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- URL : http://www.guitarworld.com/oct96/musicnews/feature1/ft1.page2.html
- Title: Guitar World Online / Kurt Cobain
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- Continued from page one
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- GW: You can't duck it.
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- COBAIN: That's what I've done all my life, though. I've always quit jobs
- without telling the employer that I was quitting; I just wouldn't show up one
- day. I was the same in high school-I quit with only two months to go. I've
- always copped out of things, so to face up to my father-although he chose to
- seek me out-was a nice relief.
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- GW: Have you written about this stuff at all? The lyrics on "Serve the
- Servants" sound autobiographical.
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- COBAIN: Yeah. It's the first time I've ever really dealt with parental
- issues. I've hardly ever written anything that obviously personal.
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- GW: What was it like for you growing up?
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- COBAIN: I was very isolated. I had a really good childhood, until the
- divorce. Then, all of a sudden, my whole world changed. I became antisocial.
- I started to understand the reality of my surroundings, which didn't have a
- lot to offer. Aberdeen was such a small town, and I couldn't find any friends
- that I was very fond of, or who were compatible with me, or liked to do the
- things that I liked. I liked to do artistic things and listen to music.
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- GW: What did you listen to then?
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- COBAIN: Whatever I could get a hold of. My aunts would give me Beatles
- records, so for the most part it was just the Beatles, and every once in a
- while, if I was lucky, I was able to buy a single.
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- GW: Did you like the Beatles?
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- COBAIN: Oh, yeah. My mother always tried to keep a little bit of British
- culture in our family. We'd drink tea all the time! I never really knew about
- my ancestors until this year, when I learned that the name Cobain was Irish.
- My parents had never bothered to find that stuff out. I found out by looking
- through phone books throughout America for names that were similar to mine. I
- couldn't find any Cobains at all, so I started calling Coburns. I found this
- one lady in San Francisco who had been researching our family history for
- years.
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- GW: So it was Coburn?
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- COBAIN: Actually it was Cobain, but the Coburns screwed it up when they came
- over. They came from County Cork, which is a really weird coincidence,
- because when we toured Ireland, we played in Cork and the entire day I walked
- around in a daze. I'd never felt more spiritual in my life. It was the
- weirdest feeling and-I have a friend who was with me who could testify to
- this-I was almost in tears the whole day. Since that tour, which was about
- two years ago, I've had a sense that I was from Ireland.
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- GW: Tell me about your high school experience. Were people unpleasant to you?
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- COBAIN: I was a scapegoat, but not in the sense that people picked on me all
- the time. They didn't pick on me or beat me up because I was already so
- withdrawn by that time. I was so antisocial that I was almost insane. I felt
- so different and so crazy that people just left me alone. I wouldn't have
- been surprised if they had voted me Most Likely To Kill Everyone At A High
- School Dance.
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- GW: Can you now understand how some people become so alienated that they
- become violent?
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- COBAIN: Yeah, I can definitely see how a person's mental state could
- deteriorate to the point where they would do that. I've gotten to the point
- where I've fantasized about it, but I'm sure I would opt to kill myself
- first. But still, I've always loved revenge movies about high school dances,
- stuff like Carrie.
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- GW: When did you first hear punk rock?
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- Continued on page 3
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- For a sneak preview of Nirvana's new live album, click here.
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