The last time Nirvana had its trio of musicians together in a recording studio resulted in the last message sent to the world by vocalist Kurt Cobain , in the form of a song.
According to Loudersound , the recording took place on January 30, 1994. The result was the song "You Know You're Right," the most controversial of the trio's career. The band consisted of vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain , bassist Krist Novoselic , and Dave Grohl , a drummer who needs no introduction.
In 2009, Dave Grohl stated: “That year, 1994, was bad from the start, and things have changed a lot. Kurt went through a lot, and we were trying to come to terms with success and its consequences.”
The conflicts began the following year.
The conflicts began on February 12, 1995, Valentine's Day in the United States, when Courtney Love 's band, Hole Unplugged session for MTV at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. In addition to the songs performed by the group, which was promoting its second studio album, Live Through This, Courtney also included in the set, against the wishes of her bandmates, two songs written by her late husband. Nirvana's lead singer, Kurt Cobain, had died by suicide on April 5 of the previous year, considered one of the saddest days in music history.
The first one, called "Old Age," is a demo recorded by Nirvana in 1991, but after recording, Kurt gave it as a gift to Love, which ended up resulting in Hole 's 1993 Beautiful Son .
But it was the second song played on the MTV Unplugged that became the main reason for the fights and mutual accusations between Courtney Love and her husband's former bandmates. The arguments resulted in a sad legal dispute. Sad, because the widow and the drummer were very close friends; he even appears in photos from Kurt and Love's wedding.
The song, listed as "You've Got No Right" on Unplugged , was actually Nirvana's "You Know You're Right," which is extremely significant as it was the last song Nirvana recorded, Kurt Cobain's final work.
The epic legal battle over Kurt Cobain's legacy.
The battle over Love, contesting Novoselic and Grohl's arguments regarding the way to release the song to the public, reached the courts and ended up becoming a huge media circus. According to Rolling Stone , in 2002 the situation worsened with the possible release of unreleased material by Cobain.
After several disputes and lawsuits, Courtney also sued Universal Music to obtain the rights to Nirvana's master tapes.
The most famous chapter of the feud occurred in the summer of 2002. After much provocation, Dave Grohl, considered a friendly personality, referred to Love as "an ugly bitch" at a Foo Fighters in Ireland.
Grohl admitted to Loudersound : “There are times when you get upset. It’s inevitable that there will be days when you feel like exploding. It happens with the lawyers, it happens with Courtney, and it happens with Krist and me. I’ve been quite reserved all these years about my feelings regarding all of this. But disrespectful words have come out of my mouth a few times. You know, it’s natural for someone to reach their boiling point.”
Finally, the lawsuits ceased without any fanfare. It was agreed that "You Know You're Right" would be included in a compilation of the trio's songs, titled Nirvana . And Kurt Cobain's solo acoustic demo would be included in the 2004 With the Lights Out
The importance of the song " You Know You're Right" to the world.
According to Dave, before the track finally reached the public domain, he described it as "beautiful and disturbing." Only in 2017, in an interview with The Guardian, did he share his feelings about the song, which he admitted he hadn't listened to in 10 years: "Oh God, it's hard to listen to," and continued: "It wasn't a good time for the band. Kurt wasn't well… He was going through something very intense and painful, he was in a distant place and we hadn't realized it."
“You look back and see through different lenses,” he said. “Lyrically, it’s moving… Musically, there’s something cathartic about it.”
“I don’t think he was comfortable where he was at the time,” Grohl added. “I don’t know if any of us were. Now, remembering him singing the chorus, I feel like I understand him better, and it’s like he was crying.”
Twenty-nine years after the singer and guitarist's death, it is still possible to find publications that explore the link between his suicide and the last words he sang. However, all speculations are nothing more than mere theories that have never been validated. Perhaps that is why the song was so controversial, to the point of generating so much resentment between the parties involved and a consequent attempt at excessive exploitation of such a delicate and personal work.
Perhaps reading Dave Grohl's various quotes about that day, January 30, 1994, one gets the impression that during the recording, Kurt Cobain let out a cry for liberation or even help, which ultimately resulted in his suicide.
Check out the music video for “You Know You're Right”:
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