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www.titlovi.com
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Seattle, Washington, in the early 90s
the music capital of the world.
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# With the lights out
its less dangerous
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Home to grunge, teen spirit and
the kings of alternative rock, Nirvana.
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# I feel stupid and contagious
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# Here we are now
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# Entertain us
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# A mulatto
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The band that brought the sound
of the American underground
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to a mass audience.
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The moment they took the stage
it was like hysteria, like Beatlemania.
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People crying and screaming and...
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The hair at the back
of my neck went up.
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In Kurt Cobain, Nirvana
had an artist of rare power
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who gave a voice
to a generation.
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Every time he touched the guitar
it was beautiful.
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Every single time.
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He was amazing. He really had something
that I've never seen in anyone else.
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Nirvana's success had put
Seattle on the map.
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Now, even the band that had laid
the foundations of alternative rock
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descended on the city,
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R.E.M.
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Hi, this is Mike Milles of REM
and you're listening to KC...
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# That's me in the corner
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# That's me in the spotlight
losing my religion
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When REM and Nirvana
came together
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it would lead to the great
might-have-beens of rock history.
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I said to Kurt, "You wanna play with us?"
He was, "Man! I'd like nothing more."
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All I could think about was
what a freaking tour that would be
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to have us and them on the same stage,
on the same night.
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But the chances of the two biggest
rock bands on the planet
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sharing a stage was slim,
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as Kurt Cobain plunged into a spiral
of depression and drug-addiction
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that no one could save him from.
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I created a project that he had
to flight to Georgia to work with me on,
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in an attempt to pull him out of
headspace that he was in in Seattle,
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in his house all alone,
but it didn't work.
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Sadly.
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This is the story of the age
of alternative rock,
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when a handful of bands restored
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authenticity, meaning
and passion to the music.
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And the lasting legacy of the artist
who continues to cast a powerful shadow
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over the whole of rock.
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Kurt Cobain is the last great rock star,
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and I think that's one reason there still
remains so much fascination with him.
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An electrician arrived at Kurt Cobain's
luxurious home early in the morning.
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... we need to notify the family.
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Apparently it was a suicide
at the age of 27.
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In the 1980s,
Ronald Reagan's presidency
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served up an American dream
of growth and prosperity
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for some.
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It's morning again in America.
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Today more men and women
will go to work
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than ever before
in our country's history.
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Now you have
everything you wanted.
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Including you?
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Unless you voted for Reagan,
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you didn't have
a great time under Reagan.
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It's morning in America for people
who contributed to that campaign,
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who shared those ideals.
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It wasn't morning in America
for anyone else.
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It was like the sun
had just set.
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# It's the end of the world
as we know it
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# and I feel fine
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There was an immense frustration
in the country that was palpable
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and we certainly shared it
as political activists, as people who...
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felt like the very idea of America
was being pulled out from under us.
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# The other night I dreamt of knives,
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# continental drift divide.
Mountains sit in a line
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# Leonard Bernstein...
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Reaganomics delivered shock
treatment to the American economy,
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sweeping aside the idealism
values of the 1960s.
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Those unable or unwilling to conform
were in for a rough ride.
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We got no prospects,
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you know, what are you gonna do,
work at McDonalds? Deliver papers?
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You feel like not only
are you in a minority
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but you feel like you're in
a minority nobody gives a shit about.
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# Well a person can work up
a mean mean thirst
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# After a hard day
of nothin' much at all
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In the depressed logging town
of Aberdeen in Washington St.,
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Kurt Cobain was part
of that minority.
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A high-school dropout
from a broken home,
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Kurt entered a downsize world
of dead end jobs in 1985.
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He ended up getting a job
back at the high school
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that he had dropped out of.
He was the janitor.
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So you can imagine the shame
that he must have felt of
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coming in the halls and seeing kids that
were his classmates just months before,
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and they're going off to college
and what he's doing is mopping the floor.
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Kurt's experience was not unique.
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He was part of "Generation X",
children who felt alienated
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and excluded from
conventional society,
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who would never enjoy the prospects
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their baby-boomer parents
had taken for granted.
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Kurt would find a soulmate in Aberdeen,
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who shared a similar
background and outlook,
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Krist Novoselic.
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A lot of it had to do with our
personal situations, family things and
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maybe ideals and promises broken.
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It boiled down to alienation
and recognising
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we'd look at the mainstream culture
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and see that it didn't
have a lot to offer us.
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The real lives and emotions
of America's alienated youth
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weren't reflected
in the studio polished rock
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that filled mainstream radio
and MTV.
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# But what I need to make me tight are
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# Girls, Girls, Girls
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# Long legs and burgundy lips
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I was not getting what I needed
from Ted Nugent.
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I was a young guy going
to a school I hated,
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like a lot of young men,
you hate the school, the teachers,
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you want to burn the place
to the ground,
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and you want something or
someone to represent that for you.
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Van Halen sang about girls...
Fine!
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But there wasn't the "white riot,
I wanna riot" thing happening.
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And there was no sense
of dislocation in that music,
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where I... I'm out.
I hate all of y'all.
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Henry Rollins' search for an alternative
would lead him to join a band
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whose fearsome reputation
would thrill and inspire
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Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic,
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Black Flag.
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I got a six-pack,
and nothing to do.
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I actually went to see Black Flag play
in Walla Walla, Washington, in 1984.
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And they had this idea that
they were gonna tour the hinterlands
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and bring the message to the people.
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And it was amazing.
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# Thirty-five dollars
and a six pack to my name
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# Six-pack!
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# Spent the rest on beer
so who's to blame
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# Six-pack!
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Black Flag played an adrenaline charged
brand of punk known as 'hard core',
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a sound that captured the frustration
and rage experienced by many
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growing up in Reagan's America.
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# I got a six pack in me alright!
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It was this post-punk,
letting out that angst,
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and just that very honest
fury of youth
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and all that confusion and pain
into this very short bursts of music.
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# Now I got a six so I'll never run out
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# Six pack!
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Some people are gonna listen to
Black Flag and they're gonna love it,
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and some people...
it's gonna scare them.
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Black Flag earned the reputation
of staging shows
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which frequently descended
into violence.
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# Six pack!
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What do they know
about partying?
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Or anything else?
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He runs this place.
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You'd set up to play in some town
and then here comes the mayor,
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and a news team, and a reverend.
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And here comes the Christians
protesting and lighting candles,
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going like, "Oh my God! No!
Help our children!"
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# I don't care what's inside
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# We're not gonna kill you!
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We're like four starving
vegetarians in a van,
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so they're ready for
this fire-breathing beast,
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and we're like, "Hi, we're Black Flag.
We hate everyone"
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It's all right ma'm.
They've gone.
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# Gimme, gimme, gimme
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# I need some more
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Finding somewhere to play
was a challenge for the bands
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on the growing alternative scene.
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Unable to fill cavernous
arenas and ballrooms,
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they had to create their
own improvised circuit.
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What Black Flag had to do
was basically
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blaze their own trail,
and they cobbled together
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this kind of underground
railroad of indie rock.
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All across America, a whole generation
of alternative rock bands
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from Black Flag to R.E.M
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came of age in venues as eclectic
as the bands themselves.
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There was a small circuit of
clubs, pizza parlors and gay bars
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and tiny places around the country
that would open their doors
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and have really shitty sound systems
and let these bands play.
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There were times when Black Flag would
play on a Friday and R.E.M. on a Saturday
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and the next week we'd play the Friday
and they'd play the Saturday.
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We were chasing each other for years.
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And pretty soon there was a circuit.
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And when there's a circuit
there's a scene.
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And when there's a scene
there's a community.
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And when there's a community then
you've got something really interesting.
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That community united
a wide variety of bands
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who shared the same independent spirit
and circumstances,
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and a fierce determination
to make it on their own terms.
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Touring bands in a van get by.
And what do you get in return?
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300 hundred sweaty,
adoring fans a night,
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and your freedom,
your musical freedom.
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And maybe you missed some meals
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or the cops came and
shut your show down,
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but man, you weren't flipping burgers,
and you weren't filling slurpies.
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And there was something
to be said for that.
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Life on the road was an essential rite of
passage for all alternative rock bands.
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But for R.E.M,
a band that had formed in 1980,
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in the tiny university
town of Athens, Georgia,
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it would also prove to be a springboard
to far greater success.
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And it began with a song inspired
by a cold war radio station,
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Radio Free Europe
calls on Presov.
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# Calling all in transit,
calling all in transit
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# Calling all in transit,
calling all in transit
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# Radio free Europe, radio...
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00:12:14,953 --> 00:12:19,003
'Radio Free Europe' instantly laid out
the R.E.M. blueprint.
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Peter Buck chiming guitar chords,
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Mike Mills and Bill Berry's
energetic rhythm section,
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but it would be Michael Stipe's
enigmatic vocals and performances
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that became the band's
early trademark.
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# That this isn't country at all
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I was just an incredibly shy person
and not terribly confident.
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I had terrible acne and used my hair
to cover my face a lot.
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I mumbled when I talked
and mumbled when I sang.
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So all that combined into what I guess
came across as some modicum of charisma.
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00:12:54,848 --> 00:12:57,047
And people were very
taken by it.
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# Calling all in transit,
calling all in transit
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# Calling all in transit,
calling all in transit
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00:13:02,368 --> 00:13:07,123
# Radio free Europe, radio...
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00:13:07,668 --> 00:13:12,357
Michael Stipe's mystique helped make
'Radio Free Europe' a critical hit,
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as the new breed of bands began
to receive airplay
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on another alternative network,
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'Call It Radio'.
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# Read about your band
in some local page
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# Didn't mention your name,
didn't mention your name
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It was that separate world of what
is now called alternative rock,
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which at the time was only
called college rock
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because the only place you heard it
on the radio was on college stations,
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it's the classic Replacements' song
'Left of the Dial'.
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# ...in a long, long while
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# I'll try to find you
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# Left of the dial
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# Left of the dial
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00:14:02,328 --> 00:14:06,128
It's a song about where
you tuned manually,
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you turned the little knob
to the left of the dial,
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to the 88.9s and the 90.1s,
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all the stuff that was below
the commercial band.
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You had to look for it,
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and people who really wanted
something more out of music,
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who wanted more out of life,
something more out of their guitars,
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that's where you went.
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00:14:32,758 --> 00:14:35,368
As more and more people
turned to the left of the dial
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they discovered that even fast
and furious alternative rock bands,
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such as Hüsker Dü were, like R.E.M.,
embracing melody and harmony.
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# Going out each day to score
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# She was no whore but for me
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00:14:50,619 --> 00:14:53,048
# Celebrating every day
240
00:14:53,116 --> 00:14:55,549
# The way she thought it should be
241
00:14:55,675 --> 00:14:58,243
# And I don't know what to do
242
00:15:00,431 --> 00:15:03,385
When Hüsker Dü started
introducing melody
243
00:15:03,795 --> 00:15:06,494
that introduced a whole
new audience of people.
244
00:15:06,568 --> 00:15:09,386
It wasn't kind of the thuggish,
thick-necked guys
245
00:15:09,474 --> 00:15:12,185
who just wanted to go to a show
and bash into each other.
246
00:15:12,249 --> 00:15:17,093
You started to get people
with glasses and girls.
247
00:15:17,523 --> 00:15:19,528
# For what she believed
248
00:15:19,632 --> 00:15:22,215
# And I don't know what to do
249
00:15:22,298 --> 00:15:24,221
# Now that pink has turned to blue
250
00:15:26,348 --> 00:15:30,086
Major labels homed in on Hüsker Dü
and bands like The Replacements,
251
00:15:30,364 --> 00:15:33,487
but R.E.M. were the anointed ones
of college radio,
252
00:15:33,781 --> 00:15:36,975
and in 1987 they began work
on the album
253
00:15:37,050 --> 00:15:39,088
that would launch them
into the mainstream,
254
00:15:39,451 --> 00:15:40,954
'Document'.
255
00:15:43,008 --> 00:15:44,816
We never intended to have
a commercial sound
256
00:15:44,859 --> 00:15:48,604
because to us that was anathema.
Commercial sound equals death.
257
00:15:48,843 --> 00:15:50,804
But we decided to make some records
258
00:15:50,883 --> 00:15:52,647
that were more like what
we sounded like live.
259
00:15:52,941 --> 00:15:55,649
And that's a very heavy guitar
dominated sound.
260
00:15:56,548 --> 00:15:58,462
The band recruited Scot Litt,
261
00:15:58,535 --> 00:16:02,580
the producer who had previously worked
with pop group Katrina and the Waves,
262
00:16:02,614 --> 00:16:04,869
to help them craft a more
dynamic sound
263
00:16:04,918 --> 00:16:07,431
that would yield
their first top ten hit.
264
00:16:10,649 --> 00:16:16,051
# This one goes out
to the one I love
265
00:16:18,099 --> 00:16:24,696
# This one goes out
to the one I've left behind
266
00:16:26,325 --> 00:16:30,681
# A simple prop to occupy my time
267
00:16:30,716 --> 00:16:34,911
'The One I Love' was a dark love song
based around the arpegio guitar sound
268
00:16:34,970 --> 00:16:39,393
Peter Buck created by plucking
rather than strumming the stings.
269
00:16:40,059 --> 00:16:42,661
Peter Buck has the best right hand
in the business.
270
00:16:42,888 --> 00:16:46,564
It is the essence of the R.E.M. sound,
certainly musically speaking,
271
00:16:46,637 --> 00:16:52,009
because he decided
to *** the thrashing,
272
00:16:52,166 --> 00:16:54,615
the full chord whatever thing
that everybody else was doing,
273
00:16:54,693 --> 00:16:55,870
'cause that's the easy part.
274
00:16:55,899 --> 00:16:58,478
The hard thing is working
with your right hand.
275
00:17:07,594 --> 00:17:11,050
Michael Stipe delivered his most
clear and direct vocal yet,
276
00:17:11,164 --> 00:17:12,791
even though the lyrics offered up
277
00:17:12,846 --> 00:17:16,630
a dark and tangled tale
of manipulation and deceit.
278
00:17:17,448 --> 00:17:19,639
# Fire!
279
00:17:21,717 --> 00:17:23,914
'The one I love' is a song that
I didn't want to put on the record.
280
00:17:23,943 --> 00:17:26,354
I thought it was too mean,
and too brutal and...
281
00:17:26,393 --> 00:17:28,000
It was just a mean song.
282
00:17:29,206 --> 00:17:32,270
As it turned out, I think
in recording, Scott and the band
283
00:17:32,329 --> 00:17:34,289
recognised that
this might actually be
284
00:17:34,388 --> 00:17:36,388
a song that could
get played on the radio.
285
00:17:36,441 --> 00:17:38,040
So we turned the voice up a little.
286
00:17:41,239 --> 00:17:44,378
It's a great song,
but the thing is, it's a sneaky one.
287
00:17:44,413 --> 00:17:46,788
It's a dagger in the back.
It's not a love song, obviously,
288
00:17:46,847 --> 00:17:48,940
for anyone who really
takes time to listen to it.
289
00:17:50,180 --> 00:17:53,335
The song was punctuated
by dramatic cries of anguish.
290
00:17:53,370 --> 00:17:55,144
# Fire!
291
00:17:56,676 --> 00:17:59,886
Producer Scott Litt
emphasized the drama of the vocal
292
00:17:59,925 --> 00:18:02,891
by adding a harmony from
drummer Bill Berry.
293
00:18:07,858 --> 00:18:11,083
See? That kind of thing.
That's Bill doubled there.
294
00:18:11,310 --> 00:18:13,524
Two of his voices
on one track.
295
00:18:14,259 --> 00:18:16,391
That's how we would
thicken things up.
296
00:18:28,319 --> 00:18:29,954
And then the great ending.
297
00:18:41,258 --> 00:18:43,858
R.E.M.'s success showed
that alternative rock
298
00:18:43,908 --> 00:18:45,506
was becoming a big business.
299
00:18:45,781 --> 00:18:47,098
And it would change the lives
300
00:18:47,173 --> 00:18:50,308
of the bands that had eked out
a humble living on the road
301
00:18:50,357 --> 00:18:52,044
just a few years before.
302
00:18:52,097 --> 00:18:56,707
I remember sitting with Michael Stipe
in his home in Athens, Georgia,
303
00:18:56,751 --> 00:18:59,476
in his kitchen. He puts the phone down.
304
00:18:59,503 --> 00:19:02,858
And he said, "What does
a gold record mean?"
305
00:19:03,041 --> 00:19:06,932
And we had to call the office back
and go, "What does that mean?"
306
00:19:07,221 --> 00:19:09,183
He goes, "It's half a million!"
307
00:19:10,475 --> 00:19:14,102
"You sold half a million records?"
And I was there with Stipe
308
00:19:14,742 --> 00:19:16,339
when that came over the wire.
309
00:19:16,392 --> 00:19:19,637
And it was so cool that
neither of us knew.
310
00:19:19,711 --> 00:19:23,613
And that was probably
the last time he didn't know, forever.
311
00:19:26,245 --> 00:19:27,223
In Aberdeen,
312
00:19:27,296 --> 00:19:31,485
gold records were distant dreams
for Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic,
313
00:19:33,221 --> 00:19:36,464
but by 1988 they had
the makings of a band,
314
00:19:36,521 --> 00:19:39,223
with Kurt on guitar and vocals,
315
00:19:39,224 --> 00:19:42,559
Krist on base and
Chad Channing on drums.
316
00:19:42,827 --> 00:19:46,556
Here we have your typical
American hard rock band
317
00:19:46,786 --> 00:19:50,004
sitting up for a day's practice.
318
00:19:57,925 --> 00:20:00,045
This goes into your guitar.
319
00:20:00,298 --> 00:20:02,567
I found in Cobain's journals
at one point
320
00:20:02,606 --> 00:20:05,592
a list of names he was considering,
and they included things like
321
00:20:05,626 --> 00:20:12,584
Poo Poo Box, Spina Bifida,
Whisker Biscuit and a few others.
322
00:20:12,638 --> 00:20:16,644
You just have to go back and say,
if this band had been named Poo Poo Box,
323
00:20:16,722 --> 00:20:19,105
can you imagine them
overtaking the world
324
00:20:19,168 --> 00:20:21,309
and selling 10 million
copies of their record?
325
00:20:21,620 --> 00:20:24,554
Kurt finally settled on Nirvana.
326
00:20:24,819 --> 00:20:27,152
But for an aspiring band
in Washington State
327
00:20:27,210 --> 00:20:30,755
there was only one place to go,
Seattle.
328
00:20:31,254 --> 00:20:34,327
The band drove up in a truck
that someone had borrowed
329
00:20:34,392 --> 00:20:36,382
and I remember Novoselic telling me
330
00:20:36,446 --> 00:20:38,721
there was actually a functioning
woodstove in the back.
331
00:20:38,779 --> 00:20:40,304
It's like the 'Beverly Hillbillies',
332
00:20:40,348 --> 00:20:43,667
essentially it's what they
looked like coming into Seattle.
333
00:20:53,977 --> 00:20:55,922
Seattle's vibrant music scene
334
00:20:55,971 --> 00:20:59,226
had spawned bands like Soundgarden
and Alice in Chains
335
00:20:59,299 --> 00:21:02,878
with a dark, intense sound
inspired by 70s heavy metal,
336
00:21:02,942 --> 00:21:07,434
and with lyrics full of alienation
and self-loathing... grunge.
337
00:21:07,528 --> 00:21:10,752
And it had been unleashed
on the wider world by the band Mudhoney
338
00:21:10,810 --> 00:21:13,693
with the song 'Touch me, I'm sick'.
339
00:21:15,777 --> 00:21:20,805
# I'm a creep, yeah, I'm a jerk
340
00:21:21,668 --> 00:21:24,060
# Come on
341
00:21:24,478 --> 00:21:27,174
# Touch me, I'm sick
342
00:21:27,221 --> 00:21:32,927
For the most part I just
stood back and let them go at it.
343
00:21:33,027 --> 00:21:34,820
I enjoyed what they were doing.
344
00:21:35,129 --> 00:21:37,530
I thought, "This is really noisy.
345
00:21:37,578 --> 00:21:39,848
"Are you sure you want it
to be this noisy, guys?
346
00:21:39,908 --> 00:21:43,877
"You really want the guitars
to sound this dirty? Mmm, Ok."
347
00:21:43,909 --> 00:21:46,593
# ...girl - everything I got
348
00:21:46,665 --> 00:21:55,024
'Grunge' means this kind of music
that's dripping with bits of garage rock,
349
00:21:55,049 --> 00:22:02,440
and punk and metal and
it's just like hard, outrageous and
350
00:22:02,663 --> 00:22:08,808
at the same time, just kind of like
living underneath a rock, in a way.
351
00:22:09,792 --> 00:22:11,133
# If you don't come
352
00:22:11,157 --> 00:22:13,530
# You'll die alone
353
00:22:13,555 --> 00:22:17,566
Nirvana channeled the grunge sound
on their debut album, 'Bleach',
354
00:22:17,655 --> 00:22:22,614
recorded for just 600$ on indie label
'Sub Pop', by Jack Endino.
355
00:22:22,716 --> 00:22:26,916
But included one song the hinted
at Nirvana's crossover potential,
356
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:29,278
despite Kurt's reservations.
357
00:22:30,465 --> 00:22:32,715
When it came the time to record
'About a girl',
358
00:22:32,763 --> 00:22:35,146
which is the pop song in the record,
359
00:22:35,191 --> 00:22:38,071
Kurt felt like he had
to sort of make an excuse for it.
360
00:22:38,351 --> 00:22:40,046
He was a little uneasy about it.
361
00:22:40,163 --> 00:22:42,845
He said, "Bear with me here, Jack.
362
00:22:42,846 --> 00:22:46,473
"I've got this song,
it's kind of a pop song.
363
00:22:46,517 --> 00:22:48,762
"I hope the Sub Pop guys like it
364
00:22:48,785 --> 00:22:51,483
"and that they don't think
it's too commercial or something."
365
00:22:51,509 --> 00:22:54,236
# I'm standing in your line
366
00:22:54,281 --> 00:22:57,939
# I do, Hope you have the time
367
00:22:57,978 --> 00:23:01,533
# I do, Pick a number too
368
00:23:01,557 --> 00:23:05,395
# I do, Keep a date with you
369
00:23:06,159 --> 00:23:08,930
# I'll take advantage while
370
00:23:09,238 --> 00:23:12,587
# You hang me out to dry
371
00:23:12,669 --> 00:23:17,758
# But I can't see you every night free
372
00:23:17,984 --> 00:23:19,910
Kurt Cobain's concerns about the song
373
00:23:20,012 --> 00:23:22,465
went to the heart
of the alternative rock dilemma,
374
00:23:22,694 --> 00:23:24,355
the more popular it became
375
00:23:24,404 --> 00:23:27,693
the more it risked loosing
its independence and integrity.
376
00:23:28,734 --> 00:23:31,740
R.E.M. though, showed that
there might be a way forward.
377
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:33,799
They'd grown on their own terms
378
00:23:33,899 --> 00:23:36,367
and Michael Stipe relished
the bigger stage,
379
00:23:36,583 --> 00:23:39,997
but it came with a burden
of responsibility.
380
00:23:46,342 --> 00:23:48,539
Yeah, I had become the voice
of a generation,
381
00:23:48,603 --> 00:23:50,706
of political activism through
the Reagan years,
382
00:23:50,721 --> 00:23:54,036
and I was suddenly expected
to have all the answers,
383
00:23:54,084 --> 00:23:59,679
and to have encyclopedic, academic
knowledge on say, the greenhouse effect.
384
00:24:00,062 --> 00:24:04,289
And I didn't realise what I had done,
what I was doing was speaking out
385
00:24:04,309 --> 00:24:06,177
about things I was concerned
about as a person.
386
00:24:06,253 --> 00:24:07,915
# I believe in watching you
387
00:24:07,982 --> 00:24:10,370
# I believe in what you do
388
00:24:10,404 --> 00:24:12,854
# I believe in watching you
389
00:24:13,078 --> 00:24:15,870
# I believe in what you do
390
00:24:15,921 --> 00:24:18,771
# I believe in watching you
391
00:24:23,238 --> 00:24:29,326
# I could turn you inside-out
392
00:24:30,573 --> 00:24:36,270
R.E.M.'s 1989 'Green' Tour
had been exhilarating but exhausting.
393
00:24:36,706 --> 00:24:38,325
After a decade on the road,
394
00:24:38,410 --> 00:24:41,763
they'd earned the creative
freedom to do whatever they wanted.
395
00:24:43,081 --> 00:24:46,434
Even if that meant laying down
their guitars.
396
00:24:47,221 --> 00:24:53,391
We had been on tour from April 5th
of 1980, the first show that we ever did,
397
00:24:53,494 --> 00:24:56,372
until the end of 1989.
We had not stopped touring
398
00:24:56,431 --> 00:25:00,383
or recording and at the end
of the Green World Tour,
399
00:25:01,469 --> 00:25:03,677
I think Bill Berry is the one
who said, I can't do this,
400
00:25:03,781 --> 00:25:07,158
we need to take a break,
and so we took a long break.
401
00:25:07,203 --> 00:25:11,816
Peter was, I think, afraid
of becoming a rock icon
402
00:25:11,865 --> 00:25:14,721
so he put down the electric guitar,
he was sick of it,
403
00:25:15,041 --> 00:25:17,124
and picked up a mandolin.
404
00:25:23,123 --> 00:25:26,838
R.E.M.'s new sound would be
perfectly crystallised in a song
405
00:25:26,882 --> 00:25:29,617
that was to become
their defining chart hit.
406
00:25:30,976 --> 00:25:35,558
# Oh, life is bigger
407
00:25:36,590 --> 00:25:38,961
# It's bigger than you
408
00:25:38,981 --> 00:25:41,569
# And you are not me
409
00:25:42,222 --> 00:25:44,280
# The lengths that I will go to
410
00:25:44,380 --> 00:25:48,326
The success of 'Losing my religion'
owed much to a striking video
411
00:25:48,375 --> 00:25:51,291
that put Michael Stipe
firmly in the spotlight.
412
00:25:52,305 --> 00:25:56,685
# Oh no, I've said too much
413
00:25:57,505 --> 00:26:00,475
# I haven't said enough
414
00:26:01,153 --> 00:26:04,228
# I thought that I heard you laughing
415
00:26:04,741 --> 00:26:07,132
Peter Buck plucked
the strings of the mandolin
416
00:26:07,215 --> 00:26:09,196
in the R.E.M. arpegio style,
417
00:26:09,462 --> 00:26:13,295
but he couldn't resist adding
a subtle chime of electric guitar.
418
00:26:16,249 --> 00:26:18,916
That's a guitar called a 'Robin',
Peter used to call it his 'Robin'.
419
00:26:19,002 --> 00:26:23,630
It's an electric guitar but
it's in the octave of the mandolin.
420
00:26:28,161 --> 00:26:30,113
There's the mandolin.
421
00:26:32,296 --> 00:26:35,784
And this doubling guitar
doesn't need to strum along really,
422
00:26:35,961 --> 00:26:41,822
so we just...
just having downbeats arpegiated.
423
00:26:45,397 --> 00:26:49,419
Scott Litt enhanced the lushness
of the sound with a string section.
424
00:26:49,519 --> 00:26:51,557
Violins, violas...
425
00:26:59,998 --> 00:27:02,511
Again the movement in the track.
426
00:27:02,798 --> 00:27:08,833
# I think I thought I saw you try
427
00:27:11,136 --> 00:27:13,905
# That was just a dream
428
00:27:14,866 --> 00:27:18,164
# Try, cry, why try?
429
00:27:18,242 --> 00:27:21,384
The video cemented R.E.M.
as MTV favourites,
430
00:27:21,482 --> 00:27:25,672
even though the band hadn't been
convinced that the song would be a hit.
431
00:27:29,112 --> 00:27:30,647
Why would anyone be surprised?
432
00:27:30,711 --> 00:27:34,069
Its a 5'30'' song with a mandolin
as the lead instrument.
433
00:27:34,109 --> 00:27:36,231
There's no chorus.
Why wouldn't that be a hit?
434
00:27:36,463 --> 00:27:38,515
That should be a hit everywhere.
435
00:27:46,251 --> 00:27:48,702
There's R.E.M. before and after
'Loosing my religion',
436
00:27:48,796 --> 00:27:52,046
it was a huge, huge
international hit.
437
00:27:52,547 --> 00:27:57,800
And I went from being a fairly
well known but fringe pop star
438
00:27:57,888 --> 00:28:00,814
to being a full blown celebrity.
439
00:28:01,013 --> 00:28:03,007
We'd like to especially
thank 'College Radio'
440
00:28:03,066 --> 00:28:06,115
for supporting us all these years
and putting us here tonight.
441
00:28:06,213 --> 00:28:07,815
And we'd like to thank the fans
442
00:28:07,972 --> 00:28:11,004
from twelve years back
all the way to yesterday.
443
00:28:11,323 --> 00:28:13,179
Everybody, thank you so much.
444
00:28:14,435 --> 00:28:17,004
That took some getting used to.
445
00:28:17,098 --> 00:28:18,877
But I actually enjoyed it.
446
00:28:19,575 --> 00:28:22,976
'That's me in the spotlight' pretty much
shined the spotlight right on me.
447
00:28:23,692 --> 00:28:28,220
R.E.M.'s success showed Kurt Cobain
it was possible to court a big audience
448
00:28:28,308 --> 00:28:31,873
without sacrificing passion
and authenticity.
449
00:28:33,025 --> 00:28:38,985
I've always thought about R.E.M
as a commercial band in the first place.
450
00:28:39,039 --> 00:28:41,661
They just happen to be a good,
passionate commercial band.
451
00:28:42,836 --> 00:28:46,579
And there've always been
good, passionate bands in rock 'n roll
452
00:28:46,608 --> 00:28:47,769
throughout the history.
453
00:28:47,809 --> 00:28:51,941
It's just up to fans and people
involved in the music industry
454
00:28:51,996 --> 00:28:56,188
to make sure that it doesn't get
as stale and as bad
455
00:28:56,230 --> 00:28:58,666
as it has within the last 10 years.
456
00:28:59,734 --> 00:29:01,677
Especially in the Reagan era.
457
00:29:03,603 --> 00:29:05,844
Kurt Cobain was searching for a sound
458
00:29:05,897 --> 00:29:08,190
that could be both
commercial and passionate,
459
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,230
and in the spring of 1991, with
new drummer Dave Grohl in the band,
460
00:29:12,303 --> 00:29:14,688
Nirvana hit on a musical dynamic
461
00:29:14,723 --> 00:29:18,572
that would send a buzz of excitement
through their rehearsals.
462
00:29:19,386 --> 00:29:23,302
What we would do is we would go in
to this rehearsal space to write songs,
463
00:29:23,365 --> 00:29:27,284
and the first half an hour of every
practice we would just freeformed jam,
464
00:29:27,332 --> 00:29:28,588
just go for it.
465
00:29:28,801 --> 00:29:33,651
Sometimes it was total noise,
and sometimes there was a song there.
466
00:29:33,700 --> 00:29:37,303
But so what we would do is
we would see how quiet we could get
467
00:29:37,318 --> 00:29:39,118
and to see how loud we could go.
468
00:29:40,882 --> 00:29:44,765
There's that whole dynamic
of loud-quiet, loud-quiet.
469
00:29:44,865 --> 00:29:50,275
Maybe that's what you get when you
combine heavy riff rock with pop music,
470
00:29:50,304 --> 00:29:53,010
and then you have a song that
actually has a big hook chorus
471
00:29:53,071 --> 00:30:00,361
and you have a heavy loud rock band
that just really pushes it forward.
472
00:30:00,661 --> 00:30:02,045
# Taken time is
473
00:30:02,100 --> 00:30:03,801
# All but true
474
00:30:03,859 --> 00:30:05,692
# You're the reason
475
00:30:05,742 --> 00:30:07,413
# I feel pain
476
00:30:07,461 --> 00:30:09,305
# Feels so good to
477
00:30:09,369 --> 00:30:11,404
# Feel again
478
00:30:18,298 --> 00:30:21,362
It was a sound that Kurt Cobain
had always dreamed of,
479
00:30:21,401 --> 00:30:24,979
noise and melody, hard guitars
and harmonies,
480
00:30:25,052 --> 00:30:30,265
and it first discovered it in the music
of alternative rock's unsung heroes.
481
00:30:31,457 --> 00:30:34,842
Kurt had always talked about
what would happen if you
482
00:30:34,942 --> 00:30:38,695
started a band that melted
Black Sabbath and The Beatles.
483
00:30:39,033 --> 00:30:43,453
So, all along he was just thinking
about aggression and tunefulness.
484
00:30:43,635 --> 00:30:46,203
And that was The Pixies.
485
00:30:47,099 --> 00:30:48,972
# Gouge away
486
00:30:50,049 --> 00:30:52,711
# You can gouge away
487
00:30:52,817 --> 00:30:54,377
# Stay all day
488
00:30:54,487 --> 00:30:59,912
The Pixies had formed in Boston in
1985 and begun crafting a minimal sound
489
00:30:59,952 --> 00:31:03,996
based around the simple dynamic
of quiet-loud.
490
00:31:06,462 --> 00:31:08,277
Quiet in the verse,
loud in the chorus.
491
00:31:08,339 --> 00:31:12,422
Or the other way around.
'Gouge Away' the chorus is....
492
00:31:12,781 --> 00:31:14,438
# Gouge away
493
00:31:15,334 --> 00:31:17,717
# You can gouge away
494
00:31:17,952 --> 00:31:19,658
# Stay all day
495
00:31:20,017 --> 00:31:22,355
# If you want to
496
00:31:24,458 --> 00:31:26,554
And then...
the verse is...
497
00:31:27,660 --> 00:31:29,070
# ... aggravation
498
00:31:29,123 --> 00:31:31,226
# Some sacred questions
499
00:31:31,261 --> 00:31:32,892
# You stroke my locks
500
00:31:35,021 --> 00:31:36,891
The verse is up and then...
501
00:31:37,386 --> 00:31:39,127
# Gouge away
502
00:31:40,271 --> 00:31:42,964
# You can gouge away
503
00:31:43,447 --> 00:31:47,890
What The Pixies did
was take soft and loud
504
00:31:47,954 --> 00:31:50,571
and do all sort of interesting
things in that,
505
00:31:50,742 --> 00:31:55,543
so their guitars kind of veer off.
They're not just going in a straight line.
506
00:32:07,187 --> 00:32:08,806
The Pixies unique sound
507
00:32:08,865 --> 00:32:12,443
owed much the band's
raw, untrained musical imagination,
508
00:32:12,741 --> 00:32:18,104
and bassist Kim Deal's desire
to avoid the usual rock clichés.
509
00:32:18,733 --> 00:32:22,993
A lot of it is our limitations,
like when the end of the song's coming,
510
00:32:23,071 --> 00:32:25,101
I don't know we've ever gone.
511
00:32:28,946 --> 00:32:31,075
I don't think that...
Honestly...
512
00:32:31,168 --> 00:32:33,818
This is one of five maybe- on the hand,
513
00:32:33,819 --> 00:32:37,165
that I have done this
in my life, right there.
514
00:32:38,279 --> 00:32:39,668
I think I did pretty good.
515
00:32:39,995 --> 00:32:41,506
It felt good.
516
00:32:42,433 --> 00:32:44,251
The Pixies minimal approach
517
00:32:44,316 --> 00:32:47,691
was summed up on a classic
song of surreal confusion.
518
00:32:47,749 --> 00:32:50,476
# With your feet in the air...
519
00:32:50,637 --> 00:32:52,678
'Where is my mind'
520
00:32:54,929 --> 00:32:59,516
# Try this trick and spin it, yeah
521
00:33:00,679 --> 00:33:02,224
# Your head will collapse
522
00:33:02,274 --> 00:33:04,165
# But there's nothing in it
523
00:33:04,204 --> 00:33:05,861
# And you'll ask yourself
524
00:33:06,180 --> 00:33:08,305
# Where is my mind
525
00:33:09,242 --> 00:33:11,125
# Where is my mind
526
00:33:11,182 --> 00:33:14,854
# Where is my mind
527
00:33:14,948 --> 00:33:18,142
Kim Deal helped propel the song
with a simple base line
528
00:33:18,202 --> 00:33:20,962
resisting the urge to overelaborate.
529
00:33:31,191 --> 00:33:34,904
But you can't believe how
some people cannot do that,
530
00:33:34,943 --> 00:33:36,268
and will not do that.
531
00:33:36,331 --> 00:33:38,528
Especially real base players.
532
00:33:39,439 --> 00:33:40,757
I'm looking at you.
533
00:33:40,958 --> 00:33:44,860
What they'll do
is sort of go...
534
00:33:45,299 --> 00:33:47,369
Because there's this little
drum thing that happens,
535
00:33:47,443 --> 00:33:48,893
or maybe it's a guitar thing.
536
00:33:57,712 --> 00:34:00,722
And they want to help push
every little moment,
537
00:34:00,756 --> 00:34:02,343
they want to be involved.
538
00:34:04,952 --> 00:34:07,874
They won't just
pedal through something.
539
00:34:09,051 --> 00:34:13,356
The Pixies provided the final ingredient
Kurt Cobain had been looking for.
540
00:34:13,700 --> 00:34:17,806
Nirvana had arrived at a sound
that blended the fury of grunge
541
00:34:17,875 --> 00:34:22,547
with a new feel for melody
and the mass commercial appeal of R.E.M.
542
00:34:22,722 --> 00:34:24,625
And in April, 1991,
543
00:34:24,695 --> 00:34:27,659
Nirvana performed a raw
version of a new song
544
00:34:27,694 --> 00:34:29,989
that would draw
all those elements together
545
00:34:30,062 --> 00:34:33,537
to become alternative rock's
defining anthem.
546
00:34:36,260 --> 00:34:38,924
This song is called
'Smells like teen spirit'.
547
00:34:49,781 --> 00:34:52,791
The band built up the drama
and tension in the song
548
00:34:52,845 --> 00:34:56,140
by using the Pixies'
quiet-loud trademark.
549
00:34:58,081 --> 00:35:01,217
What happened was that
we played that riff over and over again,
550
00:35:01,277 --> 00:35:06,270
and then Dave or I would stop.
551
00:35:10,333 --> 00:35:13,272
"Just slow this down.
Like the moment you slow this down
552
00:35:13,316 --> 00:35:19,175
you have a kind of a dynamic."
And once we did that, it made sense.
553
00:35:19,313 --> 00:35:21,280
# Come out and play
554
00:35:21,368 --> 00:35:23,125
# Make up the rules
555
00:35:23,126 --> 00:35:25,007
# I know I hope
556
00:35:25,007 --> 00:35:26,510
# To die the truth
557
00:35:26,610 --> 00:35:29,045
'Smells like teen spirit' I really
remember thinking,
558
00:35:29,245 --> 00:35:34,165
that is such a Pixies rip.
It is, the baseline,
559
00:35:34,179 --> 00:35:40,466
and the chord-key single note
guitar thing over the drums.
560
00:35:41,995 --> 00:35:47,639
I mean it was almost thrown away
at one point just because
561
00:35:48,332 --> 00:35:50,281
just seemed too much
like the Pixies.
562
00:35:50,354 --> 00:35:52,273
# A dirty word
563
00:35:52,344 --> 00:35:56,442
With 'Smells like teen spirit'
Nirvana had the basis for a hit.
564
00:35:56,574 --> 00:36:00,179
But they needed a producer who
could harness their live energy
565
00:36:00,222 --> 00:36:03,452
and shape it into a more
radio-friendly sound.
566
00:36:04,373 --> 00:36:07,473
Actually, truth be told,
567
00:36:07,492 --> 00:36:11,879
I was one of the people that was
on the short list to produce 'Nevermind',
568
00:36:11,904 --> 00:36:13,629
and I passed.
569
00:36:16,246 --> 00:36:17,605
Do you want to stop now?
570
00:36:17,644 --> 00:36:19,650
# ...and contagious
571
00:36:19,708 --> 00:36:21,670
# Here we are now
572
00:36:21,708 --> 00:36:23,629
# Entertain us
573
00:36:23,663 --> 00:36:25,680
# A mulatto
574
00:36:25,709 --> 00:36:26,443
# An albino
575
00:36:26,543 --> 00:36:30,093
The band finally settled on a producer
with underground credentials
576
00:36:30,137 --> 00:36:32,883
and a pop touch,
Butch Vig.
577
00:36:33,594 --> 00:36:36,772
I knew I just wanted to set them up
in a big room and try to capture
578
00:36:36,811 --> 00:36:40,833
the energy in the initial performance.
579
00:36:40,847 --> 00:36:43,888
Make sure that was the most
important thing about the song.
580
00:36:43,912 --> 00:36:48,074
But I also wanted to make it sound
bigger and much more focused
581
00:36:48,108 --> 00:36:49,947
than 'Bleach' was.
582
00:36:50,178 --> 00:36:53,474
In order to achieve a richer sound
on the 'Nevermind' album,
583
00:36:53,509 --> 00:36:57,004
Butch Vig created multiple layers
of Kurt's voice.
584
00:36:57,381 --> 00:37:01,890
A process known as doubletracking
that the singer initially resisted.
585
00:37:01,940 --> 00:37:05,101
He really didn't like
doing things over again,
586
00:37:05,181 --> 00:37:09,572
but he loved The Beatles so I knew
I could use an excuse if I had,
587
00:37:09,611 --> 00:37:13,512
and that was that John Lennon
always doubletracked his vocals.
588
00:37:13,527 --> 00:37:17,909
He hated the sound of his voice
and because Kurt was such a Beatles fan,
589
00:37:17,958 --> 00:37:20,050
every time I used the John Lennon
reference he'd go, "Ok."
590
00:37:20,089 --> 00:37:23,599
# With the lights out
its less dangerous
591
00:37:23,653 --> 00:37:25,897
# Here we are now
592
00:37:25,941 --> 00:37:27,769
# Entertain us
593
00:37:27,819 --> 00:37:31,768
# I feel stupid and contagious
594
00:37:31,822 --> 00:37:33,822
# Here we are now
595
00:37:33,851 --> 00:37:35,846
# Entertain us
596
00:37:37,347 --> 00:37:40,160
'Teen Spirit' was plain
to see in the song's video,
597
00:37:40,205 --> 00:37:43,552
but its title had less
rebellious origins.
598
00:37:45,038 --> 00:37:47,543
The physical sensation.
Teen Spirit.
599
00:37:47,592 --> 00:37:50,035
The only anti-perspirant made
for our generation.
600
00:37:50,074 --> 00:37:50,942
Teen Spirit.
601
00:37:50,981 --> 00:37:52,070
With five fragrances.
602
00:37:52,123 --> 00:37:55,653
Kurt's former girlfriend used
a deodorant called 'Teen Spirit',
603
00:37:55,804 --> 00:37:58,718
prompting a mutual friend
called Kathleen Hanna
604
00:37:58,737 --> 00:38:01,345
to create a historic
piece of graffiti.
605
00:38:01,963 --> 00:38:06,734
So one night we went out and got all
fucked up, me and Kurt and Kathleen Hanna.
606
00:38:06,783 --> 00:38:09,965
And Kathleen had some
spray paint and
607
00:38:10,065 --> 00:38:14,541
in Kurt's bedroom she sprayed,
"Kurt smells like Teen Spirit'.
608
00:38:14,586 --> 00:38:17,173
So it's kind of like saying,
Kurt has coodies,
609
00:38:17,198 --> 00:38:19,689
or Kurt smells like this girl.
610
00:38:19,827 --> 00:38:23,650
But Kurt didn't know that it was
the name of a deodorant
611
00:38:23,674 --> 00:38:27,611
and he just simply saw it and said,
"Oh. Teen Spirit. That's a great line."
612
00:38:27,694 --> 00:38:31,507
And it wasn't until the song actually
came out that somebody said,
613
00:38:31,546 --> 00:38:34,155
"It's strange your wrote a song
about a woman's deodorant."
614
00:38:34,194 --> 00:38:35,635
And he said, "I did?"
615
00:38:35,674 --> 00:38:37,194
# A mulatto
616
00:38:37,252 --> 00:38:39,311
# An albino
617
00:38:39,701 --> 00:38:41,928
Cobain had a surprise
of his own in store
618
00:38:42,005 --> 00:38:43,780
for the end
of the 'Teen Spirit' video.
619
00:38:44,041 --> 00:38:48,690
A shot of a janitor that harked back
to his first job in Aberdeen.
620
00:38:52,682 --> 00:38:56,044
Kurt would continually dwell
on his troubled youth in his music.
621
00:38:56,068 --> 00:38:59,602
And he revisited the darkest hours
he'd spent sleeping rough
622
00:38:59,656 --> 00:39:02,834
in the haunting song
'Something in the way'.
623
00:39:02,978 --> 00:39:07,656
We did 4, 5 takes of the song
and it just didn't happen.
624
00:39:07,690 --> 00:39:10,146
And out of frustration Kurt
walked in the control room
625
00:39:10,180 --> 00:39:11,480
and laid down on the couch,
626
00:39:11,524 --> 00:39:15,144
and started sort of singing the song
and kept playing quieter and quieter,
627
00:39:15,244 --> 00:39:17,518
to the point it was almost a whisper.
628
00:39:18,278 --> 00:39:21,499
# Underneath the bridge
629
00:39:22,790 --> 00:39:26,025
# The tarp has sprung a leak
630
00:39:26,123 --> 00:39:27,487
And I just said,
stop right here,
631
00:39:27,541 --> 00:39:29,703
and I unplugged the phone,
I turned off the air conditioning,
632
00:39:29,728 --> 00:39:32,062
I sealed the doors and said,
everybody stay out of here.
633
00:39:32,092 --> 00:39:33,293
And I brought a couple
of mikes in,
634
00:39:33,313 --> 00:39:35,343
and just recorded him
on the couch.
635
00:39:35,833 --> 00:39:40,405
# And I'm living off of grass
636
00:39:40,635 --> 00:39:46,219
# And the drippings from my ceiling
637
00:39:46,248 --> 00:39:49,900
# It's okay to eat fish
638
00:39:50,047 --> 00:39:55,868
# 'Cause they don't have any feelings
639
00:39:56,766 --> 00:39:59,746
He did live in abandoned houses.
He lived in hallways.
640
00:39:59,796 --> 00:40:02,463
He would go sneak into
the hospital he was born in
641
00:40:02,517 --> 00:40:04,187
and sleep in the waiting room,
642
00:40:04,287 --> 00:40:07,611
because no one would come and say,
why are you here,
643
00:40:07,670 --> 00:40:09,494
they thought he was waiting
for someone.
644
00:40:13,795 --> 00:40:17,114
# Something in the way
645
00:40:23,726 --> 00:40:26,042
And, I swear to God,
when he sang it the first time,
646
00:40:26,106 --> 00:40:28,405
the song is maybe three minutes long,
647
00:40:28,444 --> 00:40:31,277
I swear to God I held
my breath the whole time.
648
00:40:31,738 --> 00:40:34,876
# Something in the way
649
00:40:38,548 --> 00:40:40,807
Kurt Cobain gave a voice
to an audience
650
00:40:40,864 --> 00:40:43,629
who saw the pain and confusion
of their own lives
651
00:40:43,703 --> 00:40:45,286
reflected in his music.
652
00:40:46,261 --> 00:40:53,048
There was a passion and quality
in the recording that sounded
653
00:40:53,105 --> 00:40:57,618
exciting and dangerous
and something they hadn't heard before.
654
00:40:57,677 --> 00:41:00,825
There was an audience out there
that I think had been set up for that,
655
00:41:01,350 --> 00:41:04,736
by bands like R.E.M. or Hüsker Dü
or The Replacements.
656
00:41:04,855 --> 00:41:06,951
And all of a sudden,
to have this record
657
00:41:08,010 --> 00:41:11,691
that sort of encapsulated all those bands
and so many things at the same time,
658
00:41:11,770 --> 00:41:15,364
it had this sheer energy
and this intense impact,
659
00:41:16,411 --> 00:41:18,924
people went crazy for it.
660
00:41:24,227 --> 00:41:29,168
In January, 1992,
'Nevermind' finally topped the US charts.
661
00:41:29,197 --> 00:41:31,328
The outsiders had won.
662
00:41:31,492 --> 00:41:33,493
Grunge fever began in earnest
663
00:41:33,561 --> 00:41:37,683
as bands like Pearl Jam and
Smashing Pumpkins joined the party.
664
00:41:41,867 --> 00:41:46,954
The mainstream media scented
a youth cult right for exploitation.
665
00:41:49,303 --> 00:41:51,678
Being fashionable used to mean
looking good.
666
00:41:51,707 --> 00:41:54,930
Well, thanks to a fad that
started in the Pacific Northwest,
667
00:41:55,030 --> 00:41:58,319
high fashion now means...
Well, you decide.
668
00:42:00,533 --> 00:42:04,337
Grunge is the fashion trend launched
by the hard driving guitar music
669
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:06,288
known as the Seattle sound.
670
00:42:06,380 --> 00:42:10,817
The grunge look is an urban-lumberjack-
anything-goes ensemble
671
00:42:10,876 --> 00:42:14,594
of duck boots, tattered shirts,
and long underwear.
672
00:42:14,628 --> 00:42:18,886
And the grunge is spreading
to the trendy Hollywood health spots.
673
00:42:18,929 --> 00:42:21,532
Even the New York fashion shows.
674
00:42:21,617 --> 00:42:25,881
This is the spring look
for 1993.
675
00:42:30,171 --> 00:42:36,649
It basically created
a huge spasm of greed.
676
00:42:38,406 --> 00:42:42,076
Labels wanted desperately to sign
another band like Nirvana.
677
00:42:42,171 --> 00:42:43,700
Where there's one
there must be more.
678
00:42:43,743 --> 00:42:45,543
Let's sign everybody we can.
679
00:42:45,916 --> 00:42:48,420
Seattle definitely lost its innocence
in a lot of ways.
680
00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:51,538
Kurt Cobain felt that loss
of innocence personally
681
00:42:51,615 --> 00:42:53,700
as he was thrust into the spotlight.
682
00:42:53,754 --> 00:42:57,115
Fame and fortune provided
little consolation.
683
00:42:57,650 --> 00:43:01,552
You can't buy happiness, I mean,
that made me happy for a little while,
684
00:43:01,952 --> 00:43:07,666
but I was probably just as happy with,
I don't know...
685
00:43:07,750 --> 00:43:12,377
I look back on going to second-hand
stores and stuff like that,
686
00:43:12,421 --> 00:43:16,408
and finding a little treasure like that,
and that actually meant more to me
687
00:43:16,472 --> 00:43:19,570
because it was more
of a stab in the dark.
688
00:43:20,699 --> 00:43:23,288
All of a sudden he's got
that MTV crowd.
689
00:43:23,293 --> 00:43:26,593
Like, "Whoooo!
I'm multi-platinum?
690
00:43:26,632 --> 00:43:28,931
"Everywhere I go I'm now mobbed?
691
00:43:28,990 --> 00:43:32,298
"I still go to the Salvation Army
store to buy my clothes
692
00:43:32,338 --> 00:43:33,514
"but I can't go in now
693
00:43:33,547 --> 00:43:38,998
"because they know I go there so
there's like 80 kids waiting in front.
694
00:43:39,098 --> 00:43:40,266
"To see what I'm gonna buy.
695
00:43:40,344 --> 00:43:43,965
"And they've pressed up to the glass so
much they cracked the glass of the store."
696
00:43:44,049 --> 00:43:45,970
This was all happening
to that guy.
697
00:43:47,441 --> 00:43:49,707
Some people can handle it,
some people can't.
698
00:43:56,788 --> 00:44:01,170
Kurt Cobain wasn't the only one longing
for a simpler, more innocent time.
699
00:44:01,265 --> 00:44:06,052
From their hometown of Athens, Georgia,
R.E.M had watched alternative rock
700
00:44:06,111 --> 00:44:08,708
grow from a tiny independent community
701
00:44:08,784 --> 00:44:11,719
into a fully-fledged
commercial enterprise.
702
00:44:12,021 --> 00:44:15,057
And they now began to craft
an album that took stock
703
00:44:15,118 --> 00:44:17,968
of what had been won and lost
on the way.
704
00:44:21,044 --> 00:44:22,871
My grandparents were
getting very old
705
00:44:23,179 --> 00:44:27,247
and I was reflecting a lot
on death, and passage
706
00:44:27,325 --> 00:44:30,114
and sorrow and mourning
and all this stuff.
707
00:44:30,144 --> 00:44:34,376
And that really influenced the material
for 'Automatic for the people'.
708
00:44:34,434 --> 00:44:39,165
It's a pretty sombre record,
but quite beautiful, I think.
709
00:44:39,975 --> 00:44:42,011
And it captured something
very real.
710
00:44:52,924 --> 00:44:55,911
'Automatic for the people'
is steeped in memories
711
00:44:55,950 --> 00:44:59,651
and one song based around Mike Mill's
simple piano refrain
712
00:44:59,710 --> 00:45:02,789
harked back to the golden days
of the band's youth.
713
00:45:05,253 --> 00:45:07,789
Honestly I think we were here
in this very studio,
714
00:45:07,858 --> 00:45:10,552
and I was playing it and I wasn't
really thinking anything of it.
715
00:45:10,581 --> 00:45:13,517
I was just doing it because it was
something I had and I was working on,
716
00:45:13,557 --> 00:45:17,239
and Michael heard it and said,
"Keep going, keep going."
717
00:45:17,273 --> 00:45:22,228
And I think he heard something
that took him to a place.
718
00:45:27,142 --> 00:45:32,071
It was actually somewhat autobiographic.
It came from a real thing.
719
00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:38,395
# I forgot my shirt at the water's edge
720
00:45:38,449 --> 00:45:41,254
# The moon is low tonight
721
00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:44,680
A lot of people in Athens had parties
and then at 2 in the morning
722
00:45:44,709 --> 00:45:47,812
everyone would go out to a pond
or a lake and jump in the water,
723
00:45:47,871 --> 00:45:50,522
get drunk and sleep with each other.
724
00:45:50,542 --> 00:45:53,317
That was kind of the inspiration
for the song 'Nightswimming'.
725
00:45:54,499 --> 00:46:00,179
# Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
726
00:46:01,289 --> 00:46:07,110
# I'm not sure all these
people understand
727
00:46:07,772 --> 00:46:11,237
# It's not like years ago,
728
00:46:11,929 --> 00:46:14,983
# The fear of getting caught,
729
00:46:16,165 --> 00:46:19,361
# Of recklessness and water
730
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:23,028
'Nightswimming' was infused
with the spirit of Athens, Georgia,
731
00:46:23,102 --> 00:46:26,390
but the band decided to put
the finishing touches to the album
732
00:46:26,479 --> 00:46:28,856
in the new music capital of Seattle,
733
00:46:28,940 --> 00:46:33,690
where a friendship would blossom
between R.E.M. and Nirvana.
734
00:46:41,330 --> 00:46:45,054
Peter had moved to Seattle
and had become friends with
735
00:46:45,108 --> 00:46:46,731
this band called Nirvana.
736
00:46:48,878 --> 00:46:51,686
We went out there to make the record,
to finish the record
737
00:46:51,740 --> 00:46:54,190
and ended up hanging out
with those guys a lot.
738
00:46:54,239 --> 00:46:56,542
They were so awesome and cool.
739
00:46:56,581 --> 00:46:59,428
They loved R.E.M. and we loved
what they had done.
740
00:46:59,496 --> 00:47:01,486
It was a great moment in time.
741
00:47:01,882 --> 00:47:04,043
Michael Stipe would
even become godfather to
742
00:47:04,097 --> 00:47:07,102
Kurt Cobain and his wife
Courtney Love's daughter.
743
00:47:07,171 --> 00:47:11,504
Kurt himself told me that the band
he had come to admire most was R.E.M.
744
00:47:11,553 --> 00:47:15,352
Because everything they had achieved
they had done it without compromise.
745
00:47:15,608 --> 00:47:19,901
And he had seen everything
that he had been a part of
746
00:47:20,101 --> 00:47:23,605
suddenly become part of
this machine that he despised.
747
00:47:23,644 --> 00:47:25,988
And there was nothing
he could do about it.
748
00:47:26,600 --> 00:47:30,689
Michael Stipe recognised the kindred
spirit in Kurt Cobain,
749
00:47:30,762 --> 00:47:34,625
but one whose emotional honesty
left him vulnerable.
750
00:47:35,436 --> 00:47:39,490
Kurt Cobain had this incredible
sensitivity...
751
00:47:39,554 --> 00:47:42,709
It's kind of what did him in
in the end, really,
752
00:47:42,778 --> 00:47:46,258
he was just a very delicate creature,
for a lot of reasons.
753
00:47:46,350 --> 00:47:49,621
But he was very real,
754
00:47:49,684 --> 00:47:52,832
and he showed his emotion
very clearly in his work.
755
00:47:52,901 --> 00:47:57,335
And a lot of that emotion was
just incredible rage and anger.
756
00:47:58,189 --> 00:48:01,508
That rage boiled over
in the spring of 1993,
757
00:48:01,584 --> 00:48:04,341
as Kurt Cobain grappled
with the responsibilities
758
00:48:04,439 --> 00:48:06,606
of fatherhood and stardom,
759
00:48:06,641 --> 00:48:09,729
and the demons of depression
and addiction.
760
00:48:09,768 --> 00:48:14,508
With just a trace of grim irony
Kurt joked that Nirvana's next album
761
00:48:14,567 --> 00:48:18,276
would be called
'I hate myself, and I want to die'.
762
00:48:21,087 --> 00:48:25,311
# 'Cause everybody hurts...
763
00:48:25,826 --> 00:48:31,408
It's as if the moment he reached
that pinnacle stardom
764
00:48:31,496 --> 00:48:34,437
it was too bright
and he had to drop it,
765
00:48:34,481 --> 00:48:37,619
and he began retreating
from that moment on.
766
00:48:38,925 --> 00:48:43,787
Moving away from stardom,
moving away from all that he had sought,
767
00:48:43,826 --> 00:48:46,944
and moving deeper and deeper
into drugs.
768
00:48:48,454 --> 00:48:51,693
You don't have to be Freud
to analyse
769
00:48:51,738 --> 00:48:54,875
that clearly there was something
about getting what he wanted
770
00:48:54,895 --> 00:48:57,776
that made him still feel unfulfilled.
771
00:48:58,155 --> 00:49:00,370
Eventually released as 'In Utero',
772
00:49:00,424 --> 00:49:03,532
the album featured darkly
tender love songs
773
00:49:03,585 --> 00:49:06,841
and thinly veiled attacks
on the music business.
774
00:49:07,870 --> 00:49:11,639
# Teenage angst has paid off well
775
00:49:11,683 --> 00:49:14,942
# Now I'm bored and old
776
00:49:15,099 --> 00:49:21,633
'Serve the servants' is a lot about...
I mean, the first opening lines
777
00:49:21,687 --> 00:49:25,182
that say 'Teenage angst has paid off well
now I'm bored and old',
778
00:49:25,240 --> 00:49:30,107
that is certainly about my ideas
about grunge rock
779
00:49:30,141 --> 00:49:32,844
and what I've experienced
in the last few years.
780
00:49:33,739 --> 00:49:37,543
Kurt was still torn between
the underground and the mainstream,
781
00:49:37,608 --> 00:49:40,932
rock and pop, rage and melody.
782
00:49:40,971 --> 00:49:45,214
'In Utero' may have alienated
some of the fans of 'Nevermind'
783
00:49:45,258 --> 00:49:47,214
but Kurt never lost his gift
784
00:49:47,282 --> 00:49:51,169
for creating music with the potential
to reach a global audience.
785
00:49:51,331 --> 00:49:54,497
That gift was glimpsed
for one last time
786
00:49:54,526 --> 00:49:57,654
during an extraordinary MTV
acoustic concert
787
00:49:57,713 --> 00:50:01,517
later turned into an album
by R.E.M. Scott Litt.
788
00:50:01,974 --> 00:50:03,728
'Nirvana Unplugged'.
789
00:50:20,417 --> 00:50:23,172
# Come as you are
790
00:50:23,216 --> 00:50:25,363
# As you were
791
00:50:25,407 --> 00:50:29,000
# As I want you to be
792
00:50:29,059 --> 00:50:31,559
The rehearsals were a catastrophe.
793
00:50:31,603 --> 00:50:34,583
Everybody there thought
this show is not gonna happen.
794
00:50:34,608 --> 00:50:37,328
Kurt was struggling
with drug withdrawal.
795
00:50:37,627 --> 00:50:39,398
# Take your time
796
00:50:39,992 --> 00:50:43,083
Even the ever reliable Dave Grohl
struggled at first.
797
00:50:44,623 --> 00:50:46,090
It didn't sound good.
798
00:50:46,134 --> 00:50:49,502
Usually I have these massive
fat sticks
799
00:50:49,541 --> 00:50:52,013
and I beat the hell out of the drums.
800
00:50:52,023 --> 00:50:56,929
And I got these little cocktail
drum set and we'd
801
00:50:56,979 --> 00:50:59,615
run through a song and
Kurt would turn to me and say,
802
00:51:00,406 --> 00:51:03,081
"Do you think you can
play a little bit softer?"
803
00:51:03,181 --> 00:51:09,074
"Yeah sure. I'll play little bit softer."
And at the end of the song
804
00:51:09,109 --> 00:51:13,516
he'd go, "Yeah, just bring it down
a little bit more. A tiny bit."
805
00:51:14,121 --> 00:51:16,584
All right, so I'd just barely...
806
00:51:18,149 --> 00:51:21,311
And he'd turn around and say,
"Just a little bit more."
807
00:51:21,322 --> 00:51:24,379
"What the fuck am I doing here?
I won't play if you don't want me to.
808
00:51:24,429 --> 00:51:26,356
"I'll shake a rattler or something."
809
00:51:27,908 --> 00:51:33,161
But the MTV producer was on hand
to spare Dave Grohl's blushes.
810
00:51:39,584 --> 00:51:43,082
We got to the gig and the producer said,
"Have you ever tried these?"
811
00:51:43,171 --> 00:51:48,329
And he just hands me these sticks
like bundles of chopsticks or something.
812
00:51:48,384 --> 00:51:52,391
"Hotrods", yeah, they're made up
of these little wooden dowels
813
00:51:52,491 --> 00:51:56,238
and it's got a flappy kind of sound.
814
00:51:57,950 --> 00:52:00,221
Basically the sharpness
is diffused.
815
00:52:00,289 --> 00:52:03,906
# Memoria
816
00:52:03,931 --> 00:52:08,114
# Memoria
817
00:52:10,568 --> 00:52:14,323
I'll never forget after we did
'Unplugged' how happy Kurt was.
818
00:52:14,377 --> 00:52:16,641
He was so happy.
819
00:52:16,741 --> 00:52:20,121
He was this person right there
on the center.
820
00:52:20,146 --> 00:52:24,512
He was really, really happy after that.
He was relieved and...
821
00:52:26,534 --> 00:52:28,578
We pulled it off.
822
00:52:38,421 --> 00:52:40,645
That happiness would be short-lived.
823
00:52:40,729 --> 00:52:44,115
Behind the scenes Kurt
was beginning to unravel,
824
00:52:44,170 --> 00:52:47,943
tormented with depression
and heroin addiction.
825
00:52:48,292 --> 00:52:52,036
He attempted suicide in Rome
just four months later.
826
00:52:53,535 --> 00:52:56,729
The last couple of months
of Kurt's life were a train wreck.
827
00:52:56,777 --> 00:52:59,312
People were doing the best
they could to get him help,
828
00:52:59,351 --> 00:53:02,081
but it's almost a spiritual
question that gets raised,
829
00:53:02,091 --> 00:53:04,572
what can you do for somebody
who, at that point,
830
00:53:04,596 --> 00:53:09,055
is so much wanting
to destruct their own lives?
831
00:53:09,655 --> 00:53:12,546
Members of the music
community tried to offer support.
832
00:53:13,192 --> 00:53:17,282
R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, gravely
concerned at unfolding events,
833
00:53:17,341 --> 00:53:19,870
made a desperate
attempt to rescue Kurt
834
00:53:19,925 --> 00:53:21,566
from his spiraling descent.
835
00:53:22,141 --> 00:53:23,295
We talked about collaborating.
836
00:53:23,368 --> 00:53:26,188
It was really in the last
days of his life.
837
00:53:26,207 --> 00:53:32,679
I created a... in an attempt to pull him
out of the headspace he was in in Seattle,
838
00:53:32,713 --> 00:53:35,586
in this house, all alone,
the last weeks.
839
00:53:35,630 --> 00:53:40,407
I created a project that he had
to fly to Georgia to work with me on
840
00:53:40,421 --> 00:53:42,237
and we had a deadline
and bla, bla, bla...
841
00:53:42,276 --> 00:53:44,333
It was really just an attempt
842
00:53:44,408 --> 00:53:47,072
to pull him out of
the headspace space that he was in
843
00:53:47,117 --> 00:53:48,111
and it didn't work.
844
00:53:48,186 --> 00:53:49,456
Sadly.
845
00:53:49,519 --> 00:53:53,471
Despite last edge interventions
by those closest to Kurt Cobain
846
00:53:53,967 --> 00:53:58,775
the singer was found dead in
his Seattle home on April the 8th, 1994.
847
00:53:58,852 --> 00:54:01,299
He had shot himself
three days earlier.
848
00:54:01,383 --> 00:54:05,962
When Police arrived, they found
a suicide note quoting Neil Young's lyric,
849
00:54:06,020 --> 00:54:08,932
'It's better to burn out
than fade away',
850
00:54:08,957 --> 00:54:11,091
and the stereo still turned on.
851
00:54:11,151 --> 00:54:13,003
What we do know, when he died,
852
00:54:13,057 --> 00:54:17,494
that R.E.M. was the last CD
in his CD player.
853
00:54:17,543 --> 00:54:21,635
The Police found the CD player on
and they found R.E.M. in it.
854
00:54:21,694 --> 00:54:24,195
Now, whether that was
the last thing he listened to,
855
00:54:24,210 --> 00:54:28,017
there's some degree
of speculation about that.
856
00:54:28,051 --> 00:54:30,455
We do know, of course,
what he said in the suicide note.
857
00:54:30,464 --> 00:54:34,145
And in my years as a journalist
I don't think I've ever felt
858
00:54:34,205 --> 00:54:37,551
more haunted than actually looking
at the suicide note
859
00:54:37,586 --> 00:54:40,302
and seeing how hard he had
pressed down with his pen
860
00:54:40,346 --> 00:54:43,886
to make sure that his words
were clearly read.
861
00:54:46,141 --> 00:54:50,419
Just three years after alternative rock
had achieved his greatest triumph,
862
00:54:50,498 --> 00:54:53,993
it had lost its most iconic,
enigmatic figurehead.
863
00:54:54,081 --> 00:54:56,188
To some, it almost seemed
864
00:54:56,223 --> 00:54:59,464
that Kurt Cobain had already
recorded his own epitaph.
865
00:54:59,576 --> 00:55:03,262
A haunting version of song
'Where did you sleep last night',
866
00:55:03,321 --> 00:55:05,273
by blues legend Leadbelly,
867
00:55:05,297 --> 00:55:09,336
that captured all the passion,
belief and raw emotion
868
00:55:09,395 --> 00:55:13,928
that alternative rock had so
dramatically reclaimed for its audience.
869
00:55:20,556 --> 00:55:26,629
# My girl, my girl, don't lie to me,
870
00:55:26,952 --> 00:55:32,106
# Tell me where
did you sleep last night
871
00:55:33,184 --> 00:55:34,650
Well, there were some crazy things
872
00:55:34,727 --> 00:55:37,506
again that are filled with
irony about 'Unplugged'.
873
00:55:37,566 --> 00:55:39,125
Kurt wanted lilies.
874
00:55:39,169 --> 00:55:43,720
Basically he set the set up.
It looks like a funeral.
875
00:55:46,284 --> 00:55:52,813
# My girl, my girl, where will you go?
876
00:55:52,873 --> 00:55:58,385
# I'm going where the cold wind blows.
877
00:55:59,514 --> 00:56:02,926
# In the pines, in the pines,
878
00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:06,250
# Where the sun don't ever shine.
879
00:56:06,289 --> 00:56:11,646
# I would shiver the whole night through
880
00:56:12,856 --> 00:56:19,568
# Her husband, was a hard working man,
881
00:56:21,397 --> 00:56:23,488
He ends the show with
the Leadbelly song
882
00:56:23,562 --> 00:56:28,285
and that song basically strips the music
of Nirvana all back to a blues.
883
00:56:28,335 --> 00:56:30,197
And it becomes a requiem.
884
00:56:30,236 --> 00:56:33,034
It's a perfect requiem
for Nirvana.
885
00:56:33,092 --> 00:56:38,216
# But his body never was found.
886
00:56:39,633 --> 00:56:45,741
# My girl, my girl, don't lie to me,
887
00:56:46,128 --> 00:56:47,352
# Tell me where...
888
00:56:47,402 --> 00:56:48,490
After Kurt's death,
889
00:56:48,535 --> 00:56:52,205
Scott Litt had to revisit the singer's
most harrowing performance
890
00:56:52,230 --> 00:56:55,480
as he put the finishing touches
to the 'Unplugged' recordings.
891
00:56:55,529 --> 00:56:58,098
Getting through that song
was the hardest thing.
892
00:56:58,152 --> 00:57:01,342
And those were with me,
Krist and Dave.
893
00:57:01,352 --> 00:57:04,818
And I remember feeling like
there were ghosts in the room.
894
00:57:06,226 --> 00:57:12,498
# My girl, my girl, where will you go?
895
00:57:12,856 --> 00:57:18,197
# I'm going where the cold wind blows.
896
00:57:19,481 --> 00:57:21,171
# In the pines,
897
00:57:21,300 --> 00:57:23,159
# …the pines,
898
00:57:23,193 --> 00:57:24,970
# ……… sun,
899
00:57:25,023 --> 00:57:26,600
# ……….shine.
900
00:57:26,625 --> 00:57:33,465
# I shiver the whole...
901
00:57:35,611 --> 00:57:40,404
# night through!
902
00:57:43,791 --> 00:57:45,953
It had to end right there.
903
00:57:45,982 --> 00:57:47,605
Right with that scream,
right with that song,
904
00:57:47,641 --> 00:57:49,149
right with that howl.
905
00:57:50,401 --> 00:57:52,017
For those left behind,
906
00:57:52,080 --> 00:57:55,751
there will always be sadness
for the loss of a unique talent,
907
00:57:55,780 --> 00:57:59,202
and regret for what might have been.
908
00:57:59,806 --> 00:58:02,536
If I could change anything
I wish that Kurt was still alive.
909
00:58:04,113 --> 00:58:06,007
That's the only thing.
910
00:58:07,734 --> 00:58:08,910
That's it.
911
00:58:09,351 --> 00:58:11,484
I'm sad that he died so young
912
00:58:11,522 --> 00:58:14,486
because I think he was just
moving out of a phase of writing
913
00:58:14,541 --> 00:58:18,180
into a new phase that I think
might have been extraordinary.
914
00:58:18,627 --> 00:58:20,450
But he didn't make it.
915
00:58:20,818 --> 00:58:23,070
Kurt Cobain was a brilliant artist.
916
00:58:23,381 --> 00:58:25,617
He could have done whatever
he wanted to do,
917
00:58:25,657 --> 00:58:27,818
and been really good at it.
918
00:58:50,944 --> 00:58:52,328
That's it.
919
00:58:54,730 --> 00:58:57,329
Transcription and
synchronization by Fry.
920
00:59:00,329 --> 00:59:04,329
Preuzeto sa www.titlovi.com