Kurt Cobain : de l'enfance jusqu'au Nirvana

Au début des années 90, le groupe commence à enregistrer son second album, Nevermind, lorsque le chanteur se casse la voix. Il en profite pour ajuster les paroles de ses chansons écrites lors de la tournée de Bleach. En parallèle, le batteur quitte le groupe, frustré de ne pas participer à la création des musiques, car ne collant pas assez avec le style des deux autres musiciens. Plusieurs essais se font avant que ne soit enfin recruté Dave Grohl : « dès que Dave nous a rejoint, tout s'est mis en place, Nirvana avait trouvé son chaînon manquant [...] Quelque chose nous a fait nous rencontrer, et l'impact était immédiat » (Christ dans Classic Albums : Nirvana - Nevermind, Isis Productions, 2004, DVD). Ce changement s'accompagne de la signature d'un contrat avec un nouveau label : DGC Records. Les dernières chansons de l'album sont enregistrées très rapidement, en peu de prises. On recommande cepencent au chanteur, qui est très désinvolte, d'enregistrer deux voix comme le faisait son idole John Lennon. L'album se termine dans la bonne humeur due aux derniers changements, même si le producteur, Butch Vig, rapportera plus tard que Kurt « pouvait être formidable pendant une heure et passer l'heure suivante assis dans un coin sans dire un mot ». Smells Like Teen Spirit sort, avant l'album, pour rassembler une base de fans avertis avant la sortie de ce dernier, suivit de Come As You Are, qui a pour rôle d'attirer un public plus large. Nevermind est plus commercial que le premier album du groupe, et le clip de Smells Like Teen Spirit, diffusé de plus en plus sur MTV, rendant l'album de plus en plus populaire, pousse Nevermind en haut des ventes : il devient disque d'or en un mois, puis disque de platine, mais le trio demeure assez indifférent à ce succès, étant même surpris de cet accueil. Le chanteur ne se réjouis pas non plus de la médiatisation du groupe : « je ne pense pas que cela soit génial de passer 20 fois par jour sur MTV, à part pour les ventes de l'album. Du strict point de vue de l'image du groupe, c'est catastrophique. On passe vraiment pour un produit de consommation courante ».

Le groupe souhaite alors se recentrer sur son style, en retrouvant un son plus rude correspondant mieux au grunge dont ils sont pionniers. Avançant avec difficulté après les nombreuses tournées où l'état de Kurt se dégrade considérablement à cause de son abus de drogues, les trois musiciens se rassemblent pour un dernier album studio, In Utero. L'album sort difficilement, fortement critiqué, car jugé inaudible par le large public. Après de nombreuses hésitations, les pistes sont finalement ajustées, mais ne conviennent toujours pas au chanteur. L'album se vend rapidement, mais obtient un succès incomparable à celui de Nevermind. Pour lui donner un coup de pouce, Nirvana accepte de jouer dans l'émission MTV Unplugged, à New York, en 1993, où le groupe réinterprète ses chansons, dans un style acoustique tout nouveau, ainsi que des reprises comme notamment The Man Who Sold The World de David Bowie, artiste très apprécié par Kurt. Les versions des titres chantés lors de l'émission seront rassemblés dans un album, qui sera mémorable et très vendu. Les ventes de In Utero montent alors en flèche, mais avec un enthousiasme presque inexistant.

Parallèlement à ça, les chansons du groupe sont victimes de nombreuses injustices. « Polly » (Nevrmind, 1991) ou encore « Rape Me » (In Utero, 1993), accusent les auteurs de viols, crime profondément répudié par Kurt. La première chanson a été écrite en réaction à une agression effroyable commise sur une jeune fille. Le chanteur en est énormément touché et veut dénoncer et dégouter le public des agresseurs, envers lesquels ils éprouve beaucoup de haine. « Le viol est le plus terrible des crimes sur Terre et il en arrive chaque minute. Le problème des associations qui agissent contre le viol est qu'ils essayent d'éduquer les femmes sur comment se défendre. Ce qui a vraiment besoin d'être fait est d'apprendre aux hommes à ne pas violer. Va à la source et commence là » (interview de Nirvana pour NME en 1991). A de nombreuses reprises, il s'arrête de chanter en plein milieu d'une chanson, lors de concerts, pour défendre des femmes se faisant attouchées dans le public, non pas, ceci-dit, de manière très délicate... : « Nous avons une règle, nous n'aimons pas voir des femmes se faire toucher les seins ou les fesses ou quoi que ce soit, si quelqu'un est pris en train de le faire, il sera dégagé et fracassé ». Il descend même une fois de la scène pour repousser un homme trop collant envers une femme puis se rassoit, énervé, tandis que Christ ridiculise l'agresseur. Malgré les intention anti-viol et anti-sexisme des chansons, les paroles sont incomprises, à cause de la manière dont elles sont racontées. En effet, l'agression que décrit « Polly » est contée du point de vu du criminel ce qui sera très controversé. « On a été accusés de promouvoir ce qui lui est arrivé alors que c'était tout le contraire ». Un jour, deux hommes agresse une femme en chantant Polly, Kurt en est profondément dégouté et déçu. De plus, les deux chansons sont davantage une haine envers les criminels rejettée avec dégoût, plus que des paroles soutenant les femmes ayant été agressées. En effet, la plume crue et rude du chanteur n'est forcément pas réconfortante. La fondatrice de la fondation RAINN, créée pour soutenir les victimes de viol, à laquelle les fonds récoltés par la chanson « Rape me » sont déversés, explique donc que les victimes de viol ne pouvaient se réjouir avec de tels propos écrits dans la chanson.

Quickly after finishing school, Kurt wanted to form a group. With a friend from high school and the Melvins' drummer, he creates his first band, named Fecal Matter...The band played covers, but didn't last long. Then Kurt meets Christ Novoselic, a bass player, and convinces him to form a band. They are on the same wavelength and have the same vision of their grunge style. Kurt was 21 years old in 1998 when he released his first ten tracks demo with his bassist and a drummer recommended by a friend. They eventually adopted the name Nirvana, which got officialised at their first concert in March of the same year in Tacoma, where a new drummer had already replaced the last one.The name of the band could mean "freedom from suffering", which is also the terms Kurt Cobain would use to define his music. Nirvana was invited several times by Sub Pop label, which supervised the major bands of the punk wave, to perform and record in Seattle, the producers being impressed by the band's energy and fury on stage. Indeed, the stage performances of the musicians are impressive, even frightening : Kurt and Christ end all their concerts by destroying their equipment, including their instruments, despite the budget.The trio thus signs a contract with the label, and trains to record their first album : Bleach. The band goes on tour with very limited funding from the label, which prevents any promotion. The singer is quite unstable, he declares his intention to leave the band after a disastrous concert, and even threatens to jump from an hotel's roof. The band is nevertheless getting more and more notoriety. Their reputation crosses the Atlantic and they become ambassadors of grunge music. Bleach is then a great success, one of the biggest ever met by a first album released on an independent label.

In the early 90s, the band began recording their second album, Nevermind, when the singer broke his voice. He took this opportunity to adjust the lyrics of his songs written during Bleach's tour. At the same time, the then drummer leaves the band, frustrated not to take part in the music's creation processes, Kurt and Christ finding their third man not sticking enough with their style. Several attempts were made before Dave Grohl was finally recruited : "as soon as Dave joined us, everything fell into place, Nirvana had found its missing component [...] Something made us meet each other, and the impact was immediate" (Christ in Classic Albums: Nirvana - Nevermind, Isis Productions, 2004, DVD). This change is accompanied by the signing of a contract with a new label: DGC Records. The last songs of the album were recorded very quickly, in few takes. It was however recommended to the singer, who was very flippant, to record two voices as his idol John Lennon used to. The recording ended in a good mood due to the final changes, although the producer, Butch Vig, later reported that Kurt "could be great for an hour and spend the next hour sitting in a corner without saying a word". Smells Like Teen Spirit was released before the album, to gather a rock fan base, followed by Come As You Are, which was meant to attract a wider audience. Nevermind is more commercial than the band's debut album, and Smells Like Teen Spirit's video clip, broadcasted more and more on MTV, making the album more and more popular, pushed Nevermind to the top of the sales charts : it became gold record in one month, then platinum record, but still the trio remained quite indifferent to this success, being even surprised by this welcome. The singer was also not happy about the media coverage of the band: "I don't think it's great to be on MTV 20 times a day, except for album sales. Strictly from the point of view of the band's image, it's catastrophic. We're really considered as commodities. »

The band thus wanted to focus on their style, finding a rougher sound that corresponded better to the grunge they pioneered. Advancing with difficulty after numerous tours where Kurt's health deteriorated considerably due to his drugs abuses, the three musicians came together for a final studio album, In Utero. The album came out with difficulty, strongly criticized, as it was deemed inaudible by the general public. After much hesitation, the tracks are finally adjusted, even though they still didn't suit the singer. The album is bought quickly, but with a success incomparable to Nevermind's one. To give it a boost to the album sales, Nirvana agreed to play on MTV Unplugged in New York in 1993, where the band reinterpreted its own songs in a brand new acoustic style, as well as covers such as The Man Who Sold The World by David Bowie, an artist much appreciated by Kurt. The versions of the songs sung during the show will be collected in an album, which will be memorable and very sold out. In Utero's sales then skyrocketed, but with almost no enthusiasm.

At the same time, the band's songs were victims of many injustices. "Polly" (Nevrmind, 1991) or "Rape Me" (In Utero, 1993), accuse the perpetrators of rape, a crime deeply repudiated by Kurt. The first song was written in response to a horrific attack on a young girl. The singer is enormously moved by it and wants to denounce and disgust the audience of the aggressors, towards whom he has a lot of hatred. "Rape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth and it happens every few minutes. The problem with groups who deal with rape is that they try to educate women about how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men not to rape. Go to the source and start there" (interview with Nirvana for NME in 1991). On many occasions he stoped singing in the middle of a song, at concerts, to defend women being touched in the audience, not, however, in a very delicate way : "We basically have one rule : we don't like to see girls being groped in the breasts or the butt or anywhere else. If anyone is caught doing that to a girl, they'll be taken out back and have the shit beat out of them". He even once got off the stage to push away a man who was too insisting towards a woman and then sat down, angry, while Christ ridiculized the assailant. Despite the songs' anti-rape and anti-sexist intentions, the lyrics were misunderstood because of the way they are told. In fact, the aggression described by "Polly" is told from the criminal's point of view, which will be very controversial. "We were accused of promoting what happened to her whereas it was the opposite. » One day, two men assaulted a woman while singing Polly, which deeply disgusted and disappointed the young singer. Moreover, both songs are more a hatred of criminals rejected with disgust, more than lyrics supporting the women who were assaulted. Indeed, the singer's raw and harsh writing is not necessarily comforting. The founder of the RAINN Foundation, created to support rape victims, to which the funds raised by the song "Rape Me" were donated, therefore explains that rape victims could not rejoice with such words written in the song.