The singer Kurt Cobain wished he sang like
Most rock vocalists can only hope to match the kind of raw intensity that Kurt Cobain did in his prime. Although hair metal may have still been clogging up the rock charts in early 1991, Nevermind put a stake through the heart of the LA rock scene, with Cobain crying out in agony over the most tuneful rock and roll ever produced. While Cobain’s voice would become a trademark of his sound, he never meant to push it for so long.
Starting in the dissonant punk scene in Seattle, Nirvana had never considered themselves a pop band. Although their debut album Bleach featured songs like ‘About a Girl’ with a tuneful edge, the focus of the album was about blasting out the listener’s eardrums on songs like ‘Negative Creep’ and ‘Blew’.
As the band started to hone their craft night after night, though, Cobain was forming a specific style in his head, indebted as much to Ramones as to The Beatles. Working with Butch Vig, Nirvana released Nevermind in September 1991 with Dave Grohl in tow, marking a sea change in the music world overnight.
After hearing nothing but cheap rock and roll on the radio, fans flocked to what Cobain had to say, quickly adopting flannel and trying their best to sing with as much passion as he did. Even though that low grizzly baritone would become crucial to Nirvana’s sound, Cobain was never satisfied with what came out of his throat.
When talking about the recording of Nevermind, Vig would recall that Cobain hated even recording the vocal takes to most of the songs. To get as much material out of him as possible, Vig recalled that he would record everything Cobain sang into the microphone, tricking him into thinking that a complete vocal take was a warm-up.
Once the band went out on tour, Cobain recalled wanting to have a more narrative-focused voice instead of the harsh screaming every night. When speaking to Rolling Stone, the singer would recall that Bob Dylan should have been his vocal inspiration, saying, “We like playing that stuff, but I don’t know how much longer I can scream at the top of my lungs every night, for an entire year on tour. Sometimes I wish I had taken the Bob Dylan route and sang songs where my voice would not go out on me every night, so I could have a career if I wanted”.
Coming from Cobain, though, Dylan’s trademark nasal twang might seem a bit confusing. Considering what both singers sound like, their styles may as well be on different planets, with Dylan’s whine sounding like the polar opposite of what Cobain was doing with his larynx throughout every Nirvana show.
When listening to any Dylan song, Cobain probably saw a man making an honest attempt at singing whatever song came his way. Although Dylan’s voice has changed throughout the years, fans would never expect him to come out with a song where he was consciously trying to sound like someone else. He was his own singular entity, and Cobain recognised that kind of humanity in his delivery.
Even though Cobain relished the idea of shredding his voice during every live show, he admitted that his forceful approach to singing alleviated his chronic stomach pain whenever he performed. Cobain may have been fascinated by the idea of Dylan’s delivery, but his signature “boiling nails” style has been leaving its mark on rock fans for decades.