The legendary Kurt Cobain would have turned 48 this week. Whether or not you loved the music of Nirvana, Cobain’s views on rape and sexual assault, expressed in a 24-year-old interview with NME, were spot-on and way ahead of their time.
“Rape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth. And it happens every few minutes,” Kurt hisses. “The problem with groups who deal with rape is that they try to educate women about how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men not to rape. Go to the source and start there.”
The band faced backlash and controversy over their song “Polly” in 1991, which dealt with a true story of a rape and abduction. Although some mistakenly believed that the song was promoting rape, the Cobain-penned song was explained by bandmember Krist Novoselic when he said:
“That song ‘Polly’, it’s a true story,” says Chris. “It’s about a young girl who was abducted. The guy drove her around in his van. Tortured her. Raped her. The only chance she had of getting away was to come on to him and persuade him to untie her. That’s what she did, and she got away. Can you imagine how much strength that took?”
While “teach men not to rape” has become a widespread ideology among organizations who work in sexual assault prevention in recent years, it was a fairly?new concept in 1991. Cobain recounted a story told to him by a close female friend which brought this idea home for him.
“I was talking to a friend of mine who went to a rape crisis centre where women are taught judo and karate. She looked out the window and saw a football pitch full of boys, and thought those are the people that should really be in this class.”
While it is no surprise to many of us familiar with Cobain’s music that he was far ahead of most of us in his thinking, it is his views on sexual assault which, for me, cements his place in music history as a true pioneer.
Watch Nirvana perform the song “Polly” below:
