersthe firstan impossibility:if
Cobain was indeed not in control of his own identity,how could he
have been expressinghis authentic identity in his music?Of course,we
cannot know to what extent Cobain'sself or identity was "hisown."
Neither can we know whether he even meant what he said in any given
situation. But whether or not Cobain "actually"was sincere is not the
issue. One can accept any numberof stated positions or beliefs as socio-
logical facts, insofaras they were held by real individualsin real situa-
tions. The cultural-criticalinterest thereforelies in the tension gener-
ated by the juxtapositionof these facts-by the competing conceptions
of identity and authenticity that circulatedin the early 1990s aroundthe
Nirvana phenomenon.
The authorof the second comment sees Cobain as a victim of the
deadeningeffects of fame. When one's creativity is increasinglyput to
the service of others, he would argue,an individual'sidentity becomes
another level removedfromhis or her control. One might go so far as to
say that Cobain sufferedfrom a profound"identitycrisis"that resulted
from the combination of his fame, his heavy druguse, and his likely de-
pression.85The subjectof fame and identity has been exploredrecently
from the perspectiveof psychology-specifically with respectto the psy-
chological effects of fame on self-identification.The psychologistMark
Schaller investigatesthe hypothesis that "the attainment of fame leads
to chronic self-consciousness"and concludes that such a state leads ulti-
mately to self-destructivebehavioron the part of famousindividuals.86
He arguesthat fame is inherentlyconnected to the psychologicalstate of
TheManWhom
theWorld
Sold 739
"objectiveself-awareness"-a situation in which an individualviews

himself or herself through the eyes of others becausehe or she is chroni-
cally awareof the attention lavished upon him or her on the part of un-
known others who continually observehis or her every move.87Due to
this unceasing scrutiny,the objectively self-awareindividualcan there-
fore be describedas "otherdirected":his or her life is led-willingly or
unwillingly-for the sake of others.
Schaller explains that such other-directednessmanifestsitself in
one of two ways:"Chronicself-consciousnessmay lead to ... the ten-
dency to compareoneself againstsuccessfulothers or againstone's own
'ideal self.' "88One's "idealself " is the "authenticself "-the self that
one wishes oneself to be, given the appropriateopportunitiesand the
integrityor strength of will to capitalizeupon them. The quest for per-
sonal authenticity,therefore,is arguablymade all the more daunting
with the introductionof celebrity.Schaller elaboratesupon the process
of self-identificationfor the chronicallyself-consciousindividual:
Twosubsetsof strategicresponsesaretypicallyusedto copewith the nega-

tive affectiveconsequencesof self-consciousness. One strategyis to reduce
the discrepancy betweenone'srealandidealself.A personmightachieve
this bybehavingin sucha wayas to attainthe ideal,or by loweringthe
levelof his or her idealsto morerealisticlevels.Thisstrategyis not likely
to be effectiveforthe celebrity,however;giventhatthe cultureof fame
oftenexaggerates expectationsbeyonda levelthatcan be attainedwith
anyregularity, attainment of idealsmaybe impossible. Revisionof ideals
mayalsobe difficultbecausetheexpectations oridealstowhichpublicfigures
respond arenotfullyundertheirowncontrolbutmayinsteadreflecttheideals
imposed byothers[emphasisminej.89
The argumenthere is that an individual'sauthentic self is potentially

threatenedby the kind of fame one observesin contemporarypopular-
music culture.Individualswho live constantly in the public spotlight are
at riskof not being in control of their own selves-at least to the extent
that the existentialist traditionwould deem necessaryfor the formation
of an authentic self and thus a fully self-responsiblelife. (With respect
to the realmof popularmusic, this argumentmight be taken one step
further:because music making is typicallyunderstoodas an act of self-
expression,the existential crises that ariseas a result of fame will also
find themselves expressed in the music itself.)
As one might expect, Cobain often commented on the troubles he
had in dealing with the sycophantic behavior of his fans. He regularly
complained, for instance, about the impositions put on him by Nirvana's
fans--complete strangers who would instruct him at impromptu meetings
740 TheMusical
Quarterly
backstageor at partieson how to live his life, what kind of music to

make, and so on. He complained in an interview in GuitarWorldmaga-
zine that "[j]ustbecause I say 'I' in a song, it doesn't necessarilymean me
[and]a lot of people have a problemwith that."90The strainedrelation-
ship between Cobain and his fans also came to be much discussedin the
popularpress.Cobain'sposition was treatedwith empathyby critics who
held him up as a sincere (and sincerely talented) artist.One commenta-
tor explained the situationon an existential level, suggestingthat Cobain
was deeply saddenedby "the horrorof findingout that this was all his art
could attract-people who stareback sheepishly,or worse, reverently,at
your rage."91For this author,the preferredalternativewould have been
an audience more "in tune"with Cobain'sintended expressiveproject
and less interestedin the kind of superficialhero-worshipcommon in
mainstreampopular-musicreception.
This bringsus back to the issue of the relationshipbetween the cul-
turalpolitics of alternativemusic and the music of Nirvana. Any appeal
to "alternativemusic"as an antiestablishmentculturalmovement priori-
tizes the kinds of meaning generatedby fans, often at the expense of the
meanings intended by the recordingartiststhemselves. The assumption
here is that fans are unfailinglyfull of the same sincerityand devotion
that they expect of their idols. But this approachleaves unanswered
some of the deeper issuesof the negotiation of meaning in cultureand
the tensions that play themselves out among multiple meaningsof the
same culturalphenomena. Instead,critics might considera more open-
ended hermeneutic stance towardthe subject:neither creation nor re-
ception should be prioritizedat the expense of the other. The tension
between the two-the competing ideologies and the ironies that result
-constitute the interestingmaterials,for the simple reasonthat such
tension is what characterizes(and drives) popular-musicculture in the
firstplace. These tensions are, however,often glossedover in the service
of more simplistic ideological readings.
The culturalpolitics at play in the case of Nirvana are founded
upon the fact that the myth of rock as antiestablishmentrebellion has
been influentialnot only on the writingof rock history,but on the pub-
lic reception of rock as well.92Understandingthe relationshipbetween
productionand reception and the way authenticity shapesboth is an
importantpart of understandingthe way popularmusic operatescultur-
ally.The idea of authenticity not only servesas a tool for understanding
popular-musicreception but also allows us to conceive of ways that
recordingartistsattempt to expressthemselves more "truly"within the
confines of popularculture-a realm that has the potential to be cre-
ativelystiflingbecauseof bothcorporatestandardization andthe ideo-

logicalstagnation of fans.
All of this leadsbackto Cobainhimself,forwe mightthinkof
him (andhis work)as emblematicof the impossibledichotomybetween
countercultural idealsandthe practicaleconomyof the popular-music
industry.Duringhis lifetime,muchwasmadeof Cobain'sneedto escape
the working-class machismoof his nativetownof Aberdeen,Washing-
ton, a smallloggingtownabout100milessouthwestof Seattle.In this
scenario,Cobain'smoveto Seattleandhis entranceinto the realmof
popular-music culturerepresented his redemption.However,one might
interpretthis moveas one thatled him merelyinto anotherunbearable
environment-a realmin whichthe needsof his fansweredictatinghis
creativity,indeedhis life, to the extentthathis life wasnot his own.
Accordingto his own testimony(whichwe have no reasonto take
as insincere),Cobainwantedto createa styleof musicthathe felt this
underground musicscenecouldnot accommodate. However,at the very
least,he wasnot a strongenoughindividualto carrythrough,to push
the envelope.Unlike DavidBowie-whose "aestheticof escape"(Heb-
dige)functionedon all levels,includingpersonality-Cobainfound
himselfunableto escape,leastof all fromthe powerfulculturalclaimsof
authenticitythatdominaterockdiscourse.(We can witnessanotherat-
temptat suchbreakingfreein Cobain'scross-dressing, a subjectthatdi-
rectly bears on a discussionof But
authenticity. this never emergedas a
centralcomponentof his aesthetic.)In a musicculturein whichidentity
politicsreignsmightily,Cobainwasnot ableto finda niche thatcould
satisfyhis own realizationof authenticity,even thoughhis imageandhis
musicsatisfiedhis fanstremendously. And whileCobainwasstruggling
(again,at leastin his ownwords)to achieveexpressiveauthenticityin
his music,thatsamemusicwasbeingusedas a meansby whichhis fans
couldformtheirown identitiesby associatingwithhis musicanddeem-
ing it authentic.A ratherdepressingironyemergesas a resultof this
interpretation that suggestsa cynicalviewof popular-music culture-
thatall weredeceivedin theirsearchforauthenticity,fansandCobain
alike.93
In the end, thereseemsto be no argumentagainstthe factthat
a seriouslydebilitatingcombinationof drugaddictionanddepression
killedKurtCobain.Butit is alsoworthexaminingthe rolethatmusic
makingplayed in his life. Although he actively scrutinizedthe musical
world in developing his own sense of musical authenticity,Cobain was
somehow unable to transferthe resultsof that quest into music that
transcended,in his mind, the standardizedemptiness of a popular-music
culture that he claimed to have deplored.In the end, the idea of cultural
authenticity stifledand devouredKurtCobain. It remainsamong the
mostimportantissuesin Americanpopularculture.
Notes
1. DickHebdige,Subculture: TheMeaning of Style(LondonandNewYork:Routledge,
1995).Hebdige's work is representativeof the largerconcernsof the CentreforContem-
poraryCulturalStudies(CCCS)at the Universityof Birmingham, UK,the pioneersof
the English-language disciplineof culturalstudiesaswe knowit today.Hebdigehadcon-
tributedtwoessays("TheMeaningof Mod"and"Reggae, RastasandRudies")to the
center'searliercollaborativepublication:Stuart Hall and TonyJefferson, eds.,Resistance
throughRituals:YouthSubcultures in Post-War Britain(London:UnwinHyman,1976).
The contentof bothof Hebdige'sessayswasreworked portionof part1
into a substantial
of Subculture.
2. Nevermind (DGCD24425). The album'sfirstsingle,"SmellslikeTeenSpirit,"also
crossedover.See JimBerkenstadtandCharlesCross,Nevermind: Nirvana(NewYork:
ShirmerBooks,1998),125.The membersof NirvanawereKurtCobain(songwriter),
vocalsandguitar;Krist(orChris)Novoselic,bass;andDaveGrohl,drums.
Americanpopular-music
3. The sociologistPhilipEnnishascharacterized cultureas
one madeupof several"streams,"eachof whichcanbe distinguishedby elementsof pro-
andreception.Ennis'smodelis indebtedto HowardS. Becker's
duction,dissemination,
See Ennis,TheSeventh
notionof "artworlds." Stream:TheEmergence in
of Rocknroll
American Music(Hanover,N.H.:WesleyanUniversityPress,1992),andBecker,
Popular
ArtWorlds (BerkeleyandLosAngeles:Universityof CaliforniaPress,1982).
4. Hebdige,26-27.
5. Thisviewof rockhistorydiffersfromthatof AllanMoore,whohascharacterized
rockhistoryas markedby a dialectic"betweensuccessiveturnsto sophistication and
See
simplification." his The Beatles:
Sgt.Pepper'sLonely Hearts ClubBand (Cambridge:
Cambridge UniversityPress,1997),75. I wouldarguethatin rockof the pastseveral
decadeseventhe "simplest" fare-punk orNirvana'smusic,forexample-can be under-
stoodas"sophisticated"in termsof its mixtureof codes,or its sounds,techniques,and
allusions.
6. The program wasrecordedat SonyMusicStudiosin New YorkCityon 18 Nov.
on MTVon 14 Dec. 1993.
1993.It premiered
7. The "Unplugged" appearance wasnot the firsttimethatNirvana'slineupincluded
a cello:the cellistLoriGoldstonjoinedthe bandon the 1993In Uterotour.Moreover,
the BritishfanzinewriterSuziBlackreportsthatat the New YorkMusicSeminarin
July1993,at the Pyramid Clubin New York's EastVillage,"theybroughton cellos
andacousticguitarsforthe finale,"a decisionthat"wentdownverybadly." See Black,
NirvanaTribute: TheLifeandDeathof KurtCobain(London:Omnibus,1994),35.
8. "TheManWho Soldthe World,"writtenby DavidBowie,producedbyTonyVis-
conti,on TheManWhoSoldtheWorld(recorded1970at TridentandAdvisionStudios,
London;originallyreleasedApr.1971;reissuedon DavidBowie:Sound+ VisionI
[Rykodisc RCD90120,1989]).
9. DavidFricke,"Bloodon the Tracks,"

MelodyMaker,29 Oct. 1994;reprintedin John
Rocco,NirvanaCompanion:TwoDecadesof Commentary(NewYork:Schirmer,1998),
231.
10. Hebdige,60.
11. Punk'stransformational elementwasfoundin the WestIndiantraditionof reggae,
which,in Hebdige'swords,"carried the necessaryconviction,the politicalbite,so obvi-
ouslymissing in mostcontemporary whitemusic."Punk,then,at leastin its Britishman-
ifestation,restoredthe requisite"blackness"to the subcultural
musicscene.See Hebdige,
63.
12. Indeed,bothBowieandhis producer, TonyVisconti,intendedthisalbumto be
somethingspecial:"Atthe outsetDavidandI agreedto makethisalbumourSgt.Pepper
-anything goes,no matterhowfar-fetched." See Visconti'sWebsite at <www.tonyvis-
conti.com/manwho.html>. The influenceof the Beatles'1967Sgt.Pepper'sLonelyHearts
ClubBandon the "progressive"
aestheticin rockwillbe discussedat lengthlater.
13. The stylophoneis a smallelectronicorganlikedeviceoriginallysoldasa children's
musicaltoy.Twotypesof stylophoneweremanufactured in the mid-to late 1960sand
throughout the 1970s by the BritishfirmDaibreq and the Chicago-based AmericanSty-
lophoneCompany: the smaller,pocket-sized stylophoneanda largerversion(roughly
fivetimesthe sizeof the smallermodel),the Stylophone350S.Bowiehadset something
of a trendin popularmusicproductionby includinga stylophoneon his song"Space
Oddity"(on the albumSpaceOddity,firstreleasedin the UnitedKingdomasDavidBowie
[1969]andin the UnitedStatesasManof Words/Man ofMusic[1969];rereleased as Space
Oddityin 1972.)
14. The processof doubletrackingwasusedextensivelybythe Beatlesduringtheir
recordingsessionsat AbbeyRoadStudiosin the perioddirectlypriorto Bowie'semer-
genceas a recordingartist.JohnLennonis particularly notedasa pioneerin the tech-
niqueas appliedto vocals.The useof variabletapespeedsis referred to as "flanging."See
MarkLewisohn,TheBeatlesRecording Sessions:TheOfficialAbbeyRoadStudioSession
Notes,1962-1970(NewYork:HarmonyBooks,1988).
15. On the ideaof the "collaborative artist"in jazz,seeJeffreyMagee,"Revisiting
FletcherHenderson's 'Copenhagen,' "Journalof theAmerican MusicologicalSociety48,
no. 1 (Spring1995):42-66. To thisday,thereremainsa surprising silenceon the role
of the producerin bothjournalistic andacademicwritingon rock.
16. Cobainruinedhisvoiceduringseveraldaysof recordingsessionsforNevermind. He
frequently would be able to a
only provide single vocal take for anygivensong and be
left withnothingforthe remainder of the day.See Berkenstadt andCross,69-70. Later,
duringthe In Uterotourof 1993,Cobainwastoldby a doctorthathe needed"totakea
fewmonthsoffandlearnhowto singproperly." See KurtCobain,interviewbyDavid
Fricke,RollingStone,27 Jan.1994,35.
17. Whilethe criticalreceptionof Cobainwas(andcontinuesto be) almostexclu-
sivelypositive,I wouldarguethatCobainwasnowherenearastalentedmusicallyashe
wasmadeout to be. Similarly,in a recentscholarlydiscussionof Cobain,MichaelCoyle
andJonDolansuggestthatCobain'sattemptsat creatinga personalimageof defiance
alsomissedtheirmark:"Alltold,Cobainlooksmorelamethanlikely."See their"Mod-
elingAuthenticity,Authenticating Commercial Models,"in Reading RockandRoll:Au-
thenticity,
Appropriation, ed. KevinJ.H. DettmarandWilliamRichey(New
Aesthetics,
York:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1999),17-36.ThissourcecontainswhatI regardas
the mostthoughtfulandsatisfyingdiscussionof Cobainin the literature.
18. Variousconspiracy theoriesaboutthe mannerof Cobain'sdeathcirculatedwidely
afterthe suicide,the mostnotoriousof whichsuggestedthatCobain'swife,Courtney
Love(a womanwhoseemsto inspiredeephostilityin thosewithwhomshecomesinto
contact),hiredan assassin.See, forinstance,Nick Broomfield's
1998filmKurtand
Courtney. See alsoIanHalperinandMaxWallace,WhoKilledKurtCobain? TheMysteri-
ousDeathof anIcon(Secaucus,N.J.:Carol,1998).
19. On progressive rockas a formof bourgeoisoppression,
see ChrisCuter,"Technol-
ogy,Politics,andContemporary Music:NecessityandChoicein MusicalForms," Popular
Music4 (1984):279-300.On the subjectof genderandKurtCobain,it is worthnoting
thathe alsoemulatedBowiein genderterms:Bowiehadworna dresson the coverof
TheManWhoSoldtheWorld,andCobainwasknownto haveperformed live wearing
platformshoesandmake-up.(He alsowasseenin Rolling Stonewearinga woman'scheer-
leadingoutfit;see Rolling
Stone,27 Jan.1994,36.) On thissubjectseeJanMuto,"He
Wasthe Womanof His Dreams:Identity,Gender,andKurtCobain,"Popular Musicand
Society19,no. 2 (Summer1995):69-86.
20. Thoughthe scholarlyliteratureon Nirvanais sizable,discussions
of the musicitself
arehardto comeby,despitearticlesthatclaimotherwise.See,forinstance,DuaneR.
Fish,"Servingthe Servants:An Analysisof the Musicof KurtCobain,"Popular Music
andSociety19, no. 2 (Summer1995):87-102, in whichthe authorreferssolelyto
Cobain'slyrics.
21. In an earlyMelodyMakerinterview,CobaincitedRobertFripp(guitaristforthe
rockbandKingCrimson)andBrianEnoas influencesaswell.See Everett
progressive
True,"Nirvana: BleachedWails,"MelodyMaker,21 Oct. 1989;reprintedin Rocco,13.
"TheComfortof BeingSad,"UtneReader
22. SarahFerguson, (July-Aug.1994):62.
23. On thissee ThomasFrank,TheConquest of Cool:BusinessCulture,Counterculture,
andtheRiseof HipConsumerism (Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress,1997),a revision
of his Ph.D.dissertation of Dissent:Counterculture
in history,"Commercialization and
ConsumerCulturein the American1960s"(Universityof Chicago,1994).
24. I willdiscussthe culturalpoliticsof grungebelow.On the subject,seeThomas
Shevory,"Bleached Resistance: The Politicsof Grunge,"PopularMusicandSociety19,
no. 2 (Summer1995):23-48.
25. "Ripped JeansandFadedFlannel:Grunge,Youth,andCommunities of Alienation,"
MusicandSociety19, no. 2 (Summer1995),ed. SharonR. Maz-
specialissue,Popular
zarellaandJanMuto.
culture,see Ferguson.
26. On Seattle'shomeless-teen
27. The literature of an earlygrungecompilationLPreleased
pointsto the importance
in 1986on Seattle'sC/ZRecords,DeepSix(CZ001),whichincludedsuchgrungebands
as the U-Men,SkinYard,Soundgarden, Malfunkshun, GreenRiver,andthe Melvins.
28. Seattle'sSubPopRecordswasfoundedin 1986by the partnersBrucePavittand
JonathanPoneman.
29. See Berkenstadt
andCross,61-70.
30. The culturalcommentator MarthaBaylesmightinterpretsuchsongsasNirvana's

"Rape Me" as an of
example the of "perverse
effects modernism" on popular-music
cul-
ture.See herHolein OurSoul:TheLossof BeautyandMeaning inAmerican Music
Popular
(Boston:Macmillan,1994).It is possible,of course,to readthe songin thisway.Butit
couldalsobe takenon otherlevels:Cobainhimselfinsistedthatthe title wasironic,that
the songitselfwas"ananti-rapesong."Orwe couldsaythatCobainwascommentingon
the situationin whichpopularbandsare"raped" bythe controllingandstiflingforcesof
the musicindustry-the"anti-art" forces.
31. Accordingto DavidFricke,Cobainwasdisappointed withthe waythe DavidGef-
fen Company(DGC)hadhandledthe production of Nevermind.He had"complained
thathe was'embarrassed' by the album'sproduction, the lightAOR-metal
particularly
glazethatmixerAndyWallacelaidon the tracks(andwhich,no doubt,contributedto
its massivesales).Nevermind was,Cobainsaid.... ,'closerto a MotleyCrtierecordthan
it is a punk-rock record.'"Fricke,"Heart-Shaped Noise:The Musicandthe Legacy,"
Rolling Stone,2 June1994,67. On the processesof mixingandmastering-processing
multitracked recordingsdownto twostereotracksforreproduction on CD andvinyl-
see Berkenstadt andCross,94-103.
32. DawnAnderson,"ItMayBe the DevilandIt MayBe the Lord... ButIt Sureas
Hell Ain'tHuman,"Backlash, Aug.-Sept.1988,reprintedin Rocco,10.
33. True,"Nirvana: BleachedWails."Fora time,Cobainflirtedwithusingthisalter-
natespellingof his name(Kurdt).
34. See Fricke,reviewof Nirvana'sIn Utero,RollingStone,16 Sept. 1993,64. Cobain
thisformalstrategyto the Pixies.
himselfattributed
35. Cobaininterview,35.
36. In its initialinceptionin the mid-1980s,"alternative
radio"wasknownas"college
radio,"a stylistically
diversegroupingthatincludedmostprominently Americanand
BritishNew Waveaswell asotherpost-punkpoptraditions(representative bandsfrom
thisperiodwouldincludeSiouxsieandthe Banshees,the Cure,the Smiths,andR.E.M.).
Billboard's
"college" chartsbecame"alternative"in February1994and-with the subse-
quentadditionof regular"flashback" segmentson alternativeradiostations-"modern
rockradio"at the beginningof 1998.
37. Cobaininterview,36.
38. In the mediafrenzyfollowingCobain'ssuicide,Stipespokepubliclyforthe first
timeabouta projectthathe andCobainhadbeendiscussinginformally forsome
months.
39. "TheEmergence of ArtRock,"in TheRolling
StoneIllustrated
Historyof Rockand
Roll,ed.JimMiller(NewYork:RollingStonePress,1976),225.
40. See Moore,13.
41. RichardMiddleton,Studying Music(MiltonKeynes:OpenUniversityPress,
Popular
1990),27.
42. Middleton,27. Foranotheruseof "progressive
rock"in thissense,see Sheila
Whiteley,"ProgressiveRockandPsychedelicCodingin the Workof JimiHendrix,"
Music9, no. 1 (1990):37-60.
Popular
43. Middleton,27.
44. Rockwell,226.
45. Middleton,28.
46. JohnCovach,"ProgressiveRock,'Closeto the Edge,'andthe Boundaries
of Style,"
in Understanding
Rock:Essaysin MusicalAnalysis,ed. CovachandGraemeM. Boone
(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1997),7.
47. Covach,7.
48. Rockwell,225.
49. Covach,7-8.
50. WilfridMellers,Twilight of theGods:TheMusicof theBeatles(NewYork:Viking,
1973),86.
51. Moore,70. Mooremakesit clearthatby"Anglophone" he means"British"andnot
"English speaking" in general.
52. Sucha viewalsoallowsus to reconsider the seminalroleof the BeachBoys'1966
recordingPetSounds(CapitolT2458),whichpredatedSgt.Pepper.(Indeed,BrianWil-
sonclaimsthathis inspiration forthe recording wasthe Beatles'1966albumRubber
Soul.See the extensivecontainer-insert notesin the 1999rereleaseof PetSounds,Capi-
tol 72435-21241.)
53. The trackwasinadvertently leftoff the firstpressingby the masterer,
HowieWein-
berg;Cobaineruptedin a violentfurywhenhe foundout andinsistedthatthe trackbe
includedin subsequent pressings. See Berkenstadt andCross,102-5.Accordingto one
commentator, the track'stitle was"agenericnameforthe monumental pasticheof sonic
delay thatwould close many Nirvana concerts." See Chuck Teen
Crisafulli, Spirit:The
EveryNirvanaSong(NewYork:SimonandSchuster,1996),55.
Storiesbehind
54. ChuckCrisafulli discussesthe trackin thislight:"Thedecisionto hide it was
Cobain's.As a youngBeatlesfan,he'dlovedthe musicalmysterythatthebandcreated
throughfalsestarts,trickendingsandactsof manipulating the verymediatheywere
working in .... CDshad been around fora while, but werejustthen startingto be de-
ridedas an artistically
andaesthetically unsatisfyingformat.Cobaindecidedto bringa
intothe digitalagewith'EndlessNameless.'And it wasn't
littlevinyl-eraplayfulness
longbeforeeveryself-respecting bandwashidinga bonustracksomewhere
'alternative'
at the endof theirCDs"(55). The issueof whetherornot Nirvanawasthe firstbandto
includea hiddentrackon a CD hasnot yet beenfullyresearched, nor (to myknowl-
edge)hasthe extensivesubjectof hiddentracksin generalbeendiscussedin the litera-
ture.
55. Berkenstadt of "Endless
andCross,11;on the recording Nameless,"see 76-79.
Apartfromits releaseon Nevermind,
"EndlessNameless"wasalsoreleasedas the B side
of the single"ComeasYouAre."
56. The vocalpartis actuallya "scratch"take:a vocaltakedoneto showplacement,
butnot meantto be usedin the finalsong.BerkenstadtandCross,78.
57. DouglasCoupland,Generation Culture(NewYork:St.
X: TalesforanAccelerated
Martin's,1991).
58. MichaelAzerrad,"Insidethe HeartandMindof Nirvana,"in Cobain,ed.by the
Stone(Boston:Little,Brown,1994),35. Similarly,
editorsof Rolling volu-
DavidFricke's
Stoneincludemanyreferencesto the Cobain-

minouswritingson CobainforRolling
Lennonconnection.
59. ChrisMundy,"Oneof Them,"in editorsof RollingStone,Cobain,96. On this,see
alsoNormaPecoraandSharonR. Mazzarella,
"KurtCobain,GenerationX, andthe
Press:CollegeStudentsRespond," MusicandSociety19,no. 2 (Summer1995):
Popular
3-22.
60. In a recentcollectionof essayson the topicof generational politics,the eightcon-
tributingauthorsidentified1961to 1972asthe rangeof birthyearsof the members of
generation X. See StephenEarlBennett and C.
Stephen Craig, eds., After theBoom: The
Politicsof GenerationX (Lanham,Md.:RowmanandLittlefield,1997),18.The cultural
criticLawrence Grossbergcitesthe spanof yearsbetween1961and1981asthosethat
define"Generation X."See Grossberg,
Dancing in Spiteof Myself:Essayson Popular Cul-
ture(Durham,N.C.:DukeUniversityPress,1997),116.
61. EverettCarlLadd,"TheTwentysomethings:
'Generational Pub-
Myths'Revisited,"
licPerspective
(Jan.-Feb.1993):14.
62. StephenEarlBennetandStephenC. CraigwithEricW.Rademacher, "Genera-
tionsandChange:SomeInitialObservations," in BennetandCraig,3. Thisessaycon-
tainsa usefulsection(pp.3-8) on the problemsinherentin the veryideaof political
generations.
63. BennetandCraig,2.
64. DavidGrossandSophroniaScott,"Proceeding
WithCaution,"Time,16July1990,
56-62.
65. One problemwiththismediacharacterization (suchasthe one in RealityBites)is
thatwhilegen-Xersareoftenportrayed ascollegegraduates(even if theyhappento be
jobless),in reality,accordingto researchconductedin the early1990s,onlyfourpercent
of generationX reportedhavingcollegedegrees.(See BennettandCraig,13.) Giventhe
wideswathNirvanacut acrossthe radio-listening public,therefore,Nirvana'sfanswere
mostlikelynotcollegeeducated(andneitherwereanyof the membersof Nirvanathem-
selves).
66. See MalcolmMcLaren,"Personal
History:Elementsof Anti-Style,"NewYorker,
22
Sept.1997,90-102.
67. Shevory,30.
68. Shevory,34-35.
69. Ferguson,62.
60.
70. Ferguson,
60.
71. Ferguson,
72. KimNeely,"Onthe Roadto Nirvana," in editorsof Rolling
Stone,Cobain,59.
73. Thisschismis alsomarkedly representedin music-industry terminology.Nirvana's
workbecameemblematicof the "alternative rock"scene,a labeldesignednot around
anyparticular
music-stylisticattributes
butratheras a marketing categoryto differentiate
musicof youngpeoplefromthe "classicrock"popularized by theirparents'generation.
The problem,of course,is thatthe label"alternative"
hasbeentakento mean"not
mainstream," whilethe musicitselfis mostdefinitelymainstream music.Thus,the adjec-

tive "alternative"
refersnot to anygenuineantiestablishment cultural-politicalposition-
ing,butsimplyto the politicsof radioformatting.
"Alternative" radiois termedsuch
becauseit wascreatedas an alternativeto otherradioformats-topforty,AOR (album-
orientedrock),hip-hop,andso on-which aredirectedtowardotherdemographics.
Fromthe beginning,however,alternativeradiohascapitalized on the culturalpowerof
thisotherconceptionof the word.Thesestationsregularly advertisethemselvesas "sub-
cultural"-asthe onlyformatin whichlistenerscanhearmusicthat"otherstationsdon't
wantyouto hear"(advertisement forMinneapolis alternativeradiostationZone105,
1998).However,whilethismuchis sometimestrue(manyof the songsplayedon alter-
nativeradioareindeedlimitedto airplayon thesestations),thisdoesnot leadto the
conclusionthatthesesongsandtheircreatorsaresomehowworkingagainstthe grain.
74. GinaArnold,Route666:On theRoadtoNirvana(NewYork:St. Martin's,1993),3.
75. Perhapswe mighttakethisscenarioas a variantof HaroldBloom'saestheticprinci-
pleof "theanxietyof influence."
See Bloom,TheAnxietyof Influence:A Theoryof Poetry
(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1973).
76. Lorraine Ali, "KurtCobainScreamedOutOurAngst,"NewYorkTimes,17 Apr.
1994.The columnis reprintedin editorsof Rolling
Stone,Cobain,96, 98.
77. ChrisMundy,container-insert notes,No Alternative
(Arista07822-18737-2).
78. Arnold,5.
79. Berkenstadt
andCross,74.
80. Berkenstadt
andCross,80.
81. CoyleandDolan,19.
82. Berkenstadt andCross,80.
83. The commentis attributed to DanielHouse,a friendof KurtCobain'sandthe
labelC/Z.See Ann Powers,"Nevermore:
ownerof the Seattleindependent-record
The Deathof a Home-Town Anti-Hero,"in editorsof Rolling
Stone,Cobain,104.
84. See LionelTrilling,Sincerity andAuthenticity (Cambridge, Mass.:Harvard Univer-
sityPress,1971).
85. The Americanpsychoanalyst ErikEriksonis generallycreditedwithcoiningthe
term"identitycrisis."See hisLifeHistoryandtheHistorical Moment(NewYork:Norton,
1975).Referring to the discomfort thatan individualfeelsowingto uncertainty about
his or hercharacter,lifegoals,andorigins,the termis oftenusedspecificallyto referto
the stateof mindof adolescents. Wecanunderstand Cobain'ssituationto be not so far
removedfromthe caseof an adolescentas to renderthe termirrelevant.
86. MarkSchaller,"ThePsychological Consequences of Fame:ThreeTestsof the Self-
Consciousness Journal
Hypothesis," 65, no. 2 (June1997):291.
of Personality
87. The term"objectiveself-awareness"wascoinedby ShelleyDuvalandRobertA.
Wicklundin A Theoryof Objective
Self-Awareness(NewYork:AcademicPress,1972).
88. Schaller,293.
89. Schaller,294.
90. See Berkenstadt
andCross,34.
91. Ferguson, 62.

92. See MarkMazullo,"FansandCritics:GreilMarcus's MysteryTrainasRock'n'Roll
History,"Musical Quarterly 81, no. 2 (Summer 1997):145-69.
93. I wouldarguethatthe claimsforauthenticityin culturalproductsfunctionlargely
ascompensatory constructions to maskthe difficultieswe face,in latemodernity, in con-
structingauthenticselfhood.In makingthisargument, I amindebtedto the workof
CharlesTaylor,in particular his thoughtfulbookon the subjectof personalauthenticity,
TheEthicsofAuthenticity (Cambridge, Mass.:HarvardUniversityPress,1991).Sucha
viewis meantto serveasa critiqueof the ideaof the "sociallyconstructed self"-a
modelforidentitythathasbecomepervasivein the academicstudyof popularmusic.In
muchinfluentialworkdoneunderthe aegisof "Cultural
particular, Studies"hastended
to describethe waysin whichindividualhumanagentsareprofoundly influenced-in-
deed,theiridentities"constructed"-by culturalformation.Forexample,the sociologist
andpopular-music scholarSimonFrithgoesso faras to equate"theself"withits social
conditioning: "Identityis necessarilya matterof ritual:it describes
one'splacein a dra-
matizedpatternof relationships-onecanneverreallyexpressoneself'autonomously.'
Self identityis culturalidentity.... [A]IIof the personaltermsI havebeenusing(iden-
tity,emotion,memory)are,of course,sociallyformed." (See Frith,Performing Rites:On
theValueof Popular Music[Cambridge, Mass.:Harvard UniversityPress,1996],275-76.)
Accordingto thisview,"whatwe are"ashumanbeingsdoesnot go beyondthe sphereof
sociocultural context.Identitystopswheresocietyandculturestop.

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The Man Whom the World Sold: Kurt Cobain, Rock's Progressive Aesthetic, and the Challenges

The Man Whom the World Sold:

DickHebdige'sanalysisof the unexpectedrelationshipbetweenpunk

Theseambiguities wereexhibitedby Nirvanaon MTV's"Un-

this up,"an apologywithwhichhe wouldneverhaveprefacedone of his

manipulation of the recordedsound.Bynecessity,therefore,Nirvana's

Hebdige'sbookwasinstrumental in bringingto light).In whatfollows

Dipping into the Well: Grunge, Punk, and Pop

resurrectedin the Seattle undergroundscene.27In particular,the inde-

latedly,the "poeticgenius"of his lyricsandthe profundity of his musical

I'mgettingso tiredof thatformula. Andit is a formula.

Particularlyimportantto Cobainwaslivingup to the standardset

saw himself and his band facing;a reflectionof the culturalpower of

The Progressive Aesthetic in Rock

Thereis a morphology to artisticmovements.Theybeginwitha rudeand

From some quarters, then, progressive rock of the 1970s is considered an

The seconduseof the term"progressive rock"contrastswith the

turalmilieu.Middleton's response,however,to the eclecticismof pro-

albumSgt.Pepper's LonelyHeartsClubBand.Eachcriticcouchesthe sig-

of the boundariesof rock in general. Such a claim would neither negate

Nirvana's "Endless Nameless": A Frustrated

Nirvana's Fans: The Cultural and Generational Politics

Now thatI have establisheda framework forCobain'sunderstanding of

Born into a generationthat doesn't want heroes but simplysomeone who

he wasone of many.Disenfranchised andcynical.Awkward andunsure.

Nirvanamadeabusethis generation's definingmetaphor. The hit "Smells

Fergusonadoptsthe phrase"the politics of damage"in her characteriza-

the In Uterotour of 1993, explored this subjectby commenting on the

Not only does generationX wish to disassociateitself from the

theysell millionsof albumsto peerswho can relateto theirrootlessanger

But Ali's relationshipto the idea of generationalsolidarityis unsure.On

With articulationslike those of Ali and Mundy,the central para-

one of the 1960scounterculture's mostsalientmusicalarticulations of

The Man Whom the World Sold: Celebrity, Identity,

ApplaudingCobain'sintegrity,the firstcommentatorevokes a ubiqui-

"objectiveself-awareness"-a situation in which an individualviews

Twosubsetsof strategicresponsesaretypicallyusedto copewith the nega-

The argumenthere is that an individual'sauthentic self is potentially

backstageor at partieson how to live his life, what kind of music to

ativelystiflingbecauseof bothcorporatestandardization andthe ideo-

9. DavidFricke,"Bloodon the Tracks,"

30. The culturalcommentator MarthaBaylesmightinterpretsuchsongsasNirvana's

Stoneincludemanyreferencesto the Cobain-

mainstream," whilethe musicitselfis mostdefinitelymainstream music.Thus,the adjec-

91. Ferguson, 62.

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