All Apologies

It was a sad day 17 years ago today when it was first heard that a beloved frontman has died of suicide at his home in Seattle Washington. That dreadful day millions of fans mourned the untimely death of Nirvana singer/songwriter/genius Kurt Cobain. No one really knows what was really going through his mind that day, maybe its one of those things that can't really be explained. Whatever it was it left a river of tears flowing from fans all over the world. Today marks the day not of Kurts death which was on April 5, 1994, but rather the memorial and the flowing of tears and heartach after hearing of the tragedy. But on this day we should not look back on the pain, torture and confusion that this man must have been going through to go through with killing himself. We should actually look back on what beautiful music he has bestowed on us, music that can never die. That is what is so great about music, no matter how long after an artist is dead, you can still switch on a record, cd, tape, dvd, video, anything and get taken back to when that artist was still alive. You can travel back in time and relive that time and place where you first heard the great music. Music is a time capsule that can not be emptied or thrown away and forgot about. Kurt would only want everyone not to mourn on this day but look back and enjoy the music he thrown at us back in the early 90s at the beginning of the grunge boom. I must say out of all the music he did, one of the most powerful and probably the song that he most enjoyed doing was not his own. Rather an old gospel song that he covered and heard first from an old folk blues guitarist named Leadbelly. Where did you sleep last night has got to be Cobain's last goodbye to the world. He was actually supposed to do a couple more songs at the end of the legendary MTV Unplugged session but decided he could not best himself after this fine number. It was a perfect ending not only to a perfect album but also to a beautiful career. You can see it in his eyes at the end of the song after hes belting out the chorus at the top of his lungs sounding like a banshee that it was over, no more im out. Unplugged was recorded in November of 1993, Cobain would be found dead only months later. It was not only the last recordings Nirvana ever did but also one of the last shows. That is why it is so important. Cobain might have been a tortured soul, riddled with pain not only mentally but also physically, having throat problems at an early age. Drugs was a way out of the pain but also a way into the torture. But no matter what we always have the music, that does not die. RIP Kurt Cobain, you have joined that exclusive 27 club alongside Janis, Morrision, Brian Jones, Hendrex, Pigpen, etc. I hope your up there in that great jam session in the sky. It is not better to burn out than fade away.

Shane MacGowan Pours Another One

Tragic, sad, depressing, vulgar, disgusting, drunken bastard or just a creative genius with talent streaming out of his veins. Shane MacGowan may look like a train wreck that happen a hundred years ago but he sings from the heart with every bit of passion and fire. He has followed the destructive behavior of the fallen talent pool that has drowned such greats as Hank Williams, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and the list keeps going on and on. The weird thing about it is Shane can never die, he is the Keith Richards of Irish Rock. He constantly looks like he just crawled out of bed if his bed was 6 feet under and covered in dirt and his teeth looks like wooden splinters as if he never brushed since Kennedy was president. He has drug addiction after drug addiction and swims in alcohol daily. In this video he is seen at his best, what millions would love to see live, Shane as drunk as he could be with a glass in his hand singing one of his favorite songs taught to him by his mother, Kitty. The song reeks of tragedy and so does the look on Shane's face, especially at the end of the video when the bartender walks over and gives him a kiss on the cheek. As she pulls away you can see the pain of Shane MacGowan, alone with millions of fan. Shane's band The Pogues are innovators of Irish punk bands being loved, respected and idolized by such irish punk bands as Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly. I wonder what Shane would be doing on St. Paddys day? Probably just what he does every other day of the year, getting drunk off his arse.