Awhole chapter of Nirvana biographer Charles R. Cross’s newest book delves into the impact of Aberdeen on Kurt Cobain, and takes an extensive look at how he and his death have shaped and changed the town.
“I love people in Aberdeen. They’re salt of the earth type people. They tell you what they think,” said Cross, adding that, to some degree, that formed who Cobain was and what he achieved.
Cross will debut the book, titled “Here We are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain,” at the Aberdeen library on Thursday, March 20. There will be a reception before he speaks at 7 p.m., and he will take questions and sign books afterward. Despite the lack of a bookstore in town, which he said his publishers are not all that thrilled about, Cross feels it to be important to launch the book in the environment that nurtured Cobain and Nirvana — as he did with his best-selling biography, “Heavier than Heaven” at the Aberdeen public library in 2001.
As an editor for The Rocket, the former famed-biweekly newspaper that documented local music for the Pacific Northwest, Cross covered Nirvana from the beginning — and was the person everyone had questions for at the end. After Cobain’s death, Cross at his Rocket-office, received a barrage of calls, including a cold-call from Larry King live on-air, in which he asked Cross, “… why did Kurt Cobain matter?”
Cross’s “Here We Are Now” — which comes on the heels of Nirvana’s recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — gives compelling evidence for why Cobain did and does matter. It details the revolutionary effect of his work and life in many regards: its effect on things such as fashion and gender roles — and the way society responds to suicide and drug addiction, among other subjects. And, it argues, in the same way Aberdeen influenced Cobain’s artistry — creating a musical revolution and albums that still top Top 10 lists and garner new fans every day — Cobain’s existence has had an everlasting impact on his home town.
Despite the fact that Cobain only lived in Seattle for 18 months, “Here We Are Now” points out how strongly the public association of the two became, whereas Cobain’s 20 years in Aberdeen have been mostly downplayed since his death. That’s been especially true of politicians in the town itself, he said. That is, until public demand pushed for more — as in 2004, with the addition of the “Come as You Are” signs at the city limits. The book points out that even as recently as this summer those signs were an issue of contention. For Cross, even the current signage could be improved upon.
“I think there should be a sign stating that it is the birthplace and hometown of Kurt,” he said. “(The sign that’s there now) doesn’t even mention Kurt’s name, and that, to me, seems crazy.”
The first real official recognition of Cobain from City Hall came when Feb. 20, Cobain’s birthday, was declared “Kurt Cobain Day” in Aberdeen. Hoquiam, where Cobain lived for a short period in his youth, also declared a day in Nirvana’s honor. Media outlets far and wide, including Rolling Stone and TIME magazines, published stories on the upcoming events. Media coverage of the event itself, however, was not so kind. A piece on the popular Gawker website titled “Crying Wino Statue of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain Goes Up in Town He Hated,” for example, described it as a “sad little festival.” Rolling Stone called it a “generally depressing tribute” and described the crying statue dedicated in his honor as “weird” and “bizarre.”
Cross, who was scheduled to attend and hold his book signing that day and then was rescheduled, said that while it is a start, Aberdeen needs to put in more of a whole-hearted attempt at a celebration if it wants the right media coverage that will bring more people to the town.
“There are already people who think Aberdeen is a freak show, and it’s not. But what Aberdeen really needs to do is put on a classy event, put on a quality event, without the politics,” he said, adding that the city officials like the mayor should not be the main focus of the celebration. Mayor Bill Simpson was the official host of the Feb. 20 celebration, even leading the room in a rendition of “Happy Birthday,” something Cross said was “maybe the most bizarre aspect” of the whole event. Cross did, however, admit that maybe what he called the “surreal weirdness” of the events was fitting for the “legacy of weirdness” that some have attributed to Cobain’s hometown.
“I’m a book author, I don’t have a dog in the fight. My job is to observe, not to be Aberdeen’s tourist promotion,” said Cross, adding he simply thinks there is a huge missed opportunity for economic development and for something that would encourage local youth by recognizing the “rich musical history” in the area. He does believe attitudes are becoming more favorable toward the idea of recognition for Cobain in Aberdeen, especially as the years pass and his legacy outshines his negative past, like his drug use and suicide — issues that have polarized community attitudes about him.
But, Cross argues, there is still a lot of missed opportunity by the town.
“Aberdeen is not some little speck in the middle of the backwoods. It’s a major city in Washington and can do more to honor its cultural and musical legacy,” said Cross, arguing that for the “foreseeable future” Cobain is the “most famous person to have come from the town” and should be recognized as such.
Cross has a number of ideas for how Aberdeen might better celebrate Cobain’s legacy. He evokes the famed blue plaques of England — which are used to commemorate a link between the location and a famous person or event. His suggestions include placing similar plaques in front of places in which Cobain lived or rehearsed, or where his first job was — even the former location of the hair salon operated by Krist Novoselic’s mother. The band sometimes rehearsed in the building.
“It’s something that would cost the town very few dollars, but would make Aberdeen a destination,” he said.
He guesses that in just a week of events memorializing Cobain, “hundreds of thousands in tax revenue” could be brought in for the town, and that the event and a showcase embracing Cobain’s creative history could positively boost spirits in the area.
“… Aberdeen needs something to embrace, and to feel good about,” he said, adding there’s a “significant number of dollars being left on the table,” due to the fact that many Aberdonians, or at least those in positions of power, have been less than keen to embrace Cobain.
And, he points out, that other bands of influence come from the town, including the Melvins and Metal Church, and should also be recognized.
If Cross were mayor of Aberdeen, he would host a Hall of Fame, induct musicians from the area once a year — host a concert, and then donate the money to charity.
“It’s a reasonable thing that they could accomplish,” he said.
In “Here We Are Now,” Cross points out Cobain’s society-changing influence that have sometimes been overshadowed by the drug use in his final three years of life. For one, there is Cobain and other members of Nirvana embracing social causes at a time when it was not something widely done by alternative rock bands.
“There were a number of things they did that had no economic gain,” he said, pointing out their participation in anti-hate, anti-rape, gay-rights and women’s rights benefits and demonstrations. As Nirvana progressed, Cobain used his stage of fame to try to influence issues he felt passionate about.
“… As Kurt became more famous he made half of every interview he did about advocacy,” he said.
Despite the fact that Cobain had some, what were perceived to be, negative feelings about his hometown — Cross argues he held it near to his heart even as he became famous. In the biography release Cobain wrote for Nirvana in 1988, in which he described Aberdeen as (essentially) full of bigoted rednecks, Cross thinks that, in a way, Cobain may have been describing himself before his views shifted and changed.
“His childhood itself was so abusive. I think he didn’t like the person he was in that world, he wanted to distance himself,” said Cross, adding that toward the end of his life Cobain frequently thought about moving back to his hometown, buying a small ranch in a Neil Young-type fashion. “… It wasn’t gonna happen … but just the fact that Kurt even had that in his mind, shows he had that soft spot for the area.”
Cross’s case for Cobain regarding his drug use, is that it was only a period of three of his 27 years of existence in which he became an addict, and the extensive journals Cross had access to for his biography on Cobain “make it clear that (addiction) was a chain on his leg and he would have given anything to be free of it.”
During his first few readings of “Heavier than Heaven,” Cross said he was at first shocked to see children as young as 13 in attendance, and was confused as to what kind of parent would allow their child to read what is a “very dark and grizzly portrait of a drug addict.”
Then, some parents began to approach him and inform him that their teenagers had already dealt with such problems, even gone to rehab, and they wanted them to read it so that they could have something with which to start a dialogue. In the years since, Cross said he has received numerous letters and emails from teenagers who say it is due to reading the book, and finding out just how badly Cobain wanted to free himself from that life, that they will never do drugs.
“The association that because he did drugs he was glamorizing it is false … that was the media,” he said.
Cross argues that a drug problem has plagued Aberdeen before Cobain’s success, and will be there long after his legacy fades — and that dialogue on such problems, including the depression that plagued Cobain and the suicide that took him, is important if progress is to be made.
“It’s only through talk that we are going to solve problems in Aberdeen, or in any city,” he said, reminding there is an epidemic of addiction throughout the country. Cross argues Kurt’s passing opened acceptance of the idea of addiction as a medical issue — especially for musicians — but that while he was alive it was the lack of dialogue and his need to hide his problems to such a degree, that exacerbated them.
“(Kurt) had to hide his addiction and be shamed by it. For him, it was a cycle of shame that kept him using,” he said.
While he does not really consider himself a “fan” of Cobain but more of a “chronicler,” he does admire his work and artistry. He believes that, above all, it is Cobain’s risk-taking that allowed him to move on from a difficult life and create art, which should be commemorated.
“He got off that couch and wrote a song that day,” he said. “That in itself is a reason to honor him.”
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