Gymnasium Odenthal
Facharbeit
im Grundkurs 3 Englisch
A lyric analysis of the song “You Know You´re Right“ of Kurt Cobain´s band
Nirvana, with regard to his sudden death
Vorgelegt von: Tom
Fachlehrer: Frau Lüttkemeier
Schuljahr: 2015/2016
Abgabetermin: 17.03.2016
Table of Contents :
1. Introduction : ( p.3 )
2. Biography :
---------- - Who was Kurt Cobain ? (p.3)
----------- 2.1 Childhood and Youth (p.,4)
------------ 2.2 The Way to Music (p.4-5)
----------- 2.3 Fame and Death (p. 5-6)
3. Facts about Nirvana : (p. 6)
3. Analysis of Lyrics :
---------- You know you´re Right (p.7-9 )
4. Consequences of his Death :
---------- Due to the Music (p. 9)
5. Bibliography : (p .10)
6. Statement of Authorship : (p.11)
7. Annex : (p.12-14)
1. Introduction
I have chosen this topic for my professional work because I am a musician, too. I play the guitar and I love singing. I am a big fan of the band Nirvana and also of Kurt Cobain. He is one of my idols. He has influenced many areas of my musical development. My professional work deals with the analysis of the song lyrics ´´You Know You´re Right´´ with regard to his sudden death.
Did Kurt Cobain plan his suicide? This is one of the main questions that have to be answered.
In the first part of my work, I give you some information about Kurt´s life and career.
In the main part of my professional work I analyze the lyrics of his song ´´You Know You´re Right´´ in connection with his sudden death focussing on the question whether there are indications hidden in the song proving thoughts of suicide.
In the last part of my work I show the consequences of his death with respect to the music scene and talk about the musical heritage he left behind.
2. Biography
Who was Kurt Cobain?
Idol, Legend and Icon of a whole Generation
Kurt Donald Cobain was born 20 February 1967 in Aberdeen Washington. He was an American musician who became a famous singer and guitarist of the legendary band Nirvana. Due to his tragic death at the age of 27 he had been perpetuated in the world famous "Club 27". This club also includes a lot of other idols, inter alia, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin or Jim Morrison.1
2.1 Childhood and Youth
As the son of Donald Leland Cobain and Wendy Elizabeth Fradenburg and also brother of Kimberly Dawn Cobain, he spent most of the time of his childhood in Aberdeen Washington near Seattle. When he was eight years old, his parents got divorced. From now on he had to go through hard times since he had to live with the consequences of a broken family. Therefore, he got some psychological problems.
Suffering little Kurt had ADHS ( Attention-Defecit and Hyperactivity Disorder ) so he had to take special medicine such as Ritalin which led to another negative aspect. One of the side effects was sleep disorder. His early childhood was influenced by three suicides of his uncles. He also had to experience a suicide of a neighbour´s boy. Soon his mom got to know a new partner with whom Kurt had also a lot of discrepancies so he moved to his father.
After that his father got to know a new partner, too and finally got married again. The problem was that this partner had two children who automatically became new members of Kurt´s family. Kurt stopped trusting his parents. He was facing fights with his parents daily and tried his best to forget the problems at home. So he decided to go to his uncle,grandparents or friends whenever there were rough times at home.
He had lived together with ten different families in only four years. He dropped out of school when he was 18 years old. For this reason his mom put him out in the streets. He had been living under the Aberdeen North Bridge for a while. At the age of 20, he lived together with his first girlfriend Tracy Marander in Olympia Washington. His relationship broke after a few months because of his lack of motivation to work. 2
2.2 The Way to Music
Kurt was a musician. Since he was a baby, he loved listening to music on the radio. The radio caused a big smile on his face. When he was young, he started recording his own voice with a recorder he got from his aunt. He didn´t only have a musical talent, but also artistic skills such as creating collages or drawing. His first music instrument was a drum-kit he played many times with.
At the age of 14, his uncle bought him his first guitar. That was something special for him. He played many hours every day and everywhere in the house. Playing the guitar meant a lot to him. His parents supported him.
In his youth Kurt wasn´t one of the most respected children. He played the role of an outsider. He had never wanted to become a member of a football team or the "cool kids". He hated superficiality. He had always been a lone fighter. He enjoyed being alone. His dad was one of his first musical influence. He was a fan of Rock´n´Roll. So Kurt was a fan, too. Kurt loved rock bands
like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath or The Pixies, but friends like Dale Crover or Buss Osborne of The Melvins influenced him most profoundly .
These People showed him punk and indie-rock. Kurt was impressed by The Melvins. After the big problems with his parents and the move to Olympia in Washington, he got his first musical experience together with his friend Krist Novoselic. They played in a lot of bands together. In 1987 they established their first own band. The third member was Aaron Buckhard who played the drums.
Aaorn left the band in the same year because they didn´t get along with each other. After that a lot of other musicians tried to play the role of the drummer. One of them was Dale Crover of the Melvins. At the end of the year Dave Grohl was finally chosen as their Drummer.3 They all became good friends. The name of their band was also born. The name was NIRVANA. After a few gigs, the band was contraced by the Label Sub-Pop.
That album was sold out in every store. The band didn´t want to be too famous so they tried to leave the Mainstream sector with their third album " In Utero" (1993) .This a lbum was different from the album Nevermind, but the band failed leaving the mainstream and became even more famous. In 1994 Kurt committed suicide. His sudden death was the reason for the dissolution of the band. 4
2.3 Fame and Death
In 1987 Kurt got to know Courtney Love the ex stripper and singer of the band Hole. They got married in Hawaii in 1992. In the same year their daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, was born. The fame had its price so Kurt got addicted to drugs. He was a victim of the well known drug heroin. He had always suffered under an unknown stomach disease.5 This disease was so painful that he tried to forget the pain by taking drugs.
Unfortunately, his wife was taking drugs, too. There were many drug excesses, which became big headlines endangering the child custody of the two rockstar parents.6 The pressure set by the label and the fame had been worsening Kurt´s state of health. In 1994 Kurt had his first suicide attempt. He tried to kill himself by an overdose of rhohypnol and champaign. He was taken to hospital immediately.
A few days later he was taken to a detoxyfication clinic. But he escaped from there and went back home. At home Kurt squirted himself an overdose heroin and shot himself with a pump gun. He left a suicide note explaining that
music didn´t fulfill his his life and that life without him would be better for all people he loved. Especially his daughter´s life would be much better without him.
He committed suicide at the age of 27 on the 5th April 1994. That was the year when Kurt left the stage forever.
3. Facts about Nirvana
NIRVANA was an American grunge rock band from Seattle founded in 1987 by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic and resolved in 1994 because of Kurt´s suicide. Grunge is a mix of punk, metal and hard rock. The main artist was Kurt Cobain who sang and played the guitar. Krist Novoselic played the bass guitar and Dave Grohl the drums. In 1993 Nirvana got a second guitarist called Pat Smear.
In 1992 Incesticide was published which was a b-site album which included many unpublished demo songs. In 1993 Nirvana published their last studio album "In Utero". With that LP, Nirvana intended to leave the mainstream sector but the album made the band even more famous than ever. Nirvanaalso published lots of other music like live albums for example "Live at Reeding" or "MTV Unplugged" in New York.
Singles were also published before albums. In 2002 the Greatest Hits Album was published with a new song "You know you´re right" who Kurt had written before he committed suicide.7
Nirvana had sold more than 75 million covers since the band was founded.They also got many awards for the best music album,the best song, the best music video and finally a perpetuation in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Nirvana was also known for their performance live on stage. They joked a lot or moved on stage so the audience was never bored or they even destroyed their equipment at the end of a gig.
The band turned indie-rock music into mainstream music and introduced the grunge generation. They crucially influenced the generation of the 90´s. Nirvana was the most important rockband of the 90´s.
4. Analysis of the Lyrics "You Know You´re Right"
In the following part of my professional work I analyze the lyrics of the song "You know you´re right" of the band Nirvana written by Kurt Cobain .I put this in context to the main question.
Does this song contain indications of suicidal thoughts?
"You Know You´re Right"
"You Know You´re Right" was written and composed by Kurt Cobain. The song was recorded 30 January 1994 at the Robert Lag Studios in Seattle. It was the last song the band recorded. The song was published many years (2002) after the dissolution of Nirvana. The song had been dedicated to his wife Courtney Love and is about their relationship and the pain he had to go through.
He describes also many negative feelings. He explains that it will be better when he´s gone and that he knew that before. Every verse consists of four lines. In addition to this, it is noticeable that verse two and four are identical. The four breaks which follow are respectively different and consist of two lines. The chorus consits of two parts. The first is only one word which is repeated three times and the second part is the song title "You know You´re right".
The first verse is about his anger one specific person causes in his life. It is striking that every line of the verse begins with the word "I" ( Str. 1 , v.1-4) .This is an anaphora and shows that the song is written in the first person. He also uses an aliteration in verse 1 and 4 beacuse these two sentences "I will never brother You" are identical.
With that, he emphasizes his clear attitude towards the addressed person the song is about. This verse clearly expresses negative emotions. There is nothing positive to hear in any verse. In the now following break is said that there is nothing more to do for him and that there´s nothing good to be left ( break 1 , v. 5-6) . The first line of this break begins also with the word "I" and puts an accent on the perspective of the song.
It is obvious that the composer is talking of his point of view demonstrating his own feelings.He also starts the verse 2 with the word " you" to make clear that he refers to a specific person. This line is the only one which appears two times in the song . That shows the importance of the 4 lines. The following part is break 2 (v.11-12) which is different from the others.
These two lines prove that his feelings have already existed for a long time and after revealing them he feels relieved. The first part of the chorus consists of the word "pain". he says 3 times. The second part is the sentence " You know you´re right " which is said 3 times, too (v13-14). He wrote this part in a simple way because like this it is easier to understand.
Another particularity is that he cries the chrous in his song. That is in contrast to the verses and breaks which are calm thus the chorus becomes easily the highlight of the song. The 3 verses reveal that he has nothing to hide. ( str.3, v. 1-4) . The third break in verse 19-20 shows his negative attitude towards his wife. He emphasizes that he loves her but she is not interested in his person.
This refrain is longer. The first part which comprises the word pain is now 5 times instead of 3 times long. In addition to that, the part where he says You know you´re right is 12 times long instead of 3 times long. He adds a new sentence " You konw you´re rights" which is mentioned 4 times. ( Refrain 2 , v. 44-48) With this sentence he wants to express that she knows exactly how to use his feelings against him.He uses a simple language and no complex sentences to make his message sound clear.
To sum it up, this song reveals a lot of personal emotions of Kurt Cobain. It is full of negative feelings and pain. In this song you can clearly see his attitude towards life. The song was published in 2002, ten years after his death. People who knew him in person should have noticed his real state of health and especially his obvious depressions.
Conclusion
All in all, we can say that the song "You Know You´re Right" is a well chosen song because we can see a lot of his feelings and learn about his personal thoughts.
We cannot be totally sure that he had planned his suicide by analyzing only one song. However, he describes his personal state very well and there are many indications that he had suffered a lot. Considering the lyrics of the chosen song it cannot be ruled out that Kurt had planned to commit suicide.
5. Consequences of his death
Wearing striped shirts , torn jeans , having long hair and consuming drugs was a trend of the 90´s shaped by the amazing fame of Nirvana.
Kurt´s body was found in his house three days after his death by one of his home workers. The police were immediately informed. Within short time friends, fans including the press were standing in front of his house. His death was tragic and sad. He died alone in his broken world. Many fans still can´t believe that their hero is dead and cannot continue with his unique music anymore.
His death had made the band even more famous. Every magazine was talking about them. This was the time where the grunge scene was spreading worldwide. Many labels were searching for bands like Nirvana hoping to discover another music miracle. The song "Smells Lke Teen Spirit" was now the hymn of the grunge generation, the so called "Generation X ".
After his death he became an idol, legend and icon of a whole generation. He was one of the most significant musicians of our time. He changed the rock music and influenced the music industry. Today there are a lot of books, such as biographies and diaries of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana. Numerous movies and documentations have been launched on the market so far. His music is still popular with a lot of people.
Even today people have tears in their eyes while listening to his immortal songs .
Rest In Peace
Bibliography
1. Cobain,Kurt: „ Kurt Cobain Tagebücher „ Übersetzt von Clara Drechsler , Fischer / 2002
2. Feige , Marcel : „ I don´t have a Gun „ Die Lebensgeschichte des Kurt Cobain
von Belitz & Gelberg , Weinheim Basel / 2012
3. Morgen , Brett ; Bienstock, Richard : „ Cobain-Montage of Heck , Die Lebens-Collage
des Kurt Cobainvon Hannibal / 2015
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