Wikipedia
'' Journals'' is a collection of writings and drawings done by Kurt Cobain, lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana (band) Nirvana, from the late 1980s until his death by apparent suicide in 1994. It was published in hardcover by Riverhead Books in November 2002, and in paperback by Riverhead Books in November 2003. Its release polarized fans, some of whom felt it constituted an invasion of Cobain's privacy, and others of whom saw it as a unique opportunity to better understand the late musician. ''Journals'' opened at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list (non-fiction).
Letters - ''Journals'' contains a number of letters, either early drafts or unsent, that Cobain wrote to friends or peers. Included are friendly letters to Dale Crover of the Melvins and Eugene Kelley of the Vaselines, a tender letter to his wife, Courtney Love, a letter thanking ''The Advocate'' following his interview with the gay and lesbian magazine in early 1992, and even a letter to Simon Fair Timony, the then-9-year-old stepson of Half Japanese member Jad Fair, asking him to contribute artwork for what would become ''In Utero''. It also includes a letter from Cobain and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic firing then-drummer Dave Foster from the band, and angry letters from Cobain to past girlfriends, MTV, and ''Rolling Stone''.
Lists - Like many music fans, Cobain often made lists of his favorite bands and albums, several of which are included in ''Journals''. His lists were generally eclectic and included artists of many genres, from indie rockindie and alternative rock (the Vaselines, the Pixies, the Breeders, Sonic Youth, R.E.M., PJ Harvey) to protopunk and punk rock (The Stooges, the Velvet Underground, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Slits, Black Flag, Bad Brains, Flipper (band)Flipper) to hip-hop (Public Enemy, N.W.A.) to blues musicblues (Leadbelly). On his "Top 50" albums list, offerings from such obscure artists as The Shaggs, Tales of Terror, The Marine Girls, The Swans, Rites of Spring and The Froggs coexist with albums by The Beatles, David Bowie and Aerosmith. Incidentally, the 1973 Stooges record ''Raw Power'' is listed at #1 on the same list.
Nirvana-related writings - Contained in ''Journals'' is an assortment of directly Nirvana-related material, including embryonic lyric drafts, early album tracklists, and even a set of unused liner notes Cobain had apparently written for ''In Utero'' in 1993. The lyric sheets are especially revealing, showing that some songs, including the band's biggest hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit", underwent major revisions before being recorded for release, while others, such as "Come As You Are", were changed very little, at least from the drafts included. The tracklists are also of interest, revealing, for example, that Cobain had intended to release "girl" and "boy" sides of Nirvana's breakthrough album ''Nevermind'', with songs such as "In Bloom" and "Lithium (song)Lithium" on the girl side, and songs like "Sliver" and "Polly (song)Polly" on the boy side.
Drawings - ''Journals'' contains a number of Cobain's rough sketches and drawings, some of which are light and humorous, such as his drawing of "Eddie", the Iron Maiden mascot, his sketch of the band as choirchoirboys on a hypothetical Nirvana album cover, and his drawing of "Alice Cooper", in which Elvis Presley and Alice Cooper are combined into a single entity, but many of which are darker or more violent. Included in the latter are his drawings of a sniper shooting NaziNazis for a rooftop (with swastikaswastikas unintentionally drawn backwards), his drawing of a gun-toting American footballfootball player hanging from a noose, and a sketch of his own emaciated body (see: The "Forbidden Page"), as well as a comic strip called "Mr. Moustache", in which an unborn child kicks through its mother's stomach to kill its machismomacho father. ''Journals'' also contains a number of drawings of images which would later become a familiar part of Nirvana lore, such as Dante AlighieriDante's Vestibule of Hell (which appeared on a Nirvana T-shirt), a skinny man on a cross (which appeared in the "Heart-Shaped Box" music video), and male sea horsesea horses "giving birth" (which appeared on the cover of the "All Apologies"/ "Rape Me" single).
The "Forbidden Page" - According to an article written by Tim Appelo in the Seattle Weekly in 2002, journalists were banned from printing page 204 of ''Journals'' (hardcover) in articles or reviews, ostensibly because of its dark content. The page features a drawing of Cobain's face, torn from a comic book, shouting a refrain from the chorus of his most popular song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit": "With the lights out, it's less dangerous / Here we are now, entertain us!" Under the drawing is a sketch by Cobain of the rest of his body until his hips, its skeletal frame contrasting sharply with the furious-looking comic book image. Above the drawing-collage are six lines cut-and-pastecut-and-pasted from an Alicia Ostriker poem called "A Young Woman, A Tree". The six lines, which begin the poem, describe a girl who passes a blooming tree, and envies its beauty; it has been suggested that by juxtaposing these lines with his emaciated self-portrait, Cobain was making a comment on his own loss of creativity.
Trivia - Though the material in ''Journals'' is undated, it is arranged in an approximation of chronological order, starting with a letter Cobain wrote to Dale Crover in the late 1980s, and ending with a rant against "drunken redneck settlers" he wrote, ostensibly, during his final trip to Rome in 1994 (the notepaper is labelled "Hotel Excelsior - Roma"). The "Mr. Moustache" comic strip was first published in Michael Azerrad's 1993 Nirvana biography, ''Come As You Are''.
External links - seattleweekly.com - Kurt Cobain's Last No. 1 Hit An article about ''Journals'' written by Tim Apello in the Seattle Times in 2002.Category:2002 booksJournals (Cobain)
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