- Jan 7, 2002
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The magnolia trees are in bloom again in Denny-Blaine. In this Seattle neighborhood of timber-baron mansions and waterfront estates, wealthy homeowners employ a phalanx of gardeners to keep the blossoms fine-tuned. Centered by Lake Washington Boulevard, the neighborhood is home to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and many of the region's newest tech millionaires. But amid the Martha Stewart-like affluence is another more somber spring ritual. During the first week of April, Viretta Park becomes ground zero for a steady stream of mourners paying tribute to the memory of a Seattle musician. It was here, while living in a three-story mansion next to the park, that Kurt Cobain took his own life on April 5, 1994.
The faithful come daily to this postage-stamp-sized park on Lake Washington Boulevard. Many travel here from faraway states or nations, all touched in some way by the music of Cobain and his band Nirvana. There are rarely crowds, except on anniversaries, but locals notice fans regularly making the pilgrimage, and the park is listed in guidebooks as the "Kurt Cobain park."
The 10th anniversary of Cobain's suicide will bring more fans, media and curiosity-seekers to Viretta Park. Already, every square inch of each park bench is covered with messages. "This is Kurt's Park now," one person has written in black marker on a slat. "I miss you," says another, echoing the sentiment of many. Like the graffiti-covered walls outside Memphis' Graceland, Viretta Park's benches have become message boards of mourning.
Cobain's shadow over music remains remarkably large, considering that Nirvana enjoyed only three years in the national spotlight. When "Nevermind" came out in 1991, the band became international superstars almost overnight, and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" became the ultimate teen anthem. They already had been local heroes for several years, but soon Nirvana was on the cover of every national magazine and headlining "Saturday Night Live."
At the time, Cobain seemed permanently linked to the Seattle music scene and the phenomenon of grunge. Yet when the band ? Cobain, longtime bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl ? released "Nevermind," none of the members lived in Seattle. ("We couldn't afford it," Novoselic joked once.) Cobain wrote most of his songs while living in Olympia, and Seattle was his home for only the last year and a half of his life. Most of his life was spent in Aberdeen or Montesano, Grays Harbor. His initial forays into Seattle were brief, usually for concerts or to visit Sub Pop. He did consider moving to Tacoma in 1988, but freaked out when he saw bullet holes in the side of the rental he was considering.
Kurt Cobain's painting and collage on the back of a board game was made in Olympia, in the late '80s. Most of his artwork has been seen only by his closest friends. The Aberdeen Museum of History, however, will display some of Cobain's work in an exhibit on musicians from Grays Harbor County. The exhibit will open this summer.
In 1992, at the height of his fame, he moved to Los Angeles, a time less is known about. In an apartment in the Fairfax district, he put down his guitar, picked up a paintbrush and contemplated a life without music. For several months he was ensconced in a mad world of creation. He painted using acrylics and oils, but at times he mixed his own blood, semen, cigarette ash and fecal matter into his medium. It was astonishing work. Most of it has been seen only by his closest friends.
Cobain died at 27. The music he created in the last year of his life was some of his best, which leaves critics and fans to forever wonder about what might have been. But none of the Cobain "what-ifs" are as fascinating as the one that imagines him quitting the spotlight of the music business and retreating to the world of art. It was an option he talked about frequently with his closest friends, and the one turn that might have saved his life.
Edit: I didn't realize how polarizing this thread was going to be. In any case, Nirvana's Nevermind comes in the top twenty (#17) albums of all time Rolling Stone. That is the newest album to break the top 20.
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The faithful come daily to this postage-stamp-sized park on Lake Washington Boulevard. Many travel here from faraway states or nations, all touched in some way by the music of Cobain and his band Nirvana. There are rarely crowds, except on anniversaries, but locals notice fans regularly making the pilgrimage, and the park is listed in guidebooks as the "Kurt Cobain park."
The 10th anniversary of Cobain's suicide will bring more fans, media and curiosity-seekers to Viretta Park. Already, every square inch of each park bench is covered with messages. "This is Kurt's Park now," one person has written in black marker on a slat. "I miss you," says another, echoing the sentiment of many. Like the graffiti-covered walls outside Memphis' Graceland, Viretta Park's benches have become message boards of mourning.
Cobain's shadow over music remains remarkably large, considering that Nirvana enjoyed only three years in the national spotlight. When "Nevermind" came out in 1991, the band became international superstars almost overnight, and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" became the ultimate teen anthem. They already had been local heroes for several years, but soon Nirvana was on the cover of every national magazine and headlining "Saturday Night Live."
At the time, Cobain seemed permanently linked to the Seattle music scene and the phenomenon of grunge. Yet when the band ? Cobain, longtime bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl ? released "Nevermind," none of the members lived in Seattle. ("We couldn't afford it," Novoselic joked once.) Cobain wrote most of his songs while living in Olympia, and Seattle was his home for only the last year and a half of his life. Most of his life was spent in Aberdeen or Montesano, Grays Harbor. His initial forays into Seattle were brief, usually for concerts or to visit Sub Pop. He did consider moving to Tacoma in 1988, but freaked out when he saw bullet holes in the side of the rental he was considering.
Kurt Cobain's painting and collage on the back of a board game was made in Olympia, in the late '80s. Most of his artwork has been seen only by his closest friends. The Aberdeen Museum of History, however, will display some of Cobain's work in an exhibit on musicians from Grays Harbor County. The exhibit will open this summer.
In 1992, at the height of his fame, he moved to Los Angeles, a time less is known about. In an apartment in the Fairfax district, he put down his guitar, picked up a paintbrush and contemplated a life without music. For several months he was ensconced in a mad world of creation. He painted using acrylics and oils, but at times he mixed his own blood, semen, cigarette ash and fecal matter into his medium. It was astonishing work. Most of it has been seen only by his closest friends.
Cobain died at 27. The music he created in the last year of his life was some of his best, which leaves critics and fans to forever wonder about what might have been. But none of the Cobain "what-ifs" are as fascinating as the one that imagines him quitting the spotlight of the music business and retreating to the world of art. It was an option he talked about frequently with his closest friends, and the one turn that might have saved his life.
Edit: I didn't realize how polarizing this thread was going to be. In any case, Nirvana's Nevermind comes in the top twenty (#17) albums of all time Rolling Stone. That is the newest album to break the top 20.
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