Welcome to the Nirvana Slash Archive! Est. 2019

The primary purpose of this archive is to collect and preserve information about rock band Nirvana's contribution to bi and gay culture and history.

Also included are quotations related to women's rights/feminism, race and racism, and social class, since these topics tend to intersect with queer politics.

The archivist collects and documents both factual information (including quotes, photographs, videos, audio, etc.) about the band, along with oral history related by fans, which may or may not be fully true, but which shows the thoughts and feelings of the broader Nirvana community.

Any Nirvana fan who is serious about contributing to the archive according to the listed rules may request to join. Just send

rocknroll1968 a message. Guidance about how I run the archive can be found here.

Navigation
The easiest way to browse this archive is by using the tags. I've carefully tagged all quotes and media with date(s), people, sources, and topics of discussion for easy research.

You can search multiple tags at once, if you wish. For example, to view any entry in the archive tagged with either "person:kurt" or "person:krist", https://nirvana_slash_archive.dreamwidth.org/tag/person:kurt,person:krist?mode=or would be used. To view all entries in the archive tagged with both "person:kurt" and "person:krist", https://nirvana_slash_archive.dreamwidth.org/tag/person:kurt,person:krist?mode=and would be used.

If you use this archive to any significant degree to create your own project, please credit me by including a link to the archive. Copyright Statement

Comments are always welcome!
Please feel free to comment on any entry in this comm. General remarks, squee, photo and link additions, questions, and so on are all welcome. :-) If you can find a source for an unsourced quote, this will be especially appreciated! Anonymous commenting is enabled. Unsourced Quotes Post

Spam, hate, and the like will not be tolerated, of course.

"It's really shocking and there's so many horrible aspects of what happened and what people have done to each other [in Bosnia-Herzegovina]. I think that's an aspect of it that a lot of people have ignored, like, rape wasn't even considered a war crime, like even in Nuremberg, nobody was tried for rape. You know, and I was hearing stories in refugee camps about how women rape victims were just kind of lumped in with everybody else and they weren't really having any special needs and I think that's just an indicator of people's perspective towards women.

"The band has an organization. It's kind of my pet thing, it's called the Balkan Women's Aid Fund and what we do is solicit foundations for grants and ask people for individual donations, too, and we did some work with the Italian Red Cross and we got some money to the Autonomous Women's House working out of Zagreb. And all of these organizations that we work with they have, like, a feminist perspective and we think that's important because you get those kind of values across, you change people's values overall."

-Krist, March 1994, MTV News

"I've done drugs in my time and I don't think anyone should do drugs. I'm not going to promote it and that's why I've never admitted that I did drugs because I didn't want anyone to be influenced by it [...] I think that when articles like that are written that they influence kids whether or not it's negative it doesn't really matter, you know. It's still makes kids think, 'Oh, my rock star hero does heroin, you know. Maybe I will some day.' I think it's crap…"

-Kurt, 11 Sept 1992, MTV

""Those guys [Kurt and Courtney] went off into their own world and they were kind of thought of as vampires because they'd be gone and sleep all day," says Chris.

They barely spoke for five months, even at rehearsals.

But Chris was very upset about what was happening to his old friend. He would rant at Dave or Shelli, "Kurt's a fucking junkie asshole and I hate him!" Chris was angry with Kurt, he says, "Probably because I felt like he left me. I was really concerned and worried about him and there was nothing I could do about it. I was just taking my anger out on him.

"It was hard to understand," says Chris, "I couldn't get over the whole hurdle of heroin."

Part of the problem was that as usual, Chris didn't confront the problem with Kurt directly. "We've never really communicated very well when there's been a problem between us," Kurt says. "We never talk about it, we just let it pass. We've never confronted one another about things that piss each other off.""

-Krist and Kurt (1993), Come As You Are by Azerrad, page 255

KEEP IT CLEAN
by Dave Grohl

Keep it clean
My momma said, keep it clean
Keep it clean
My momma said, keep it clean

Driving all night
Got a hankering for something
Think I'm in the mood
For some hot man muffins

Mmm, sounds so fine, yes indeed

Keep it clean
My daddy said, keep it clean
Keep it clean
My daddy said, keep it clean

Ain't looking for a fight
Ain't looking for trouble
Howdy Mr. Right
Have you met Mr. Bubble?

Hey, put 'er there, ain't she sweet

Rubbin' and a-lovin' and a-scrubbin' and a-truckin'
Maybe if we're lucky just a little bear hugging
Know what I mean?
Keep it clean!

[Spoken]
Ladies and gentlemen
God bless America
Land of the free
Home of the brave
It takes all kinds
I don't care if you're black or white or purple or green
Whether you're Pennsylvanian or Transylvanian
Lady Gaga or Lady Antebellum
It takes all kinds
Men loving women and
Women loving men and
Men loving men and
Women loving women
You know we all like to watch that
But what I'd like to say
God bless America, y'all

Rubbin' and a-lovin' and a-scrubbing and a-truckin'
Maybe if we're lucky just a little bear hugging
Know what I mean?
Keep it clean!

Archivist's note: This song was Dave's counter-protest to the Westboro Baptist Church (the "God hates fags" people), who were picketing his gig with the Foo Fighters in 2011 in Kansas City.

It was also used in a spectacularly gay promotional video for the tour, "Hot Buns" (NSFW).

"Anybody know about whiteknot.org? You know what that's about? It's I believe in love and I believe in equality and I believe in marriage equality."

-Dave, 6 Feb 2009, MusiCares benefit (he was wearing a white knot)

Archivist's note: The domain has now been parked by porn, but at the time, it was an awareness campaign emphasising that everyone should have the right to "tie the knot." Here is a snapshot of the website in 2009.

"I was politicized in high school. I had an open mind and didn’t really care for Reagan. I cut my teeth on radical punk rock – the Dead Kennedys, Maximumrockandroll, and MDC. Those were the few anti-Reagan voices at the time, especially if you were in Aberdeen [Wash.] and were 18 years old. I didn’t feel like reading dry political analyses. I needed something that spoke to me, that I could understand.

"The state of mind I was in was just anti-establishment and feeling awkward. I realized that “It’s not me, it’s those people [who have a problem].” They totally bought into mainstream culture, and I disassociated myself from it. Republicans – even Democrats – it was like “What do I care?” But I did vote when I was 18. I voted for Walter Mondale, and I’ve voted in every presidential election since.

"[...] Nirvana was always political. We talked about things and how we felt. There was Operation Desert Storm in early ’91, and it broke my heart that people bought into that. I was living in Tacoma, Wash., a real meat-and-potatoes town, and it was scary and surreal, the hypocrisy of the government and people buying it. Six months later, the mainstream culture that was duped by Desert Storm was all over us. We were repulsed. We were like “Who are these people?” It took us a long time to deal with that."

-Krist, 8 Feb 1996, Rolling Stone magazine

Archivist's note: Emphasis in bold is mine.

Rolling Stone: Neither you nor your former band mate Dave Grohl has talked publicly about Kurt Cobain since his suicide. Why?

[...]

Krist: It’s not proper to say anything. The emotional stake that Dave and I have in it is a lot more invested than the person who got to know Kurt through his music. There are things that are private and nobody should know. You can’t go through life tragedy-free. Your parents die, and one day you or your spouse is gonna die. Life is heavy, and it still hurts a lot.

-8 February 1996

Kurt: Now some white trash mothers are gonna sue us after they beat their children for a few years and neglect them, and then they kill themselves and blame it on us.

Krist: That's right. 'I gave him a good Christian upbringing. What happened?'

Kurt: 'I tanned his ass every day. He should have turned out just fine. If it wasn't for that record...'

-10 Aug 1993

Archivist's notes: They were talking about censorship and the moral panic among fundamentalist "Christians" in America, who conveniently blamed rock music (including Nirvana) for their children's behaviour, while failing to look at the real source of the problem: their own abusive parenting.

Smells Like Teen Spirit
by Kurt Cobain

Load up on guns
Bring your friends
It's fun to lose and to pretend
She's over-bored and self-assured
Oh no, I know, a dirty word

Hello, hello, hello
How low?
Hello, hello, hello
How low?
Hello, hello, hello
How low?
Hello, hello, hello

With the lights out
It's less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us
I feel stupid
And contagious
Here we are now
Entertain us

A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido

Yeah!

Hey
Yay

I'm worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

Hello, hello, hello
How low?
Hello, hello, hello
How low?
Hello, hello, hello
How low?
Hello, hello, hello

With the lights out
It's less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us
I feel stupid
And contagious
Here we are now
Entertain us

A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido

Yeah!

Hey
Yay

And I forget just why I taste
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard, it's hard to find
Oh well, whatever, nevermind

Hello, hello, hello
How low?
Hello, hello, hello
How low?
Hello, hello, hello
How low?
Hello, hello, hello

With the lights out
It's less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us
I feel stupid
And contagious
Here we are now
Entertain us

A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido

A denial
A denial
A denial
A denial
A denial
A denial
A denial
A denial
A denial

Archivist's note: Has anyone else noticed what Kurt hid in here with his clever play on words? I think it's hilarious that this song got so popular, and I bet Kurt did, too.

"And I forget just why I taste. Oh, yeah, I guess it makes me smile. I found it hard, it's hard to find. Oh, well. Whatever. Nevermind."

I recall Kurt mentioning that one proposed name for what became Nevermind was "Blowjob", and that gives a hint. What did Kurt find that was hard? Any guesses? Tasting it made him smile. :3 And why was it hard for him to find? Maybe because gay and bi men aren't as common as straight men?

Hopefully I don't need to elaborate further on that verse.

I think the poetic "A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido," is also related to this theme. What do these four things have in common? They're all things that have been treated as "unwanted", "unusual", or "outcast" by human society. Kurt feels rejected for his natural desires. The hopeless-sounding end of the song, "A denial," really says it all.

And this next idea is just a good guess, but I think the bored sounding "Hey" and "Yay" following the impassioned chorus might be Kurt's sarcastic imitation of braindead mainstream "music consumers" failing to respond in a human way to real art. Incredibly ironic that this song became the top favourite of those very braindead people, but I guess alienation is highly relatable in current American society regardless of who you are.

"Kurt was a pro-feminist person. And he was anti-homophobic. He actually said if you're homophobic or don't respect women, and so forth, so forth, don't come to our gigs, don't buy our records. Saying something like that has a really big impact. And that's one of the legacies, I think, that he's left."

-Ana da Silva of the Raincoats (one of Kurt's favourite bands)
When Nirvana Came to Britain (BBC documentary 2021)

Interviewer: If I can ask you a question just about the government and political system in USA. Are you agreeing with what's happened in USA, with government and what they're doing all the time?

Kurt: Oh, absolutely not.

Int: Yeah, I know. [laugh] Just want you to explain your view maybe a little bit.

Kurt: They're just carrying on the traditions of what they started with trying to destroy the Indians. They're totally gluttonous, they don't care about the future, they're raping the land, they're trying to get as much as they can, they don't care about the next generation, and it's completely corrupt.

It's just like most governments, though, you know? The average man gets into power, he doesn't have anything else to look forward to other than getting as much money as he can. You know? It's just a dog-eat-dog world.

-Interview with Viv Morrison and Ann Catherine
Paris, Hotel Royal Fromentin
November 1991

Interviewer: Yeah, [the reservations are] terrible, because they never smile, they have a very sad face. I want to know your opinion about these people and what the government made about with these people. It's terrible for a civilized country. I can't understand.

Kurt: Well, when the colonists came over to America, they took advantage of the Indians. The Indians invited them--I mean, they didn't invite them, but they helped them, they taught them how to live off the land, and [audio missing] ...Indian people, and put them in reservations. And they did all kinds of atrocious things to them.

They tried to wipe out whole races. They gave them blankets that were infected with diseases, and they gave them alcohol, which is something they weren't used to. As a people, as a race, they're 200 years behind of having alcohol in their system, so naturally, the majority of all the Indians are alcoholics now. And they don't have much to look forward to because they're all drunk, and they're put in these little reservations and they don't even fight the white man anymore.

-Interview with Viv Morrison and Ann Catherine
Paris, Hotel Royal Fromentin
November 1991

Krist: We're not Americans! We are the children of a genocide that was perpetrated against the natives many years ago. We have inherited all of this, but we are not stupid enough to accept it.

Dave: You can't call yourself American. You know, all of us are from--Kurt and I are German and Irish, Chris is Yugoslavian. There's no such thing as an American.

Kurt: The Americans are the Indians.

Krist: That was genocide, what happened to the Indians.

Dave: They're native Americans.

-Interview with Gian Carl Chirico
Rome, 1991

Archivist's note: This interview was translated into Italian and then back into English, so some nuance may have been lost.

(Found in Cobain Unseen by Charles R. Cross)

Archivist's note: Here is a typed transcript.

TOP TEN REASONS KURT COBAIN IS GAY
[A list by Kurt Cobain]

1. He's marrying Courtney Love.
2. "Breeder" (as in his song "Breed") is gay slang for "straight person."
3. He dyes his hair "girlie" colors.
4. All people are inherently bisexual.
5. He thinks men should be affectionate with each other.
6. He's so fucked up.
7. He has beautiful eyes.
8. He likes animals and children.
9. All cowboys/loggers are closet cases.
10. He has a K sticker on his guitar.

(AND A HOMEMADE "K" TATTOO!!)

The "K" refers to the logo of K Records, run by Kurt's acquaintance, Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening. The "K" might also be a sneaky reference to Krist's name, depending on when Kurt learned the original spelling. The fact that he includes it in this list suggests a possible double meaning.

"All people are inherently bisexual."

-Kurt, exact date unknown (Nov 1991-Feb 1992)
from Kurt's handwritten list "TOP TEN REASONS KURT COBAIN IS GAY"

Archivist's note: Some people claim bisexuals don't have a culture, but I contend that a big part of bi culture is claiming that everyone is bi. It's blatantly untrue, yet many bisexuals seem to believe this. XD Other prominent bisexuals who have stated this opinion include Gore Vidal, Mick Jagger, and David Bowie.

Jon Savage: Did you have problems in high school?

Kurt Cobain: Yeah. You know I felt so different and so crazy that people just left me alone. I always felt that they would vote me "Most likely to kill everyone at a high school dance." You know?

(22 July 1993)

Archivist's note: Thank god he picked up a guitar instead of a gun!!

"So, about two days ago I got really sick. I got this really bad cold, you know, like a flu...like illness, whatever. And uh, the doctor gave me this stuff to drink and I think it's Chinese herbs, and it has cow sperm in it. And it's got, like, lizard penis scrapings, and I still feel really sick, but it just makes me feel good to know that I've been drinking cow semen."

-Dave telling a random batshit story mid-gig, 19 Feb 1992
(Kurt then updated School's lyrics to reflect Dave's charming tale)

"I think it's one of grunge's greatest legacy, is actually the killing off of misogyny in rock for quite a while. You know? I mean, really, it was very passe to be a misogynist in rock there for a while. And that was helped by guys like the guys in Nirvana, and the guys in Pearl Jam, and bands like us [L7], and Babes In Toyland, and Lunachicks, and then Riot Grrrl later. So, yeah, I think that's a big deal."

-Donita Sparks, 21 Jul 2015, Women of Rock Oral History Project

"I'm a fan of rap music, but most of it's so misogynist that I can't even deal with it. I'm really not that much of a fan. I totally respect and love it because it's one of the only original forms of music that's been introduced, but the white man doing rap is just like watching a white man dance. We can't dance. We can't rap."

-Kurt, when asked his opinion on white rap, 20 Sept 1991

quote of the day

"God is gay and so am I."
-Kurt
Journals (hardcover ed.), pg. 123
.

page summary

rocknroll1968 - Welcome!
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Rape is a War Crime (1994)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: A sense of responsibility (1992)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Left him for someone else (1993)
rocknroll1968 - Lyrics: Keep It Clean (2011)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Dave believes in marriage equality (2009)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Krist on developing a politcal consciousness (1996)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Losing Kurt was like losing a spouse (1996)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Cognitive Dissonance in Abusive Parents (1993)
rocknroll1968 - Lyrics: Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Kurt's Feminist Legacy (2021)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: US Gov't Corruption (1991)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Kurt on Native Americans (1991)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Real Americans (1991)
rocknroll1968 - Photo: TOP TEN REASONS KURT COBAIN IS GAY (1991/2)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: "Everyone is bi," said the bi guy (1991/2)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Kurt the School Shooter (1993)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Drinking cow sperm again (1992)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Nirvana helped kill misogyny (2015)
rocknroll1968 - Quote: Kurt has mixed feelings about rap (1991)

January 2024

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NIRVANA SLASH ARCHIVE

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recent entries

sticky: Welcome!

Welcome to the Nirvana Slash Archive! Est. 2019

The primary purpose of this archive is to collect and preserve information about rock band Nirvana's contribution to bi and gay culture and history.

Quote: Rape is a War Crime (1994)

Quote: A sense of responsibility (1992)

Quote: Left him for someone else (1993)

Lyrics: Keep It Clean (2011)

Quote: Dave believes in marriage equality (2009)

Quote: Krist on developing a politcal consciousness (1996)

Quote: Losing Kurt was like losing a spouse (1996)

Quote: Cognitive Dissonance in Abusive Parents (1993)

Lyrics: Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)

Quote: Kurt's Feminist Legacy (2021)

Quote: US Gov't Corruption (1991)

Quote: Kurt on Native Americans (1991)

Quote: Real Americans (1991)

Photo: TOP TEN REASONS KURT COBAIN IS GAY (1991/2)

Quote: "Everyone is bi," said the bi guy (1991/2)

Quote: Kurt the School Shooter (1993)

Quote: Drinking cow sperm again (1992)

Quote: Nirvana helped kill misogyny (2015)

Quote: Kurt has mixed feelings about rap (1991)

quote of the day

links

page summary

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January 2024