Monday, April 05, 2004
Time has a way of rushing by and life has a way of happenings, but as often is the case when anniversary dates happen, you can’t help but remember what was. And while a myriad of “I was doing blank when Cobain was killed” recollections are being recoiled throughout the printed and virtual realm this week, I too, have found myself reflecting on the affect of grunge on my generation. However, this reflection hasn’t taken the form of directly relating to Cobain, but rather, what the media-anointed affect was on Cobain and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder dynamic.
Ten years ago, grunge ruled the airwaves and the consternation and apathy of Generation X infiltrated all things pop culture. Looking back, most probably remember that in 1991, Nirvana single-handily quashed 80s hair-metal, turned the nation’s attention to the Seattle grunge sound and opened the door for fellow Seattleites like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam.
With sales of their album “Nevermind” taking off, records companies began signing every band out of Seattle it could and the media began to paint the likes of Cobain and Vedder as spokespeople for a maligned and discontent generation of young adults who were basically depressed and pissed-off at a world they felt cheated them out of the American Dream.
It was in the lyrics of Vedder and Cobain that an alienated generation found voices they could relate to. But the pressure of being elevated to such a prominent position went against the punk rock fabric that Cobain and Vedder came from and they both bristled at the fame and popularity suddenly bestowed upon them. Vedder once said in a 1994 interview with Melody Maker : “It's just so weird. You write about this shit, and you're suddenly the spokesman for a generation. Think about it, man, any generation that would pick Kurt or me as its spokesman -- that must be a pretty f*&%(# up generation, don't you think?”
Statements like that were common themes in most of the articles written about the grunge scene back then. The resulting undercurrent was rampant speculation as to which signer would off them self first? Nobody was shocked when Cobain was found dead; the ironic twist is Cobain’s suicide may have saved Vedder’s life that night.
Speculation being what it is, the argument can be made the unwanted public pressure placed on him, was a leading contributor to Cobain’s death. Having spent eight years on both the journalism and public relations side of the media, I have developed a sense of just how powerful the media is in shaping public opinion. Journalists at the time were almost trying to dictate history in the present and, as the gluttony of “tortured artist, spokesperson for a generation” stories perpetuated the aura around Cobain and Vedder, it became easy to believe that one of them had to die to legitimize the grunge movement’s place in history.
Preexisting demons aside, you have to wonder if the media killed Cobain? And if not Cobian, would it have been Vedder?
While time as elevated Cobain to rock icon status, Vedder’s transformation and maturity has coincided with an aging generation. Mainstream music chewed and spit out Pearl Jam and the grunge movement long ago. If the ten year anniversary of Cobain’s death isn’t enough perspective for you Gen X’ers, consider this; I was recently asked by a college student what it was like to be around at the height of grunge?
Now out from underneath the white-hot spotlight of pop culture, Vedder and PJ have continued to churn out music and play to sold-out arenas across the land. Vedder has also come to embrace his place as a role model over the last decade.
The media’s attention now focused on the pop-tart Britney Spears and ghetto-fabulous hip-hop artists of the world, Vedder has been able to act without fear of his every word and action being disseminated in this real-time news at the click of a mouse world. He’s become very outspoken, too outspoken if you ask some, but the point is, he is not afraid to make is political agendas known. Sure, he continues to be a thorn in the conservative side of America, especially in the wake of his penchant for donning a George W. Bush mask during PJ performances of the anti-Bush song Bushleaguer, but isn’t that far more productive than arguing over who’s band is better?
Pushing 40, Vedder’s song writing has also taken on similar political tones while remaining true to the sort of introspection that appealed to the Gen X’ers a decade ago. I think he has evolved into something Cobain probably never could have become, that of a serious musician not afraid to carry a political torch. He’s matured and so have we.
We Gen X’ers have grown up. We’ve got jobs, spouses, mortgages, kids and most importantly, a sense of responsibility that we didn’t have in college a decade ago. Then, it was easy to look at things as being hopelessly stacked against us and, much like Vedder wondered in the song Indifference, ask “How much difference does it make?”
Time has a way of putting things into perspective. And while it’s only right to pay homage to the genius that Cobain was, I take greater solace in the fact that Vedder is still around as a voice for my generation. He may not resonate with as much force anymore, at least has far as the public of mass consumption knows; but he stills stands as a defining icon for the generation formally known as X.
Ten years ago, grunge ruled the airwaves and the consternation and apathy of Generation X infiltrated all things pop culture. Looking back, most probably remember that in 1991, Nirvana single-handily quashed 80s hair-metal, turned the nation’s attention to the Seattle grunge sound and opened the door for fellow Seattleites like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam.
With sales of their album “Nevermind” taking off, records companies began signing every band out of Seattle it could and the media began to paint the likes of Cobain and Vedder as spokespeople for a maligned and discontent generation of young adults who were basically depressed and pissed-off at a world they felt cheated them out of the American Dream.
It was in the lyrics of Vedder and Cobain that an alienated generation found voices they could relate to. But the pressure of being elevated to such a prominent position went against the punk rock fabric that Cobain and Vedder came from and they both bristled at the fame and popularity suddenly bestowed upon them. Vedder once said in a 1994 interview with Melody Maker : “It's just so weird. You write about this shit, and you're suddenly the spokesman for a generation. Think about it, man, any generation that would pick Kurt or me as its spokesman -- that must be a pretty f*&%(# up generation, don't you think?”
Statements like that were common themes in most of the articles written about the grunge scene back then. The resulting undercurrent was rampant speculation as to which signer would off them self first? Nobody was shocked when Cobain was found dead; the ironic twist is Cobain’s suicide may have saved Vedder’s life that night.
Speculation being what it is, the argument can be made the unwanted public pressure placed on him, was a leading contributor to Cobain’s death. Having spent eight years on both the journalism and public relations side of the media, I have developed a sense of just how powerful the media is in shaping public opinion. Journalists at the time were almost trying to dictate history in the present and, as the gluttony of “tortured artist, spokesperson for a generation” stories perpetuated the aura around Cobain and Vedder, it became easy to believe that one of them had to die to legitimize the grunge movement’s place in history.
Preexisting demons aside, you have to wonder if the media killed Cobain? And if not Cobian, would it have been Vedder?
While time as elevated Cobain to rock icon status, Vedder’s transformation and maturity has coincided with an aging generation. Mainstream music chewed and spit out Pearl Jam and the grunge movement long ago. If the ten year anniversary of Cobain’s death isn’t enough perspective for you Gen X’ers, consider this; I was recently asked by a college student what it was like to be around at the height of grunge?
Now out from underneath the white-hot spotlight of pop culture, Vedder and PJ have continued to churn out music and play to sold-out arenas across the land. Vedder has also come to embrace his place as a role model over the last decade.
The media’s attention now focused on the pop-tart Britney Spears and ghetto-fabulous hip-hop artists of the world, Vedder has been able to act without fear of his every word and action being disseminated in this real-time news at the click of a mouse world. He’s become very outspoken, too outspoken if you ask some, but the point is, he is not afraid to make is political agendas known. Sure, he continues to be a thorn in the conservative side of America, especially in the wake of his penchant for donning a George W. Bush mask during PJ performances of the anti-Bush song Bushleaguer, but isn’t that far more productive than arguing over who’s band is better?
Pushing 40, Vedder’s song writing has also taken on similar political tones while remaining true to the sort of introspection that appealed to the Gen X’ers a decade ago. I think he has evolved into something Cobain probably never could have become, that of a serious musician not afraid to carry a political torch. He’s matured and so have we.
We Gen X’ers have grown up. We’ve got jobs, spouses, mortgages, kids and most importantly, a sense of responsibility that we didn’t have in college a decade ago. Then, it was easy to look at things as being hopelessly stacked against us and, much like Vedder wondered in the song Indifference, ask “How much difference does it make?”
Time has a way of putting things into perspective. And while it’s only right to pay homage to the genius that Cobain was, I take greater solace in the fact that Vedder is still around as a voice for my generation. He may not resonate with as much force anymore, at least has far as the public of mass consumption knows; but he stills stands as a defining icon for the generation formally known as X.
