Nirvana -- "Come As You Are" (1991)

And I swear that I don't have a gun

No, I don't have a gun

No, I don't have a gun

Everyone wants to be cool.  But most people are not cool.  (For example, you . . . and you . . . and especially you.)

In the last 2 or 3 lines, I told you that the co-curators of the "American Cool" exhibition -- which recently opened at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery -- had chosen William S. Burroughs as one of the 100 coolest Americans ever.  (Click here if you missed that 2 or 3 lines.)

The "American Cool" exhibition

Burroughs was a prolific author (his novels include Naked Lunch, Queer, Junky, and The Soft Machine) and a Beat Generation icon who hung out with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.  (Burroughs makes an appearance in the most famous Beat novel, On the Road, in the guise of the fictional character Old Bull Lee.)

Norman Mailer said that Burroughs was "the only American writer who may be conceivably possessed by genius," and he was admired by many other famous writers -- including J. G. Ballard, Jean Genet, Lester Bangs, William Gibson, and Ken Kesey.

Some of the musicians who say they were influenced by him were Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Lou Reed, and Kurt Cobain (all of whom are featured in "American Cool"), and a number of bands took their names from Burroughs's novels (including Steely Dan, the Soft Machine, Thin White Rope, the Mugwumps, and the Insect Trust).

That all sounds pretty cool.

William Burroughs practices his quick draw

But Burroughs also had a very uncool side.  He was addicted to morphine and heroin for much of his life.  (One of his biographers wrote, "Virtually all of Burroughs's writing was done when he was high on something.")  He cut off the end of his little finger in hopes of impressing a guy he had a crush on.  He shot and killed his wife during a drunken game of "William Tell."

And he wasn't exactly a candidate for the "Best Father of the Year" award -- he introduced his teenaged son to drugs when he came to live with him in Tangiers (where some of Burroughs's friends allegedly tried to rape him).  The son, who blamed Burroughs for most of his problems, died at age 33 from the effects of drug addiction and alcoholism.

When I balance the cool and the uncool aspects of Burroughs's life, I think the scale tips decidedly in the direction of uncool.  But what do I know?  I'm just a wildly successful blogger with absolutely no academic credentials qualifying me to make cool/uncool judgments.  So let's hear what the experts have to say.

Beat Generation icons

One of the co-curators of "American Cool" is a professor of American Civilization at a major Southern university, and the other is the co-director of the museum of art at a New England college.  They didn't make their picks based on their subjective opinion of who was cool and who wasn't.  Instead, each potentially cool figure was considered with a "historical rubric" in mind.

Of course, anyone who uses terms like "historical rubric" is definitely not cool, and almost surely has no effing idea who is cool.

Ceci n'est pas une rubric

Here are the four criteria the curators applied.  To be on the list, you had to meet at least three of the four listed criteria:

1.  An original artistic vision carried off with a signature style

2.  Cultural rebellion or transgression for a given generation

3.  Iconic power, or instant visual recognition

4.  A recognized cultural legacy

That all sounds well and good.  But if you look at the list, you quickly see that each of the hundred picks were actually chosen on the basis of these criteria:

1.  He or she is famous

2.  His or her choice reflects well on the co-curators, and makes them look cool and politically correct

I wouldn't disagree that virtually all of the people on the list are talented and successful.  But being talented and successful doesn't make you cool.  

To the contrary, the primary talent that most cool people have is a talent for seeming to be cool, and the thing that cool people are more successful at is making others believe they are cool.

You know what I think about William Burroughs.  Let's look at one of the other people on the "American Cool" list -- the man behind today's featured song, Kurt Cobain.

Kurt Cobain

Why was Cobain chosen for the exhibition?  Obviously he did well when it came to the "historical rubric" the co-curators applied.  

Looking at the first of their four factors, did Cobain have an "original artistic vision carried off with a signature style"?  I think he did.  Cobain wrote some remarkable songs, and Nirvana certainly had an original style -- although they only recorded three studio albums before Cobain's death.

Second, did Cobain represent "cultural rebellion or transgression for a given generation"?  I think the answer to that question is certainly yes.

Third, does Cobain have "iconic power, or instant visual recognition"?  Probably -- or at least he did at one time.  He certainly doesn't have instant visual recognition among most people today but he probably still does among Generation X'ers.

Finally, does he have "a recognized cultural legacy"?  I'm not sure how this really differs from the first factor discussed above.  But I'll give Cobain this one -- he has a legacy, although its depth and breadth may not be that great.

A very young Kurt Cobain

So Cobain clearly seems to be eligible for the "American Cool" list because he meets the criteria set out by the co-curators.  But does that make him cool?

Not in my book.  I think an essential quality of coolness is -- to use a cliché that I really don't like -- being comfortable in one's own skin.  Someone who is cool is also relaxed and confident and generally satisfied with themselves.  He or she doesn't worry about failure because he or she never contemplates that failure is a possibility.  

Cool people don't sweat the small stuff.  In fact, they don't sweat at all.  (I suspect that many cool people aren't very smart, and that the secret to their gift for staying cool under pressure is that they don't really understand how bad things are.)

Cool people usually are good-looking -- that's just the way it is, boys and girls -- and dress with a certain je ne sais quoi. 

They usually have some kind of talent -- many authors and musicians and star athletes are cool -- but that talent must appear to be mostly natural because it's not cool to struggle and work too hard.  

Nirvana

Many cool people have a lot of money, of course -- it's a lot easier to act cool when you're not worried about paying the rent.  But it's very uncool to talk about your money, or to spend it in a showoffy way.  (Cool guys don't go to strip joints and throw handfuls of cash at the dancers.)

Cool people are not necessarily good people, of course.  They can be vain, and selfish, and not very bright.  (If a cool person is very bright, he or she needs to keep that from showing too much.)

In fact, it's very possible to be cool and an assh*le at the same time as long as you don't act too much like an assh*le in public.  A lot of cool people are at least semi-assh*les, but manage to conceal that fact.

So was Kurt Cobain cool?  I don't think so.  

Kurt Cobain seems to have been a train wreck waiting to happen.  He struggled much of his life with various physical and mental illnesses.  He first used marijuana when he was 13, consumed a considerable amount of LSD, abused alcohol and sniffed solvents, and eventually became a heroin addict.  He had a lot of problems, many of which may not have been his fault -- but people who are screwed up as Cobain are the opposite of cool.

To compound his problems, Cobain married Courtney Love.

Kurt and Courtney

Love's mother was a psychotherapist and her father was the ex-manager of the Grateful Dead.  He allegedly gave her LSD when she was a toddler, which could explain a lot.  When she was 12, Love auditioned for the Mickey Mouse Club TV show, reading a Sylvia Plath poem.  (You can imagine how well that went over.)

A couple of years later, she was arrested for shoplifting and sent to a correctional facility.  After a few years in foster care, she became legally emancipated at age sixteen and immediately went to work as a stripper.  

To make matters worse, she developed a substance abuse problem that was as bad as Cobain's, which didn't help things when they got married.  (Cobain wore green pajamas to the ceremony.)

I don't mean to belittle Courtney Love.  She was a talented musician and a talented actress -- she was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in The People v. Larry Flynt.  (Coincidentally, Love portrayed William Burroughs's wife -- the one he shot in the head while playing "Drunk William Tell" -- in the 2000 movie, Beat.)  But she was a hot mess.  

At age 27, Cobain killed himself with a shotgun.  That is not at all cool.

Cobain with his daughter,
Frances Bean Cobain

He left behind Love and their 20-month-old daughter.  That is about an uncool as it gets.  (By the way, Love tried to commit suicide on her 40th birthday, and eventually was sentenced to six months of locked-down rehab.)

Courtney Love with Frances Bean

Kurt Cobain suffered from torments the likes of which probably far exceeded anything that you and I will have to battle.  He was a very talented musician, but he was not cool -- it's just not cool in the slightest to become an heroin addict and decide to put the barrel of a Remington model 11 autoloading shotgun under your chin and pull the trigger.

By the way, I just learned that Kurt Cobain and William Burroughs were friends and admirers of one another.  The two collaborated on a 1992 EP titled The "Priest" They Called Him, which consisted of a reading Burroughs did at his home in Lawrence, Kansas, combined with a guitar accompaniment recorded in Seattle by Cobain.  Cobain then asked Burroughs to appear in the video for Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" single, but Burroughs declined.

Cobain drove to Kansas to meet Burroughs in October 1993.  The two exchanged presents — Burroughs gave him a painting, while Cobain gave him a Leadbelly biography that he had signed.

Burroughs and Cobain in 1993

After Cobain committed suicide, Burroughs wrote this: “The thing I remember about him is the deathly grey complexion of his cheeks. It wasn’t an act of will for Kurt to kill himself. As far as I was concerned, he was dead already.”  Burroughs is one of those who feel Cobain “let down his family” and “demoralized the fans” by committing suicide.

There a number of other musicians who made the "American Cool" list who aren't cool either -- for example, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Waits, and Bonnie Raitt.

It's not that Springsteen and Waits and Raitt are drug addicts or suicidal.  It's simply that their music sucks.  And if your music sucks, you're not cool -- at least not as far as 2 or 3 lines is concerned.

Here's "Come As You Are," from Nirvana's 1991 album, Nevermind:

Click below to buy the song from Amazon:

Nirvana -- "Rape Me" (1993)

Hate me

Do it and do it again

Waste me

Rape me, my friend

Only one week -- just seven little days -- until election day!

This post is likely to be misunderstood -- but I'm going to post it anyway.  

Richard Mourdock is the Republican nominee for the Senate in Indiana.  On October 23, during a televised debate with two opponents, Mourdock was explaining his position on abortion.  Mourdock would allow abortion in a case where the mother's life was threatened, but he would not allow it otherwise -- even if the pregnancy resulted from a rape. 

Richard Mourdock (center)

(NOTE:  I want to make something clear before I go any further.  I have an opinion on this issue, but whether I think Mourdock is right or wrong isn't important.  What is important is that we acknowledge that there are two sides to the issue, and that the people who take the other side deserve to be taken seriously and treated with respect -- assuming that they are sincere in their beliefs and honest about their views.  I have no doubt that Richard Mourdock was speaking sincerely and honestly on this issue.  And I have no doubt that just about everyone else who was involved -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- were much more interested in gaining a political advantage than they were in addressing the issue on the merits.)

While explaining his position on the issue, Mourdock said something that generated a firestorm of criticism from his political opponents:

I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is a gift from God.  And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.

Some interpreted Mourdock's statement as meaning that God intended rape to happen.  The Louisville Courier-Journal (which should know better) said that, as did Mourdock's opponent, Joe Donnelly (who generally opposes abortion, although he would allow it in cases of rape or incest).  He did his best to spin Mourdock's comments in a way that would benefit his own chances in the election:

The God I believe in and the God I know most Hoosiers believe in does not intend for rape to happen, ever.  What Mr. Mourdock said is shocking and it is stunning that he would be so disrespectful of survivors of rape.

(Not really -- but I guess that all's fair in love and political campaigns.)

Mourdock maintained that he was misunderstood -- that he wasn't saying that rape was God's will.

I think that God can see beauty in every life.  Certainly, I did not intend to suggest that God wants rape, that God pushes people to rape, that God wants to support or condone evil in any way.  I spoke from my heart.  And speaking from my heart, speaking from the deepest level of my faith . . . I would be less than faithful if I said anything other than life is precious, I believe it's a gift from God.

I'm sure Mourdock was speaking honestly when he said that.  And I can't really argue with his logic.  After all, if you believe that all life is a gift from God, how could you come to any other conclusion?  (By the way, I also believe that it would be logical for opponents of abortion to oppose capital punishment, and for opponents of capital punishment to oppose abortion -- even though it seems that most people say, "Damn logic, full speed ahead" when it comes to those issues.)

Sally Quinn of the Washington Post gave credit to Mourdock: 

Mourdock made the horrible mistake of telling the truth about what he believes.  He actually believes that abortion is murder.  And he actually believes that God creates life.

A spokeswoman for President Obama's campaign said Obama "felt those comments were outrageous and demeaning to women."   (The chairman of the Democratic National Committee described Mourdock's comments as "outrageous and demeaning to women."  I don't think that choice of words was coincidental -- sounds like everyone is reading from the same script.)

How exactly does Mourdock's statement demean women?  I don't get that at all.  If you disagree with his position on the merits, so be it.  But the Democrats aren't interested in having a serious debate with  Mourdock on the merits of the issue -- they are playing politics pure and simple.  

The Democrats want to win the Indiana Senate seat, and they'll do pretty much anything it takes to do so (including twisting Mourdock's words).  Does that surprise anyone?  It shouldn't -- that's what politicians do, right?

Mourdock's fellow Republicans we're just as bad.  To quote Sally Quinn again, 

All hell has broken loose among his fellow Republicans.  They are twisting themselves into pretzels trying to criticize him and support their Christian beliefs at the same time.  Mitt Romney, who has a campaign ad out supporting Mourdock, has said that Mourdock’s remarks were not in line with his views. . . .

All of these guys are anti-abortion.  They believe life begins at conception. Therefore, they believe an abortion is murder.  So if that’s true, how can they possibly believe it is okay to murder a fetus (a fully realized person in their eyes) simply because of the way the child was conceived?  This is baffling.  I admire Mourdock for telling the truth about what he believes.  

As Quinn pointed out, the problem for the Republicans is that logical consistency doesn't always make for good politics.

Mitt Romney with Richard Mourdock

Let's do the math.  There are people in this country who support unrestricted abortion rights -- abortion on demand, if you will.  (They're probably voting Democratic.)  

There are people who believe it is wrong to abort a child, and would severely limit or ban abortions altogether.  They're probably voting Republican.

That leaves the people who are somewhere in the middle.  They would allow abortion in certain cases, and deny it in others.  Maybe they support parental notification, or other ancillary restrictions.  Or maybe they just aren't sure exactly where to draw the line.

Both parties are engaged in a delicate balancing act.  They have to hold on to their core voters while attracting those who are somewhere in the middle.  That usually requires them to engage in what the Richard Gere character in the movie version of the musical, Chicago, called the "old razzle-dazzle":

Give 'em the old three-ring circus

Stun and stagger 'em

When you're in trouble, go into your dance

Richard Mourdock refused to hide behind his wizard's curtain and try to fool people into thinking he was something different than what he really was (to mix my movie metaphors).  His position is logical and consistent.  But logic and consistency can be pretty confining -- most politicos prefer to maintain a little more room to maneuver.

We'll know in a week whether the Democrats or the Republicans won the election in Indiana.  But it would be a mistake to forget that there's a lot more at stake here than a U.S. Senate seat.

The Washington Post's website features a column by Glenn Perdue, a 50-year-old man whose biological mother was raped but who chose adoption over abortion.  Click here if you'd like to read the entire article.

Here are some excerpts:

Both parties have politicized abortion.  Many strong anti-abortion Republicans have bowed to pressure to moderate their position on abortion now that we are past the primaries and heading towards the general election.  The result is the rape, incest, and life-of-the-mother exception to make the anti-abortion position more palatable for centrist voters.  While I understand the political move, the abandonment of principle is disappointing.

While both parties have politicized abortion, I find myself particularly confused by the Democratic position on this issue.  Generally, my Democratic friends want to help others and provide a voice for the voiceless.  They are good people with good hearts.  The obvious irony is that unborn children are the most helpless, voiceless, and innocent of all human beings.  Yet in Democratic politics, the unborn child rarely merits an honorable mention in the abortion debate.  The political cynic in me thinks that this is because unborn children cannot vote and thus don’t have the political value of an adult woman that believes her right to choose trumps my right to live.

But most troubling to me in the abortion debate is the absence of a real discussion about adoption as an alternative. . . . My biological mother (who recently passed away) went back to western Illinois after giving birth to me, attended cosmetology school, married a good man, and had two more beautiful children.  She went on to have a good life after giving me life.  But just as important is the fact that by giving me life, she gave my father a son, and gave my children a dad. . . .

Perdue points out something here that is often overlooked.  When an unwanted child is aborted instead of delivered and given up for adoption, that not only has enormous consequences for that child.  It also has enormous consequences for the family that might have adopted him or her, for the children that child might have grown up to become the parent of, and so many other people.

The recent controversy over abortion involving U.S. Senate candidates Richard Mourdock and Joe Donnelly of Indiana is both telling and sad.  In their Oct. 23 debate, Mourdock made statements about his belief in the sanctity of life, even in cases of rape.  His words were twisted and shamefully mischaracterized by Donnelly, the DNC, and the Obama campaign to suggest that Mourdock (and by extension, Republicans) were somehow pro-rape and a threat to women’s health care.

Like Sally Quinn, Glenn Perdue gives Mourdock credit for speaking honestly.

Having viewed Mourdock’s debate statements and subsequent comments several times, it is obvious that he is a sincere, religious man that was standing by his beliefs – despite how politically inconvenient they may be.  He is not pro-rape or a threat to women’s health care and was respectful of Democrats and Republicans that have differing beliefs in his remarks.  Mourdock believes that life begins with conception and that abortion should only be an option in cases involving a threat to the life of the mother.  Mourdock stated that “Life is a gift from God” and that “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”

Looking at my life, my children, and the people we all touch, I believe that I am something that God intended to happen, just as Mourdock said.  Even if the manner in which I was conceived was imperfect and not intended by God, my life is most certainly a gift from God.  Mourdock, I thank you for your courage and conviction in being a voice for the voiceless unborn children of rape.

That "courage and conviction" will likely cost Mourdock the election.  I'd like to think that if he loses, he will walk away from the election with his head held high -- proud that he had the courage of his convictions.  There's no shame in losing an election just because your views are not held by the majority -- what's shameful about speaking honestly, doing your best to persuade the voters to adopt your views, and then let the chips fall where they may?

I wonder if Mourdock would take back his words if he could.  I think most politicians in his shoes would.

Here's "Rape Me," which was released in 1993 on Nirvana's third and final studio album, In Utero.  

Click here to buy the song from Amazon: