Kurt.

I was born four years after his death and I only got to discover his music when I was a teen. 

Perfect timing.

Kurt’s music was my personal introduction to rock music. I started as a passionate Nirvana fan, enjoyed the great Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and The Doors. Quite atypical for my age though. My love for rock music started when all of my friends were listening to Justin Bieber and I couldn’t help but wonder if I was an old soul.
There is no accounting for taste, as the Romans would say. I couldn’t go to concerts anyway, since most of the musicians I appreciated were dead. 

Kurt didn’t just introduce me to rock. It was through his lyrics that I started truly appreciating literature. I learned English thanks to his songs and that’s how I discovered my favorite method of learning languages.

He inspired me to learn to play the guitar.

Finally he taught me how not to live and most importantly, how not to die. His story taught me that suicide is not the answer. 

It’s impossible not to notice the cry for help in his music.

Hidden messages are extremely hard to interpret, though. All the cries for help may seem obvious, but not every sad person is depressed and not every depressed person is sad. We only wish we knew what people were going through when it’s too late. Kurt, like millions of other people whose stories weren’t heard, teach us that we need to be better listeners. 

Kurt had a hard time trusting people, though.
“A friend is nothing but a known enemy”, he said. In the song “Come as you are”, besides numerous references to suicide such as “I don’t have a gun”; “Married, buried”, he expresses his need for a true friend:

“Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be…“

We can notice the contradiction in his words as he continues “…as a friend, as a trend, as a known enemy. Take your time, hurry up, the choice is yours, don’t be late”. The oxymoron in his lyrics represents his contradictory feeling of having a friend and being deceived.

Behind every smile, there are signs, there are stories, there is a message. We need to pay more attention. We need to be better friends, whatever that means. 

If you ever feel like giving up, this is your sign to keep fighting.

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