Protests or Prophecies? The songs of Kurt Cobain

On April 5 1994, Kurt Cobain – lead singer of the iconic grunge band Nirvana & spokesperson for a generation of disaffected young people – blew out his brains with a shotgun. His suicide devastated millions but, far from being the tortured rock star – a glorifying cliché applied to all artists who end their own lives – Cobain’s genetic predisposition (several of his ancestors had shot & killed themselves) & a childhood filled with trauma & violence had left him with a lingering misery that not even worldwide adoration could counter.

His tranquilliser-and-champagne suicide attempt in Rome a month earlier was proof enough that he was severely depressed & lacked the emotional resources to fight his way out of it. Turning the gun on himself signified his hopelessness & highlights the plight of so many other artists who would quite possibly still be with us if their mental illness had been recognised & responded to. Thinly wrapped inside the clamour of Cobain’s music was a desperate plea for redemption: a healing connection with a human being that, tragically, never materialised.

‘Been a Son’

One of a limited edition of five prints, printed on Hahnemühle Rag Paper, 36cm x 36cm (Framed) £200

A semi-autobiographical account of Cobain’s father’s disappointment that Kurt’s sister was not a boy &, in a wider context, his protest at how patriarchy sees women as second-class citizens.

‘Come as you are’

One of a limited edition of five prints, printed on Hahnemühle Rag Paper, 34cm x 39cm (Framed) £200

Cobain’s invitation to a generation of youths to retain their individuality whilst also expressing his personal resistance to a recording company desperate to re-market the band to increase its fan base. Whilst the most contentious line ‘And I swear that I don’t have a gun’ gives the song an unintentional edge, it may well be a veiled nod & his own ‘killing joke’ towards the band of that name, who believed that Cobain had lifted the main riff from their own song, ‘Eighties’.

‘In Bloom’

One of a limited edition of five prints, printed on Hahnemühle Rag Paper, 32cm x 40cm (Framed) £200

A protest on how the youth of his day, particularly girls, were objectified, disrespected & used in order to meet the needs of their abusers.

‘Lithium’

One of a limited edition of five prints, printed on Hahnemühle Rag Paper, 32cm x 40cm (Framed) £200

Lithium is a mood stabilising drug prescribed to people diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Like many other mind-altering drugs it masks the reality of what actually is by numbing the brain & blanking out emotional pain. Religion, Cobain suggests, provides a similar escape through the interventions of an imaginary saviour – yet all these coping mechanisms are illusory, he claims, & the only true saviour we have resides within us.

‘Heart-shaped box’

One of a limited edition of five prints, printed on Hahnemühle Rag Paper, 32cm x 39cm (Framed) £200

A meditation on the excesses of love & Cobain’s own unstable romance with Courtney Love, his brooding obsession with her & his resentment of how she took advantage of his emotional weakness.

‘You know you’re right’

One of a limited edition of five prints, printed on Hahnemühle Rag Paper, 33cm x 40cm (Framed) £200

This was the last song Nirvana recorded before Cobain’s suicide &, whilst it seems to address his faltering relationship with Courtney, it can also be interpreted as a chilling premonition of what was to come.

If you would like to purchase the complete set of six framed prints, the collective price is £1,000. Please contact me

All my digital images, including the digital hybrids, are beautifully printed by The Printspace on museum-grade, Hahnemühle Rag paper. They are securely packaged and guaranteed to be delivered within 72 hours from receiving my order to anywhere within the UK. They also guarantee delivery to any other country within one week.

All my original cyanotypes are created on Hahnemühle 300g, hot pressed Watercolour paper.

Each piece of art has an individually signed and numbered certificate of authenticity as proof of provenance.