MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Kurt Cobain had low self esteem

Kurt Cobain had low self esteem


he was super sensitive too you add his parents divorce, drugs and fame, all the crap lead to his sad demise.

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I also think he was painfully aware of how overrated he was as a musician.

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All musicians are talented, it is a matter of personal taste.

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No, all musicians are certainly not talented. The majority of popular music makes me painfully aware of how many people have terrible personal taste.

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"All musicians are talented"

Bawahahahahaha

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Over rated doesn't mean he wasn't talented. But Nirvana would be one of the weaker bands from the Seattle/Grunge scene.

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Has this been said by those who knew him or is this just your opinion?

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Use your power of deduction skills.

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If I had to bet I would say this is your opinion with no basis in fact.

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Lemme guess which generation you're from. You're too coherent to be GenY but have the cultural obliviousness of
a millennial.

Millennial?

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Well atomicgirl, I’m glad you asked. I’m actually from the generation that brought you guys this music. In fact, I was in the underground music scene long before any of you ever heard of Nirvana or what you have come to know as “alternative” or “grunge” music. It was a revolutionary time for music with many bands that were far better than Nirvana.
With a name like “atomicgirl” I would be quick to assume you reek of teen spirit, but it’s rude to judge someone so quickly, don’t you think?

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Okay, I get it. You're angry Cobain because he was the guy who was picked by the mainstream media as the face of "your" music instead of you and your peers, who preceded him. He got all the credit and the glory, so you're going to be petty and tear him down on a thread that was obviously meant to discuss his tragic suicide. It should've been The Pixies instead of him. Got it.

You talk about judging people unfairly. You're right. But by the same token, when you act and talk like a particular demographic, don't be surprised when people take you for being one of them. It's a very "millennial/GenY" thing right now to tear down anything that is iconic as "overrated" because they lack cultural context. That's why I assumed you were one.

I remember when Teen Spirit came out and had the same reaction as everyone else: "Huh?" That's what we all did. And then we stopped scratching our heads when we remembered how for years, everyone was saying that rock was dead, because mainstream rock was dominated by cheesy hair metal bands straight out of Spinal Tap, and rap was taking over. Just as rock was being pulled off life support, everyone was suddenly talking about this crazy, new rock song with its downbeat, menacing chords, sung by a guy who wasn't prancing around in glam makeup, and whose words you couldn't understand. One thing led to another, and everyone wanted to hear more bands with this "crazy" sound. So then came Stone Temple Pilots, Hole, Soundgarden and later Marilyn Manson, Korn, Garbage and all these other bands of the 90s, and rock was no longer "dead." It was more alive than ever.

Remembering all this like yesterday, I'm having a hard time believing you were old enough to have seen all this go down, and yet still dismiss Cobain as an "overrated" musician, like every Gen Y or millennial when they don't understand the context behind why someone or something became iconic.

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No atomicgirl, you don’t get it. I’m not angry, I’m simply giving my opinion on a thread about a musician. You are calling me petty, but you’re the one coming at me hostility because you disagree with my opinion.
What should’ve been the pixies, the credit and glory? Pixies were quite mainstream atomicgirl, did Wikipedia fail to tell you that?
You were correct about one thing, I am “culturally oblivious”. I have made it a point to be and I thank you for noticing. I have no idea what “the thing to do” on twitter is right now. My opinions are my own, based on my own real life experiences. You assume a lot atomicgirl, but in doing so you show how limited your knowledge is.
Soundgarden (although not yet played on the radio) were around far longer than the other bands you named, and those bands were just the downfall of the musical revolution I was referring to.
I really don’t give a shit how old you think I am. Your generalizations based on the few comments I made are ridiculous. If you remember all this like yesterday, then you probably remember me. I was the bitch that stomped you in the pit.

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You are calling me petty, but you’re the one coming at me hostility because you disagree with my opinion.


It's not that I disagree with your opinion. You are entitled to criticize Kurt Cobain. The problem is that you chose to do that in a thread about his suicide, as in, "He also probably killed himself because he realized how overrated he was." When you post something this cheap, don't be surprised when you get a negative response.

What should’ve been the pixies, the credit and glory? Pixies were quite mainstream atomicgirl, did Wikipedia fail to tell you that?


Why do you think that wielding Wikipedia as an "authority"--an encyclopedia mostly written and edited by 20 and 30-year olds--is supposed to impress someone who lived through this period as an adult?

You realize that by mentioning Wikipedia, you're outing yourself as someone who wasn't there and relies heavily on it to help fill in the gaps of information. Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're just a smart aleck thinking I'm just a kid who only knows things through Wikipedia and therefore can be "bluffed" into accepting that The Pixies were mainstream because it says so.

Close, but no cigar. If you were there in the late 1980s, you'd know that mainstream music consisted of Top 40 pop acts like Madonna, George Michael and INXS; rap acts like NWA and Public Enemy; metal bands like Guns and Roses; and dance/R and B acts like Paula Abdul, Sade and Whitney Houston. The Pixies were never close to being mainstream. In fact, the public had never heard of them until "Where is My Mind" turned up in Fight Club a decade later.

So, I don't know what your game is. You talk about having been part of a major underground scene and yet don't seem to be aware of how obscure The Pixies were at the time, what the state of rock was in the late 80s, and why because of that state, Kurt Cobain had such a major impact on American music and earned his status as rock legend. *shrugs*

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Atomicgirl, shhhh. You talk too much and say very little. I made a comment about music in a thread about a musician. Since then you’ve attacked my character and made unwarranted assumptions about me. Then you have the audacity to throw words like petty and cheap in my direction? I find know-it-all broads like you insufferable. You’ll never learn anything because you’re too busy assuming you’ve got it all figured out.

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ouch froggy, atomicgirl nailed you dead to rights... for those of us who do remember, which is probably not many, the Pixies were very much in the position she described and definitely not mainstream, their Trompe le Monde tour opening for U2 was a disaster, even Kim Deal's side-project the Breeders were bigger cuz of Last Splash and MTV... Fight Club was mainstream's first real introduction to the post-mortem Pixies.

And, just to get it off my Gen-X chest, it pisses me off how these dumb kids today can't understand how insanely influenced Kurt was by the Pixies. He would go to every single one of their concerts possible, Courtney Love gave Kurt the nickname "Little Pixie" cuz of his short stature and fandom. Fanaticism aside, there was a kind of musical similarity (e.g. quiet loud quiet, Beatles inspired post-punk, etc...) that was ridiculously obvious at the time, since so few bands were doing their style. I would also add Nirvana were on the decline and Kurt wasn't such a media darling after In Utero (its anti-commercialism was intended) came out September 21, 1993, Kurt's star was actually starting to fade as Pearl Jam's Vs. release on October 19, 1993 took over their #1 Billboard spot... 5 months later Kurt blew his brains outs (who knows why, but he was conflicted around selling out), MTV Unplugged in New York sold well as an eulogy and revitalized his likability, nowadays revisionist millennial history says he was always Beloved Mainstream-Jesus, but nobody seems to remember the time people were sick of Kurt and Nirvana.

Anyway, I learned to like Nirvana, but only cuz Kurt died.

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I don’t know what you guys consider mainstream? Back then, any band that got radio play we considered mainstream and the pixies were very well known in the music scene. Ever noticed how many bands say they were influenced by the pixies? They had at least 5 songs that made top 10 on the charts long before fight club came out. Wave of Mutilation was on the Pump up the Volume soundtrack in 1990. People seem to think just because they weren’t listening to them until fight club they weren’t well known? They would play 2 shows a time where I lived and both would sell out in minutes. Even frank blacks solo crap was all over mtv.
I was never a huge fan of nirvana. I get frustrated because everyone seems to think they were responsible for the music movement back then, but they were just the band that brought this “new music” to the public’s attention. Janes Addiction, Smashing Pumpkins, NIN, tool, Fugazi, Faith No More, Ministry, White Zombie, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, dinosaur jr, the deftones... I could go on and on about all the good bands that came out around the same time, that made a huge impact on music, not to mention the hiphop that was hitting the scene at the time, but all anyone ever talks about is nirvana and Kurt Cobain. I appreciate you speaking civilly to me drhouse, this was a huge time for me in my growing up years and if I’m honest I am a little bitter about nirvana making it big. My thing was going to shows as a kid, and there was a really cool vibe at all these shows because we were considered “the misfits” of society. Then “smells like teen spirit” hit the radio waves and all of a sudden I’ve got asshole footplayers thinking it’s ok to knock girls out at concerts because they’re in a mosh pit and they think that’s what it was about.
I’m not saying nirvana didn’t heavily influence music, they did, but in my opinion it wasn’t a positive impact on music. I don’t remember people getting sick of nirvana because I was already sick of them, but I do remember the barrage of shitty bands that came after them.

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Cobain was not iconic. The word "iconic " is overused today as to make it meaningless. His music was junk that appealed to the easily impressed.
He didn't necessarily kill himself because he knew he was overrated. He may have thought he was great. Nor did he necessarily kill himself due to his unhappy childhood. Brave does not = talented.

"Q: "so, which rock band gave the best audition"?
A: "how can you tell"?

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Cobain was not iconic. The word "iconic " is overused today as to make it meaningless. His music was junk that appealed to the easily impressed.


Yes, you're totally right. A guy who to this day everyone talks and writes about decades after he died wasn't iconic. /sarcasm

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But "everyone" does not talk about him to this day. Even if they do, a lot of people are written/talked about. but are not iconic---while some are NOT talked/written about, but ARE iconic. And "to this day" is not a long time, depending on your age.

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He is AN ICON.

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Why, due to you being born in 1988 (young age), or because he died?

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he represents the 90s and my childhood.

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Being part of your 1990's childhood is not a qualification.

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I completely disagree. Cobain is iconic. I think he and Nirvana were overrated, but that doesn't change his status as the person most readily associated with the grunge/alt rock period of the 90's.

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“In fact, I was in the underground music scene long before any of you ever heard of Nirvana”

That’s cool man. What kind of music were you into and what city? I was going to a lot of underground clubs and the like in New Orleans in the early 90’s.

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Perhaps you remember the red tulips and orange sunshine’s that were floating around back then?

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Just like you

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I agree he was a wounded man because of his childhood.

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How do you know that's why he felt wounded? Did he quote such?
There are those who are "super-sensitive" about themselves, but not towards others, by the way. Demi Moore came from a very traumatic childhood, yet I don't see the mass-sympathy and tender-spot for her, unfortunately. Just some food for thought.

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I disagree. I think his whole "woe is me" crap is just a gimmick/schtick to garner sympathy. I don't feel sorry for him at all. He chose that lifestyle.

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Absolutely not. The first wave of GenXers (kids born in the 1960s) were notorious for being severely depressed to the point of apathy. This was because they were the ones that grew up in the immediate aftermath of all the insanity that happened in the 1960s, so experienced a lot of instability both inside and outside the home. There's a book written by a GenXer called Prozac Nation. It was based on one GenXer's experience of dealing with chronic depression but it pretty much captured what so many people in her age group were going through.

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I'm sorry, but I'm not a fan of the whole "Let's blame society" excuse. There are loads of people born in the 60's who grow up to be responsible, functional adults. I'm all for personal accountability and responsibility. It was selfish for Cobain to off himself leaving his daughter fatherless. There are people way worse off than Cobain especially with all the money and influence Cobain had back then in 1994.

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Poor Frances, dead father and a crazy mother........

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I'm sorry, but I'm not a fan of the whole "Let's blame society" excuse. There are loads of people born in the 60's who grow up to be responsible, functional adults.


Are you one of them?

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I was born in the 80s.

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Suicide (along with mass-bombings every other week) is at all time high currently, and you cite the insanity that happened in the 1960s? Were you around in the 60's?

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" of all the insanity that happened in the 1960s"
what? you had a little party , let your hair down and took some LSD?
Other generations had real problems to worry about, like world wars poverty and financial collapse.

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GREAT DEPRESSION
WW2
VIETNAM
they were the biggest disasters of the 20th century.

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yeah , WW1 was no picnic either.
non of which "genX" had to deal with , having just missed Vietnam.

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It's because he was famous and admired by a certain segment, so these assumptions and perceptions are etched into his history over someone they didn't even know (or because it's in a book). It's funny: people think they know a famous stranger more than they do their own kin.

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You think he wasn't generally depressed?

What would it've taken to convince you?

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A family history of mental illness and suicide doesn't help.

But maybe he took an early exit to complete the picture of a rock legend as well.

With celebrity, sometimes dying young is a shortcut to living forever.

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I agree with the guys from Def Leppard, if the music/his role in the band wasn't making him happy he should have gone off and became a plumber or something else. He seemed to be kind of lost and perhaps caught up in his own image.

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a good book

https://www.amazon.com/Heavier-Than-Heaven-Biography-Cobain/dp/0316492442/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=charles+cross+cobain&qid=1568678515&s=books&sr=1-1

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i have read this

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then you must be a big fan 👍 👍

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he was very interesting, i knew this girl who was a huge fan.

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its very difficult to be zonked out on opioids & assorted hard drugs whilst simultaneoulsy maintaining a healthy glow, a hearty spirit, a fighting edge.

at least, so it would appear.

kurt was a lefty. i loved that about him.

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