My 14 yr old stepdaughter is embracing her weird music tastes. I get so proud, as she listens to all the bands I grew up listening to, Nirvana being one of them too. Weird songs, movies, art & people ( the good kinda weird that is, not the dodgy kind lol ) are more real and thought provoking in my opinion. Stay weird!!
Really loved reading this from start to finish and listening to those two recordings back to back. That was a legit inspirational experience. Sincere thanks for taking the time to construct and share that Joe🙏
"When someone is being honest with you, it feels like you can have a true connection to them. Like they’ve sincerely let you inside their mind. And then, when you find something in there that you can relate to, you feel truly understood. Like you’re genuinely in this together with somebody else. Like you are not alone." LOVED IT!
So glad to see you mention the Meat Puppets. I lived in Tempe AZ, and went to their concerts at dive clubs and even at Big Surf. I saw Curt every day, and went to their parties, etc. my intro to weirdness in music was when I was 12 and listened to The Vlevet Underground’s first album. Talk about mind being blown. I had always liked underground music and all its permutations since then. I’m an elder punk/goth
We are kindred spirits. This journal entry is so timely for me. In the last couple of weeks I have been revisiting my love for Nirvana and Kurt. His birthday was last week. I was 14 in 1994 when I learned of Kurt’s death. I was just contemplating on how deeply it really affected me. In doing so, I did exactly what you did with the song “Oh me” and took a listen to each version since I had never heard the Meat Puppet’s version either. It’s such a beautiful song and your version is quite beautiful as well. Thank you for that. You put into words everything I had been thinking and feeling recently about the wonder I have felt in feeling so connected to someone I’ve never met. It was his innate ability to make the outcasts feel like it was ok to be on the outside and to make us all feel less alone somehow by expressing his extreme loneliness so exquisitely. I played that Unplugged album so much. I’m going to be playing Nirvana on repeat again and revisiting my angst ridden teenage self.
Pleased to hear you discovered The Meat puppets. Super underrated band that still makes music today. Unfortunately, unless you go out on a limb to listen to them, you'll only hear one song played on the "radio".
And finally, please check out Rock Cousteau on Spotify and YouTube, I promise you'll be exposed to some of the most amazing "underplayed" music in the world. I hope you enjoy!
I’m glad I stayed until the end. What a treat. I am so comfortable with my weirdness (i represent an older generation—I’m not going to tell you how much older I am). Instead of calling them weird I say someone is an “Odd Duck”. I follow with it’s okay for me to say that because I am an Odd Duck too do I recognize the character traits in others. No matter what it is called, thank you for owning your weirdness and sharing yourself so generously and honestly. You are helping so many others be comfortable with who they are. I wish I had someone like you when I was younger.
I 100% agree with this. I was recently talking with a friend about this love for music, about a bunch of different bands. What a lot of people don't understand is the beauty that goes into making music, it's something that is highly overlooked, and it really suckks that it is. Although it sucks to say "you need to really listen to it" when talking about music since I'm only 18 years old, people really ned to understand everything about, it truly is an art.
This might be one of the most beautiful reflections I’ve ever read on what makes weirdness magnetic. The line that hit me hardest: “weirdness feels honest.” That’s it. That’s the magic. The idea that Kurt translated the raw, unfiltered chaos of someone like Curt Kirkwood into something digestible—without sanding it down—is such a perfect metaphor for how we all try to share our inner world with others. You made me think of Nirvana not just as a band, but as a bridge. Between loneliness and connection. Between weirdness and resonance. Between Meat Puppets and MTV. Thank you for this.
My 14 yr old stepdaughter is embracing her weird music tastes. I get so proud, as she listens to all the bands I grew up listening to, Nirvana being one of them too. Weird songs, movies, art & people ( the good kinda weird that is, not the dodgy kind lol ) are more real and thought provoking in my opinion. Stay weird!!
Really loved reading this from start to finish and listening to those two recordings back to back. That was a legit inspirational experience. Sincere thanks for taking the time to construct and share that Joe🙏
"When someone is being honest with you, it feels like you can have a true connection to them. Like they’ve sincerely let you inside their mind. And then, when you find something in there that you can relate to, you feel truly understood. Like you’re genuinely in this together with somebody else. Like you are not alone." LOVED IT!
So glad to see you mention the Meat Puppets. I lived in Tempe AZ, and went to their concerts at dive clubs and even at Big Surf. I saw Curt every day, and went to their parties, etc. my intro to weirdness in music was when I was 12 and listened to The Vlevet Underground’s first album. Talk about mind being blown. I had always liked underground music and all its permutations since then. I’m an elder punk/goth
We are kindred spirits. This journal entry is so timely for me. In the last couple of weeks I have been revisiting my love for Nirvana and Kurt. His birthday was last week. I was 14 in 1994 when I learned of Kurt’s death. I was just contemplating on how deeply it really affected me. In doing so, I did exactly what you did with the song “Oh me” and took a listen to each version since I had never heard the Meat Puppet’s version either. It’s such a beautiful song and your version is quite beautiful as well. Thank you for that. You put into words everything I had been thinking and feeling recently about the wonder I have felt in feeling so connected to someone I’ve never met. It was his innate ability to make the outcasts feel like it was ok to be on the outside and to make us all feel less alone somehow by expressing his extreme loneliness so exquisitely. I played that Unplugged album so much. I’m going to be playing Nirvana on repeat again and revisiting my angst ridden teenage self.
Pleased to hear you discovered The Meat puppets. Super underrated band that still makes music today. Unfortunately, unless you go out on a limb to listen to them, you'll only hear one song played on the "radio".
And finally, please check out Rock Cousteau on Spotify and YouTube, I promise you'll be exposed to some of the most amazing "underplayed" music in the world. I hope you enjoy!
You get me!
I’m glad I stayed until the end. What a treat. I am so comfortable with my weirdness (i represent an older generation—I’m not going to tell you how much older I am). Instead of calling them weird I say someone is an “Odd Duck”. I follow with it’s okay for me to say that because I am an Odd Duck too do I recognize the character traits in others. No matter what it is called, thank you for owning your weirdness and sharing yourself so generously and honestly. You are helping so many others be comfortable with who they are. I wish I had someone like you when I was younger.
The normies are boring…. Haha! Odd Ducks unite!
My thoughts verbatim. We're the same age and WOWSERS, legit Truth.
Also, the Nickelback thing...I'm dyinnnng ☠️🫠🤣🤣🤣
I love the integrity in this post. You identify, you explain, and then you demonstrate. With much gratitude for walking the talk.
I 100% agree with this. I was recently talking with a friend about this love for music, about a bunch of different bands. What a lot of people don't understand is the beauty that goes into making music, it's something that is highly overlooked, and it really suckks that it is. Although it sucks to say "you need to really listen to it" when talking about music since I'm only 18 years old, people really ned to understand everything about, it truly is an art.
Great writer. Thank you for your expressions, both on the eletronic page and via video!
Accessible weirdness. loved hearing you speak your words.
#stayweird
This might be one of the most beautiful reflections I’ve ever read on what makes weirdness magnetic. The line that hit me hardest: “weirdness feels honest.” That’s it. That’s the magic. The idea that Kurt translated the raw, unfiltered chaos of someone like Curt Kirkwood into something digestible—without sanding it down—is such a perfect metaphor for how we all try to share our inner world with others. You made me think of Nirvana not just as a band, but as a bridge. Between loneliness and connection. Between weirdness and resonance. Between Meat Puppets and MTV. Thank you for this.
This was lovely. Thanks for doing it.
I did a deep dive of the Vaselines because of Love Buzz recently and was thinking about how nearly impossible it would have been to do back then.