Rape Me, Nirvana, 1993
It has been 27 years since Kurt Cobain died ... and yes, he died at 27.
Nirvana consistently holds its own as one of my favorite bands. On this anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death, I want to celebrate my longtime favorite Nirvana song -- Rape Me.
I'll admit, I never met a Nirvana song I didn't like. Seriously, I don't think there's a bad one in the bunch. For me, Nirvana song ranking translates into assigning degrees of love not a sorting of good and bad songs.
I love Rape Me. It is my song -- it is about me. And yeah, I know there's more to the song than is on the surface. The extended situational symbolism makes the song even more special to me. The opening riff is signature Nirvana and lyrically speaking, I think it's Kurt's boldest message presented in a simple form with the masses in mind.
Remember when Walmart wouldn't carry In Utero unless Rape Me was listed on the jacket as Waif Me? So weird. Simply seeing the word "rape" must be proven to have adverse effects on society. Right?
Remember when Nirvana played the opening riff of Rape Me at the Mtv Video Music Awards after it was banned from being performed? It felt so defiant, so punk rock. But then, of course, they didn't play the entire song and I remember thinking, what is the big deal? Just play it! I never understood the controversy over the song -- still don't.
This was the culture of shame less than 25 years ago. Not only was rape not openly discussed, rape discussions were actively suppressed. Now, we live in the era of "me, too."
I've said it before and I'll say it ten million more times: Kurt was the voice of my generation. A beautiful white man who used his acknowledged inherent systemic privilege and sudden success to give women and marginalized people a subtle voice in the mainstream. He was the reluctant patron saint of a generation of beautiful losers who spawned the ones currently attempting to change the world.
https://youtu.be/ly1lWkRwm6g
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