The reason why Dave Grohl never suggested Nirvana songs to Kurt Cobain
Nirvana, founded by schoolmates Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, kicked off their grunge odyssey with the debut album Bleach in 1989. The unrefined collection showcased the early genesis of Cobain’s characteristically gritty and comical lyrics and the band’s raw, edgy sound heavily influenced by neighbouring Washington group Melvins.
Contrary to popular belief, Cobain and his band didn’t invent grunge. The seeds are generally understood to have been sewn by Neil Young in the late ’70s, and by the time Nirvana started putting records out, the genre was a sturdy sapling. However, Nirvana brought a distinctive style, both visually and audibly, that defined the genre more so than any of their peers.
In 1991, Cobain revealed the secrets to Nirvana’s unique style in an interview with Guitar World. “We’re just musically and rhythmically retarded,” he said jovially, describing how their unique sound came about. “We play so hard that we can’t tune our guitars fast enough. People can relate to that.”
He added: “We sound like the Bay City Rollers after an assault by Black Sabbath, and we vomit onstage better than anyone!”
Despite this laid-back interview presence, Cobain was notably scrupulous and controlling when it came to Nirvana’s output. In an echo of George Harrison, who struggled to get his songs on Beatles albums alongside the overpowering Lennon-McCartney partnership, drummer Dave Grohl found himself creatively sidelined in Nirvana.
“But he was in a band with Lennon and McCartney, and I was in a band with Kurt,” Grohl said, responding to such comparisons in a 2011 interview with Howard Stern. “So I’d say it’s a famous joke, like ‘What’s the last thing the drummer said before he got kicked out?’ ‘I got a song I think we should play!’ You know, you can’t… And I was perfectly happy because I was like disco drumming. I was just going [makes drumming noises], I wasn’t [mimics more violent drumming sounds].”
“But didn’t you have all these great songs in your head written? Did you ever say to Kurt, ‘Listen, I’ve got great songs…” Stern asked.
“No,” Grohl interjected. “He heard some, and he liked a couple of them. There were two that he really liked that he wanted to do, but he was afraid to ask me if he could change the lyrics.”
“Do you think if Kurt hadn’t died, he’d still be in Nirvana and never have written any of your songs that you wrote for Foo Fighters and never have gone out and done it? Stern asked, adding, “In a way, his death liberated you, in a weird sense, right?”
“I know that I would still be recording and writing stuff of my own. Everybody in this band goes out and does side projects,” Grohl said as an honest answer to a particularly difficult and impertinent question.
