Rolling Stone reported today that the Aberdeen city council in Washington state is considering a proposal to name a local bridge and park in honor of former resident and late grungeman Kurt Cobain. The public works conveyance up for honor is the Young Street Bridge, which according to legend, is the same structure Cobain lived under before being afflicted with super stardom.
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Supposedly, the song “Something in the Way,” off the band's seminal 1991 album Nevermind
recounts tales of Cobain catching fish and making the local fauna his
pets during his residency there.
But no less than Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic that Cobain never
actually lived under that bridge, due to the severe muddiness of the banks of the Wishkah River.
Still, some folks might be inspired by Aberdeen's attempt to honor a man who was possibly once homeless and went on to achieve world
fame. If it forces us to think about the plight of derelicts, drug addicts and the mentally ill, I say it's a good thing. Given popular
attitudes toward the homeless living in this country Aberdeen's fathers are probably just giving in to abject idolatry.
Despite the fact that Cobain went on to accrue millions of dollars,
legions of devoted fans and access to the depths of sleaze afforded by
those things, he was still a junkie, not far removed in body and mind from the guy with the cardboard sign on the freeway off-ramp.
It's
a distinct possibility that the comment board here will light up with
angry Nirvana fans who would stop at nothing to honor their fallen
idol. That's fine–just keep Cobain in mind the next time some
rambling homeless person or grimey-skinned junkie asks you for a couple
bucks.
