Kurt Cobain’s favourite song by The Beatles: “The biggest influence I’ve ever had”
One common thread that unites musicians of ages and many different genres is a shared appreciation of The Beatles. For four boys from Liverpool, they left an indelible mark on the music industry far beyond their wildest dreams, a legacy which continues to inspire new bands today.
Although The Beatles didn’t invent rock ‘n’ roll, their role in popularising the genre is impossible to overstate. They took what was once an underground phenomenon and brought it to the forefront, making it accessible to a wide audience that included teenagers, grandparents, and everyone in between. Their influence helped to shape the sound and culture of rock music for generations to come.
For millions around the world, The Beatles served as the gateway to music, often becoming the first band they remember hearing. This statement holds true whether someone was born in 1964 or 2004, and it includes many artists who would go on to achieve greatness themselves. The band’s timeless appeal and influence transcended generations, cementing their place in music history.
The late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain falls into this category. Born in 1967, the musician was too young to follow their career every step of the way, and once he’d become old enough to grow conscious of their existence, they’d already parted ways. For Cobain, the moment he belatedly discovered that The Beatles had split up was his first dose of heartbreak, which he later described as a “devastating” blow.
Once he finally recovered from the disappointment of learning the fate of The Beatles, Cobain, of course, delved back into their collection and later named the Fab Four “the biggest influence” of his career. While he grew tired of many bands in his record collection, Cobain never had such issues with The Beatles, whom he constantly returned to for inspiration throughout his life.
The Beatles established the foundation for modern songwriting, a framework that Cobain deeply appreciated. As an aspiring musician in his youth, their accessibility was crucial, offering him a blueprint to follow even though he didn’t come from a musical household. Despite this, The Beatles still found a way to influence his life and creative development, showing just how pervasive their impact was.
Cobain’s fondness of The Beatles segued into his own songwriting and gave Nirvana a melodic touch that differentiated them from their peers. On many occasions during interviews, he opened up about his love of the group, but perhaps never in more detail than with Radio Onde Furlane in 1989. “I would say the biggest influence I’ve ever had would be The Beatles because I listened to The Beatles since I was five years old until I was in fourth grade,” he told host Mimmo Caccamo. “The same records over and over every night! I sang the songs, and I wanted to see The Beatles. It was about 1973 when I heard on the radio that they’d broken up for three years; I was totally devastated.”
Cobain then explained how his love of The Beatles led to his thirst to hear more bands, adding: “Then I was introduced to hard rock, such as Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, and I got into that. It kinda meshed together when I started playing guitar, it kinda intertwined The Beatles’ melodic style and hooks with heavy raunchy guitars. I would say that’s probably how our style started.”
Later in the interview, Cobain also revealed that the Rubber Soul cut ‘Norwegian Wood’ was his favourite song by the Fab Four. “Right now, even now, I’m starting to go back to listen to The Beatles,” he elaborated. “My favourite period is the Rubber Soul period; the guitar and the simple melodies are my favourite.”
‘Norwegian Wood’ marked a stylistic change in John Lennon’s songwriting technique, and he later admitted that he was attempting to emulate Bob Dylan on the track. Notably, George Harrison introduced the sitar to their sound, which provided an Eastern flavour to ‘Norwegian Wood’.
Cobain’s intense love of The Beatles was all-encompassing, and they appropriately featured at his funeral. While ‘Norwegian Wood’ was his favourite song by the Fab Four, ‘In My Life’ was chosen by his family to be played at the ceremony, which was a tear-jerking moment for those in attendance.
His former Nirvana bandmate Dave Grohl once remembered: “That day, after everyone had said their piece, this next song came over the speakers and everyone got to celebrate Kurt’s love of The Beatles one last time together. Still to this day, when I hear it, it touches a place in me that no other song ever will.”
Without the Beatles, there would be no Nirvana. Although the Fab Four were drastically different in their sound, they were the reason why Cobain fell in love with music and eventually started making history of his own.
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