In Memoriam Got sent a press release by the T R…
In Memoriam
Got sent a press release by the T Rex Action Group that they will be unveiling a life sized bronze bust of Marc Bolan at the site where he died in a car crash in Barnes on September 16th, marking the 25th anniversary of his death. TAG have been unswerving, almost obsessive, in their devotion to maintaining a shrine to Bolan at the Barnes site over the years, going so far as to lease the land from Railtrack and build a memorial garden. More details on their site.
Speaking of dead rock stars, just finished Heavier Than Heaven, Charles Cross’ biography of Kurt Cobain. It’s had rave reviews from most of the music press, and it’s easy to see why - Cross conducted over 400 interviews over 4 years with Cobain’s closest friends and relatives, including Courtney. The result is a fascinating if depressing account of Kurt’s life which for the most part avoids sliding into the usual rock cliches and sticks to describing Kurt as a real person rather than a rock god. Indeed, it’s something of a shame that Cross doesn’t spend more time discussing the recording and impact of Nevermind on the music scene so as to paint the backdrop of Kurt’s fame better, but brevity is always to be commended.
In concentrating on Kurt as an individual rather than a cartoon, the squalor and self-destruction of his heroin addiction are unflinchingly documented, alongside his longterm, undiagnosed depression and his stomach disorder which caused him almost continual pain over the last 5 years of his life. On the one hand much of Kurt’s behaviour seems appallingly adolescent, with his continual refusal to do anything at anyone else’s suggestion. On the other, he seems to have suffered some form of distinct psychiatric disorder that was never treated or examined.
The way Cross writes, Cobain’s suicide does seem almost inevitable, because his immense self-hatred was never assuaged by any of his achievements, whether it was making a multi-million-selling album, marrying or becoming a proud father. Instead, Cobain seems to have suffered a slowburn breakdown that heroin seemingly helped him escape but only made far worse. The most painful aspect of Cross’ book is his detailed depiction of the fundamental isolation of Cobain from all of his family and friends - no matter how hard they tried to reach out to him and break the vicious circle of addiction and depression, he remained beyond help. Perhaps the real tragedy is not Kurt’s death at all, but its impact upon his friends and family when they so desparately wanted to bring him back into the world to enjoy it but couldn’t.
Other Splinters posts of interest:
- Kurt words
- A Kurt Goodbye
- Kurt Vonnegut takes on semi-colons and Swedes
- Black Planet There is something peculiar about …
- Some important writing
