Kurt Cobain Memorial Park

Kurt Cobain Memorial Park
Type City park
Location Wishkah River riverfront, Felony Flats, Aberdeen, Washington
Coordinates 46°59′02″N 123°48′20″W / 46.9840°N 123.8055°W / 46.9840; -123.8055Coordinates: 46°59′02″N 123°48′20″W / 46.9840°N 123.8055°W / 46.9840; -123.8055
Created 2011
Operated by Aberdeen Parks Dept.

Kurt Cobain Memorial Park, also called Kurt Cobain Landing, is the first official, full-scale memorial to Kurt Cobain in his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington. A welcome sign to the city, placed in 2005, more than ten years after Cobain's death, obliquely says "come as you are" but does not mention him by name and was the first official recognition of Cobain.[1] The park, initially built in Felony Flats on city-owned land near his Aberdeen home in 2011, and maintained by local volunteers as Kurt Cobain Landing, was adopted by the city of Aberdeen in 2015, 20 years after his death.[2][3] As recently as 2011, a motion not to rename the adjacent Young Street Bridge after Cobain was applauded at a city council meeting.[4]:99

The lyrics of the Nirvana song "Something in the Way" are about the Young Street Bridge. The lyrics to the song are etched on an aluminum plaque posted in the park.

Cobain immortalized the bridge through music, but now the bridge immortalizes Cobain.
— Rachel Thomson, Grays Harbor Talk, July 15, 2014[5]
Aberdeen’s must-see Cobain site is a small park, opened in 2011 by the Kurt Cobain Memorial Foundation, called Kurt Cobain Landing, which sits at the foot of the Young Street Bridge, the inspiration for the song “Something in the Way.” Cobain claimed that he lived under the bridge for a time, and while most who knew him don’t think he did, it was clearly one of his preferred hangouts. Set along the banks of the murky Wishkah River, the strangely appealing little park features a guitar sculpture, a likeness of Cobain with the lyrics to “Something in the Way,” a headstone with some amusing Cobain quotes (sample: “I’m a walking bacterial infection”), a Kurt Cobain “air guitar” sculpture and a collage of Nirvana-related graffiti under the bridge itself.
— Dave Seminara, The New York Times, March 25, 2014[6]

A granite memorial headstone with Cobain quotes rests in the park.[6] Part of one of the quotes was sandblasted away because the city mayor found the phrase "[drugs] will fuck you up" offensive.[7][8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Steven Friederich (April 3, 2014), "Harbor has traveled a long road to embrace Kurt Cobain", The Vidette, Montesano, Washington: Sound Publishing
  2. ↑ Kyle Mittan (June 27, 2015), "Aberdeen officially adopts Cobain Landing park", The Daily World – via The Olympian (Olympia, Washington)
  3. ↑ Jaime Gonzalez (5 April 2014), Kurt Cobain's hometown no 'nirvana' 20 years after death, BBC
  4. ↑ Bickerdike, J.O. (2014). Fandom, Image and Authenticity: Joy Devotion and the Second Lives of Kurt Cobain and Ian Curtis. Pop Music, Culture and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-39353-1. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  5. ↑ Rachel Thomson (July 15, 2014), "Kurt Cobain Lived Here: An Aberdeen Tour of Memorials, Homes of the Late Nirvana Frontman", Grays Harbor Talk (web magazine)
  6. 1 2 Seminara, Dave (2014-03-25). "Chasing Kurt Cobain in Washington State". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-08-06.
  7. ↑ Doug Kirby, Ken Smith, Mike Wilkins (eds.), "Aberdeen, Washington: Kurt Cobain Tributes - Concrete Guitar", Roadside America
  8. ↑ Kim Murphy (August 16, 2009), "After 15 years, smells like Cobain spirit in town: A native son is beginning to be recognized and honored, but not without some controversy.", The Los Angeles Times

External links

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