Kurt Cobain's Journals
Published March 24, 2003
There is one story in the book that is funny and sad and poignant, and had the whole book been like this it would have been brilliant. It made me want to hug Cobain and promise him that everything would be all right. It ends with the following paragraph:
- Because a lot of people liked me the sides were even but I couldn’t handle the ridicule so on a Saturday night I got high & drunk & walked down to the train tracks & layed down & waited for the 11:00 train & I put 2 big pieces of cement on my chest & legs & the train came closer & closer. And it went on the next track beside me instead of over me. So I rode the bus . . . every day pretending to go to school & doing acid instead walking in the woods, so my mom would think I was going to school & the cops stopped me one night at a football game & I went down to the station & they recorded my confession of what I did and said that her family can’t do anything because she was 18 and not mentally retarded. But tension from school made me have to attent [sic] Jenkins school. And the train scared me enough to try to rehabilitate myself & my guitar playing seemed to be improving so I became less manically depressed but still never had any friends because I hated everyone for they were so phony. (p. 27)
See? Now that’s real. At one point Cobain says that he’s not very sincere and as I read the book I got the feeling that he was absolutely right, that the above entry was about the only truly sincere and honest thing he’d written. So the unfortunate fact is that the most telling bit is also the most mundane: that while Cobain laments his poor education, his penmanship and spelling are generally good, and he almost always uses the correct “their/they’re/there” and “your/you’re.”
I remember seeing Nirvana perform “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on Saturday Night Live. At the time I’d not heard of them or the song, but I couldn’t help but being drawn to the nerdy-looking guy in the washed out cardigan playing the most amazing music. Journals has whetted my appetite to find out more about Cobain, to answer such questions as: what on earth did he see in Courtney Love?
- Kurt Cobain's Journals
- Published: March 24, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Books
- Filed Under: Books: Entertainment, Books: Biography, Books: Arts
- Writer: JDX
- JDX's BC Writer page
- JDX's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments
This isn't related to the book so much as it's a question I've asked myself. I wonder if Kurt Cobain had Crohn's Disease. I suffer from this & it took me years to get diagnosed. When I read his discription of the pain... it rings a bell for me. In fact the guitar player in Pearl Jam just came out as having Crohn's Disease. But anyway... just a thought I wished to share.
95% of all of you who somehow think you are qualified to post opinions or facts about kurt cobain have no idea what it's like to be him and don't even come close to understanding him, in fact you don't even deserve to be able to understand him, your mind has been to warped by our sad, pathetic society of college educated idiot pussy winers to ever even come close to understanding him or his lifestyle. Kurt has felt and been enlightened by far more pain that you pussy's who fall under the above catagory have had nightmares about. Kurt was a wondefully talented, sincetive, and deep individule and he doesn't deserve all of you unqualefied dumbasses criticizing him after his death when he doesn't even have the chance to defend himself. Just because you went to college doesn't mean you have the character or the qualification to understand and criticize kurt. Quit trying to be the middle-man and let people figure it out for themselves straight from cobain's lyrics and journals instead of the mouth of some self-rightous holyer than now dumb-shit who actually thinks he knows what he's talkin about because if you are the person who i'm talking about you won't even know it because it will never even sink in through your thick fucking ego but one of these days some one will knock you upside your self-centered noggin and you'll realize that you are not have as good as you think you are and you'll never be 1/4 as good as you think cobain is when in actuallity he's is about 11 rungs above you stupid college educated shallow dumb-shit level.
Well, if you're talking to me - and I qualify for most of the qualifiers - then if I had to actually UNDERSTAND everyone I wrote about, I would never write anything. That's what being a "critic" means: writing emphatically about that which you know little.
Whatever happened to Debbie Wolf?
Here I am! I didn't think "Kurt's understander" was worth replying to, mainly because he didn't actually seem to have read my review, which was a critique of the book Kurt Cobain's Journals, not of Kurt Cobain, the human being. Maybe he read some of the comments that I made in my personal blog. There I'm pretty critical of Kurt Cobain the man.
It's obvious that I never knew Cobain. I listened to his music, read his journals and two biographies, watched a documentary about his life, and formed my own conclusions. I invite everyone to do the same. And if you disagree, please show me evidence and we can discuss it. Nothing that "Kurt's understander" wrote constitutes proof that I'm wrong about anything. Ad hominem attack much?
I'm a fan of Kurt Cobain but it doesn't mean I'm blind to the darker side of his life. The man was a drug addict who committed suicide, leaving behind a young daughter. Do you really consider that to be above criticism?
I think it's about as low as it goes personally. I don't really give a damn about Cobain, frankly, he was a doomed romantic from the beginning. I was just wondering where YOU were since we haven't seen you around here.
I've got a review that I'll be putting up within the next couple of days. Wouldn't want to disappoint my fans. :)
nirvana is god........
nirvana is god........
nirvana is god........
...and Creed is the DEVIL!!!!
...and Buzz from the Melvins is Joseph
...and Courtney is the whore by the side of the road
well i think that "kurt's understander" should appreciate other ppl's understandings about kurt cobain's life. It is obviously impossible to know what was going on in kurt cobain's head..and dear mr. kurts understander..that's the reason why everyone shares their opinions, to find a proper conclusion.
Whatever kurts problem was, he still remains a gr8 guy =)
the next big thing
Kurt Cobain did not kill him self. His bitch wife Courtney Love did it she shot Kurt Cobain. For reasons I do not know but I would like to find out why she did kill him and that suiced note is a fake. And it is impossible to shot your seolf with a shot gun ok.so who ever thinks he shot him self they are an jake ass, dip shit and beleave what every one tells them.
this is by Joel Lomax and i am 13 years old
P.S. If you have any info on Kurt Cobain send it to me because i am doing a report on him for school.
A little advice: You'll get a better grade if, when you toss around accusations, you can support them with facts and documentations of those facts.
Question: Do your parents know you are here and using foul language?
Yes Joel, what has led you to this conclusion?
It's definitely not impossible to shoot yourself in the head w/ a shotgun. I own a few shotguns, and I could easily do it if I wanted to (not that I would ever EVER want to)
I remember being 13 and thinking along the same lines as Joel over here. Now I'm an old fart at 24 and just think he was an insecure, over-sensitive, incredibly talented individual. Basically what Eric said, a doomed romantic.
Despite my cynical view of him as a man, I still think he and his band produced some of the best songs in rock n roll. I don't think it's an over statement to say their songs were on par with Beatles songs, albeit on steroids or something. But now i'm rambling again...
I'm a mid-level Nirvana fan, don't see them up there with the Beatles in the mountain tops, but there was plenty of really fine stuff there also. At the time of his death it really pissed me off - I saw it as a completely cowardly cop out, selfish, terrible. I still do, but I also see that what made him a successful artist also made him a failed person and at this point I'd rather emphasize the positive over the negative.
Hey, not all of us doomed romantics are suicidal! "Failed people," perhaps, but we're trying.
There are different kinds of "doomed romantics," in Kurt's case it was literal - you may be a romantic but I certainly don't see you as either doomed or failed.
Nirvana had a few good songs, but a lot of trash has come out posthumously. This book doesn't sound that bad, though.
There are doomed romantics and there are hopeless romantics (see "Hopeless Romantic" by The Bouncing Souls). There is also doomed romance (again, see The B-Souls). All very different. The way i see it, Kurt had two doomed romances: one with Courtney, one with drugs. The romance he had with his music was the one he should have stuck to and found solice in in times of need.
Not to criticize your criticism, but if Cobain really had Crohn's disease, there was very little solace to be found in anything but that which could kill the pain of an intestinal flare-up. No offense to the people who feel good living inspires good feeling, but lyrics, song-writing, singing, performing, spending time with your kid or even your wife is just no substitute for Pentasa or Morphine.
This is for 13 year old joel, it is not impossible to shoot yourself with a shotgun, my 18 year old brother shot and killed himself with one on november 6, 2001. i have put the address of his memorial site up here. suicide is no joke neither is an "easy way out" how many people do you know that have the guts to put a shotgun in their mouth and pull the trigger?
no offence Mellissa, but I've been suicidal, and it is the easy way out. The reason being; I would have rather died than dealt with my problems, so I thought.
I am not offended by your opinion. I am glad your family and/or was spared what mine was not. It may have been the easy way for you but my brother suffered for years with depression, hearing voices, suicide attempts and the knowledge of what it would do to us, and he still did it... so in my opinion it wasn't easy at all, the idea to end your life is not just a passing fancy and if it is then you should really take into consideration the person who finds you and has to clean up the aftermath (no the cops don't do that) and have their whole lives turned upside down. I have left the link to a site that anyone who has been through a suicide or attempted one. To us suicide is not easy in any sense of the word.
Kurt Cobain was a lost Saint
a saint of what?
i borrowed this book from my friend and it is the best.
kurt cobain is like a god to me.
eversince i met my friend tony ive been learning more and more about him.
he shouldnt have killed himself.
hes the best singer,guy,everything to me.
someday i hope to be a great musician, thoughit saddens me i have always wanted to do thid to somehow meet kurt and talk to him about how inspiring he is to many. his music helps me thru many things, lets me know im not alone... i love kurt! courtney is a stupid cunt!!!!!
kurt..very confusing man but i love him who kno's wat really happened to him did he kill himself or did his wife kill him we shall truly never kno but do we really its better to leave things the way they are those who apprieciate the man i being one of them kare alot about kurt and in a way he was all a part of us and he influenced many alot of good influences some bad but kurts book was great, confusing but interesting .suicide mmmmm did he really kill himself if so mabye it was good that he did my opinion of this is being that he was a very depressed and tortured human being who went through alot but if his wife did kill him witch i think she did heres my reason of belief go to the alta visa search engine and type kurt cobain and there should be somethin that says the lost reiveiw u read it and it will give u a very different opinion of kurt he seemed truly happy in the interveiw love always kurt we will remember u and ur music forever r.i.p. kurt donald cobain 67-94
nirvana and kurt cobain rules all and no one can compare to them
i dont know why any of you think courtany killed him. he was depressed and he shot him self. at the time it would of seemed like a good idea to him. depression changes your point of veiw stop blaming courtany love. i love kurt and hate courtany love but every one just needs to realise that he DID kill him self. i know i wish it wast true and many many otheres do to, but give courtany a break, she may be a drug fucked bitch and probly caused some of kurts problems, but just because he was/is famous doesnt make him any differnt. kurt is a genious and is beautiful - physicly, mentally and musicly. his death is a waste of creativity. sorry for rambeling on. bye
Well, I think Kurt Cobain's death is alittle suspicious. Before he had apparently "shot himself" he had the 3x the lethal amount of herion and I think moraphine. That dosage would have kncked him out instantly, if not already killed him. Even the FIRST dose would have paralyzed him.So how could he possibly shot hiself afterward? I am not saying Courtney did it but I'm not entirely sure he killed himself.
And I'm fourteen.
The whole Kurt-Courtney thing reminds me of the old joke about Lady Astor and Winston Churchill:
Astor: Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea.
Churchill: Madame, if I was your husband, I'd drink it.
Imagine something similar involving a shotgun.
"Blew my head OFF,
With a SHOTGUN;
Had a SKAG wife -
Didn't WANT one..."
I don't think kurt cobain was a saint or a god i think his music is better than the beatles but thats just a personal opinion i mean both of them changed rock and roll in their own times but thats not what i wanna talk about. I think kurt cobain is a muse with a message, he was not afraid to tell it as it was as he saw it he was really depressed and i think everyone should know that his suicide should show people that its not an easy way out its just a way to end your own suffering but then again multiply the suffering of others. His music really changed how i looked at things and made me realize how fake the world can be i mean you do everything from 5-25 trying to get a job then for the next 40 years you work then you die i mean what existence is that i think kurt say that this kind of life was shallow and meaningless and he hated it and i think he'd like us to try to live n ahigher level and a better life than he had and i think that argueing about awether he had crohns disease or wether you can kill your self with a shotgun just furthur contributes to the meaninglessness that we need to rise above you know i mean theres more out there than just the 4 walls we put around ourselves maybe im blind and stupid but then again maybe im just looking a little farther down the road if anyone even reads this at all and would like to discuss it email me but i don't care to argue the small shit
kurt cobain did not kill himself. All you peoples who think kurt killed himself, well get a life. I have done a lot of research on him and there are a lot of clues that say he didn't do it. Courtney love tore down the greenhouse after he died to hide more clues. I have been to the house he lived in. i live on whidbey island wash, 3 hours from the house in Seattle. go to google and type in kurt cobain case. you will see.
It's one thing to appreciate someone's art, and another to feel you have to mirror your own identity off of someone else's. I think that is what draws the line between fans of Kurt Cobain's music (which I always will be), and the ones who obssess. IMO.
People, why is it that you attach some understanding of life with someone you've never met. I, the biggest die-hard fan of nirvana, when i was 12, began to realize as i became an adult, that comparing and analyzing life by someone elses standards or actions is a sad departure from responsibility of figuring life out on your own. Bottom line: he was a man, made music, died. That is it. No god, no image of what we're missing, no messenger of the saddened. If he would of made a slightly different music with the same ambigous lyrics, you would have never heard of him. so get off it, live your own life and stop trying to compare your life and figure it out, not by only Cobain's life, but anyone you don't truly know s#it about.
BAH!
you meak fucks better not respond
I was on this guy's site once and he was a specialist on brain activity and the cause and affects of drugs, he said on his website that when he did tests on kurt cobain's heroin levels it showed before he died he was injected with 7 times the lethal dose of heroin and it was humanly impossible for him to even lift the gun and pull the trigger, also a handwriting specialist looked at the suicide note and said the bottom half couldnt possibly be written by the same person as the top half. I have read the note and at first the note seems to be him saying hes quitting the band, all but three lines are like that and those are the lines that are in a different handwriting, also there were no fingerprints found on the gun, not even kurts. I think you should really look at the facts of the case if you want to state that he was killed or not.
oops i meant 3 times the lethal dose
As Kurt Cobain said: If you read, you'll judge.
i just spent an amzingly long amount of time reading that all and ild just like to say THE I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE KURT COBAIN and nirvana their music was well is awsome and it's worthless to argue bout the whole did he kill himself did he not cause well whats done is done he's dead ppl and no meek opnion is going to change that but he was an amzing guy (AND VERY HOTTT) and we all miss him
I agree that his death was suspicious, but that isn't really the point. Use his music to help you or whatever you have to do, but in the end, trying to be someone else and lead their life is a waste of a life. Wishing things were different doesnt help. It isnt constructive. It just makes you sad and depressed and if you have depressive tendencies, suiciadal. And that is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. On a brighter note I think the book in very insightful.
Kurt cool and all i just dont like that fact that he used herioin
I enjoyed youre reveiw.
Regardless of anyone else I think that his death could go either way.But this is a reveiw on his JOURNAL not his death.But anyway ^_^ very nice.
I just finished reading the book heavier then heaven. I thought that it was an amazing book, I didn't really like Nirvana until my sister made me listen to it and told me im the kind of person that it will inspire to do more and better guess what? It did! Now after two years of trying to put up with my own physical pain, I always turn on Nirvana and listen to Kurt Cobain play and sing his heart out! I Just think that someday we will all work this **censored** out together. Magz
kurt is my musical godfather,and god
it doesnt mean that he is dead now,we can all juz throw him away.
kurt wiil always remain.
No one can ever say for sure that they know what happened to Kurt. after examining alot of evidence i'd say there is a good case for Murder but honestly who knows for sure? I will always wonder what happened but i probably will never get an answer on it. I do lean toward Murder, for these reasons. The Heroin in his system and his inability to fire a shotgun. I don't believe he was suicidal. If you look on googol and find old interviews with him and his friends, they say he was off drugs toward the end and he was looking really healthy and he was excited about life. the rome incident was probably a botched murder attemp by courtney. My personal theory is that he was ready to divorce courtney, take Frances and leave the music industry forever. Leaving courtney out of his will. I don't think he got the chance. His so called suicide letter looks more like a letter to his fans telling them he is leaving the music scene(not about to kill himself). The last 4 lines or so were markedly different and were probably written by the killer. Courtney had the motive to do it. however i try not to judge her because the truth is i don't know for sure, as he may have killed himself.
RIP KURT
hey, it is The 9 of October, and I'm giong to homecoming. yay
Kurt really is a good lyric writer, to me he's the best lyric writer and musician. He's a good rock star for not caring on what people thought about him. He smashed he's gear on stage and got new ones the next day. If I were like him I would do the exact same thing. Now rock stars only care about their clothes, and fasion. Kurt really made a difference in many people's life. I have played guitar for more than little than a year, and Nirvana is my favorite. Don't judge Kurt for what you hear, you can't judge unless you know the person. "Self-appointed judges judge
More than they have sold"
ohh yeah ahahaha "It's better to burn out than to fade away."
if i never became famous and you saw me walking down the street wearing those glasses and those clothes and acting like a goofball you guys would all crucify me ..so when you see a guy that is walking down the street that looks and acts funny think twice before you call him a little faggot ass loser ( smiles )
your friend kurt
P.S you are the ones that killed me
I personally think that Kurt Cobain was an insparation even if he shot himself. My father did that and he was an inspiration to me. In a way I feel that Courtney killed him but in a way I don't. She could have drove him to do it but than again she could have easely pulled that trigger.But whats done is done. There is no going back. I admit, I didn't really understand Kurt. I probably never will. But by posting my opinion and making a statement, that means I actually give a damn. Your fans, including myself Love you Kurt Cobain and we always will. <3 R.I.P You beautiful, talented man. You are missed.
P.S. I am 13 years old. Some might think Im too young to have this strong of an opinion. Im NOT. I just need my voice to be heard.
I agree with Malissa and Andy. I know how it feels to have lost a loved one to suicide. I also know how it feels to have had depression and attempted suicide. The pain will hurt. One day i guess you just wake up so far gone youll be running on empty.
~*~Mercedes 13~*~
Have faith in your heart and God will see you through lifes mystic journey.
"Hold on if you feel like letting go.Hold on it gets better than you know."
~*~ Mercedes 13 ~*~
People tend to only remember the good after a person has died. Kurt wasnt a god or saint he had unique opinion and voice that spoke to people. What people forget is Kurt was just another person just like any other celebrity. I love nirvanas music but i do realize kurt wasnt above judjment or criticism.
Just because Kurt committed suicide does not take away from the fact that he was a stellar musician. Even though we see his former wife as an irresponisble 'junkie' whose behavior is erratic and unpredictable, does not mean that she didn't love and care for him. In fact, it was Kurt who was the bad influence on Courtney, according to "Heavier Than Heaven" because Courtney was going through rehab and trying to kick her addiction while Kurt was perpetually doing and seeking heroin. It is nothing less than misogynistic to assume Courtney killed Kurt or had anything to do with his death. He suffered in his childhood and throughout his life. So did Courtney. But the choices Kurt made, from touring, to commercialization, to committing suicide, were all his own. The two of them together were going through extraordinaraly difficult battles, and neither of them had the strengths to build upon and balance eachother out. Neither of them (could? ) keep/kept eachother in check. I am very fond of his music not just technically but relatively to my own feelings. Mediocre bands sing about events and experiences, but Kurt song about pure emotions in such a way as to relate them to human emotions in general (the kind we all go through in varying degrees). Kurt struggled with depression and physical pain, and made some very bad choices, heroin, suicide. Courtney Love, however erratic now, was not responsible than.
hey, Kurt is a total legend and all you Nirvana and Cobain's fans.. you all rock
I agree with Mercedes I believe she drove him to it, but only he knows what really happened, and what's done is done and no one can change anything about it. All we can do is sit here and argue our point over the internet. I dislike Courtney, but I don't really think she would have the guts to kill him.
I've seen plenty of the police reports, biographies, documentaries, photos, and interviews, plus heard plenty of recordings pointing to a brutal homicide/assasination of kurt cobain, but this evidence still all seems very enigmaticly inconsistent. I personally don't believe a judgement will ever be possible and shouldn't have been made in the first place by the seattle police department without extensive investigation. I believe it is very suspicious on courtney love's side as it has been noted that she personally seeked out 2 or 3 different people to kill Kurt Cobain a week before his death. READ THIS EVEN THOUGHT IT IS LONG!
kurt RIP DUde u are awsome ur my idol and ur a awsome guy thx for living a short period of time atleast RIP KUrt may ur soul rest in peace from your biggest fan,johnny wilamowski
Rest in peace Kurt Love your music man!!
love you kurt rest in peace
Ive read hevier than heaven. I always thought kurt was this kool,misunderstood guy that loved to rock. but he was so much more than that.i hate the way people blame courtney, callin her a whore and all, cuz ther aint enough proof she killed him.im only 15 but all u anal people out there thinkin ur doin a favor, searching the net 4 facts, tryin 2 figure his deth out, but people put alot of shit on there, and u will never know wot happened. so stop ur bull-shit accusations and listen 2 his fucken great music !!!
R.I.P KURT UR MY IDOL




Excellent Debbie, thanks and welcome!