Are you offended by the above polished granite slate? Look closely. All of the quotes are from Kurt and there is one that is uncensored that is causing quite a stir, in an article I wrote today for The Daily World newspaper of Aberdeen, Wash.
“That is a word that should be done away with,” Aberdeen City Councilman Jerry Mills said. “We paint over it every time it’s on graffiti. It’s inappropriate.”
Adds Aberdeen Mayor Bill Simpson, “Just because Kurt said it doesn’t mean it’s gospel, I don’t say the word and I don’t think these people who come to the area should be put into the situation.”
The stone was put into the ground outside the Young Street Bridge, an area popular with Nirvana fans since that’s where Kurt is said to have hung out as a kid. The bridge also plays a factor in the Nirvana tune, “Something in the Way.”
The park is actually a neat addition to the town, which hasn’t done a huge amount of honoring Kurt Cobain. The Kurt Cobain Memorial Foundation raised the funds to install a sign at the entrance to town stating “Come As You Are,” another Nirvana song (the foundation is not involved in the park). Interesting enough, the city decided to add “Come As You Are” to raised glass inside the renovated City Hall’s finance office. There’s also a “star” on a sidewalk devoted to Kurt outside a music store he used to visit.
The park was started up by a neighbor of the Young Street Bridge who got tired of seeing fans tumble down through blackberry bushes. It’s actually a neat area, with some benches, a picnic table and a huge standing panel with a drawing honoring Kurt.
The polished stone, put underneath the sign, resembles a gravestone. I wouldn’t be surprised if roses, syringes and converse shoes start appearing at it. Such items allready appear under the bridge.
The group would also like to put up a statue of sorts — a bust of Kurt with a guitar incorporated into it. But they ran into problems setting up the base for the statue.
A mom I interviewed made an intriguing point about the F bomb.
“The phrase doesn’t bother me,” she said. “It’s straight forward and that’s what kids need to hear. And it’s true. Drugs are bad for you and that’s exactly what it will do to you. That’s what it did to Kurt. It’s not offensive to me. I don’t talk like that. I don’t use that word. But it doesn’t bother me to see that here because that was him.”
Two 16-year-old guys with her said they had heard worse at school.
Here’s the full quote from Kurt, said during Nirvana’s 1993-1994 European Tour:
“At the end of the last couple of months when I was doing $400 worth every day, I was definitely noticing things about my memory and I knew that eventually my health would start getting a lot worse. It sounds like I don’t regret it and I don’t, but that’s because I used it as a tool. I used it as a medication to get rid of a pain. And that’s the biggest reason why I did it. In that sense, I don’t regret it, but anybody else who’s going to get addicted to drugs are obviously going to fuck up their lives eventually. If it doesn’t take a year, it will be next year. I’ve seen it happen with every person that gets strung out. Drugs are bad for you. They will fuck you up.”
