Journal

three days after full
april 8, 2004 ~ 2:36 p.m.

Ten years. Can you believe it?

I remember where I was when I found out. It was April 9th, the day after they found him, I was standing in the dining room. My mother was the one who told me.

My brother had managed to get ahold of covetted Pearl Jam tickets for the 8th, despite the fact that they sold out in 13 minutes. Turned out the president of the local Ticketmaster, a friend of my parents', had a few extra tickets, so my dad took my brother and a couple of his friends to the concert. While they were there, Eddie Vedder made a comment about Kurt, saying something like he's the reason we're here tonight, he gave birth to Grunge music. My brother and his friends looked at each other, not sure what that meant. On the way home from the concert, they heard it on the radio.

So my mother told me the next day. "They found Kurt Cobain dead, from a gunshot, in his home." I looked at her. "Who would do that to him?" I said, in my naïveté. I was only eleven, after all.

Nirvana was the band that opened me up to the world of music. Before them, I listened to whatever my brother listened to: Elvis, The Beatles, Genesis. Then he got on this Weird Al Yankovich kick, who did a parody of Smells Like Teen Spirit. My brother liked the sound of it, and started listening to Nirvana, which meant that I did too. And after that I started to broaden my horizons. First it was bands my brother liked: Pearl Jam, Hole, Mudhoney, Alice in Chains. Then I started finding my own favorite bands: Weezer, Soul Asylum, Red Hot Chili Peppers. When Napster appeared, I discovered even more artists: Sleater-Kinney, Ani Difranco, Bikini Kill, Team Dresch, Michelle Branch, Dar Williams. But it was Nirvana that started it all for me.

I can't believe it's already been ten years.

previous ~ next

Diaryland