Kurt Cobain Memorial Park

Memorial to Kurt Cobain in his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington

Kurt Cobain Memorial Park

Type| City park
Location| Wishkah River riverfront, Felony Flats, Aberdeen, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates| 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 a park in Aberdeen, Washington and the first official, full-scale memorial to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in his hometown.

A welcome sign to the city installed in 2005 which obliquely says "Come As You Are", but does not mention Cobain by name, was the first official recognition of the musician who died by suicide in April 1994.[1] The Memorial 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, 21 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.

A granite memorial headstone inscribed with Cobain quotes rests in the park.[5] Part of one of the quotes was sandblasted away because the city mayor found the phrase "[drugs] will fuck you up" offensive.[6][7]

> Cobain immortalized the bridge through music, but now the bridge immortalizes Cobain.

> — Rachel Thomson, Grays Harbor Talk, July 15, 2014[8]

> 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[5]

## See also

[edit]

* United States portal

* Viretta Park, a city park with an unofficial memorial to Cobain near his Seattle home

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Steven Friederich (April 3, 2014), "Harbor has traveled a long road to embrace Kurt Cobain", The Vidette, Montesano, Washington: Sound Publishing, archived from the original on September 21, 2015, retrieved August 19, 2015
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.
5. ^ a b Seminara, Dave (2014-03-25). "Chasing Kurt Cobain in Washington State". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-08-06.
6. ^ Doug Kirby; Ken Smith; Mike Wilkins (eds.), "Aberdeen, Washington: Kurt Cobain Tributes - Concrete Guitar", Roadside America
7. ^ 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
8. ^ 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)

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kurt Cobain Memorial Park.

* Official website at Aberdeen Parks Dept.
* Young Street Bridge field recording, Steven Rowell, 2015 at the Internet Archive
* Kurt Cobain Memorial Park, Roadtrippers

* v
* t
* e

Nirvana

* Kurt Cobain
* Krist Novoselic
* Aaron Burckhard
* Dale Crover
* Dave Foster
* Chad Channing
* Jason Everman
* Dan Peters
* Dave Grohl

Studio albums|

* Bleach
* Nevermind
* In Utero

Live albums|

* MTV Unplugged in New York
* From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah
* Live at Reading

Compilation albums|

* Incesticide
* Nirvana
* Sliver: The Best of the Box
* Icon

Box sets|

* Singles
* With the Lights Out
* Nevermind: The Singles

Extended plays|

* Blew
* Hormoaning

Singles|

* "Love Buzz"
* "Sliver"
* "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
* "Come as You Are"
* "Lithium"
* "In Bloom"
* "Heart-Shaped Box"
* "All Apologies" / "Rape Me"
* "Pennyroyal Tea"
* "About a Girl"
* "You Know You're Right"

Split singles|

* "Candy" / "Molly's Lips"
* "Here She Comes Now" / "Venus in Furs"
* "Puss" / "Oh, the Guilt"

Promotional singles|

* "On a Plain"
* "The Man Who Sold the World"
* "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"
* "Lake of Fire"
* "Aneurysm"
* "Drain You"
* "Endless, Nameless"

Other charted
songs|

* "Dumb"
* "Sappy"
* "Something in the Way"

Other songs|

* "Been a Son"
* "Blew"
* "Breed"
* "Dive"
* "Do Re Mi"
* "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle"
* "I Hate Myself and Want to Die"
* "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam"
* "Marigold"
* "Negative Creep"
* "Old Age"
* "Opinion"
* "Plateau"
* "Polly"
* "Scentless Apprentice"
* "Serve the Servants"
* "Spank Thru"
* "Talk to Me"

Videos|

* Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!
* MTV Unplugged in New York
* Live at Reading
* Live at the Paramount
* Live and Loud

Related|

| Articles|

* Discography (Bootlegs)
* Awards and nominations
* Songs
* Concerts
* "Smells Like Nirvana"
* Frances Bean Cobain
* Suicide of Kurt Cobain
* Kurt Cobain Memorial Park
* Viretta Park
* Church of Kurt Cobain
* 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief

|

Bands|

* 3rd Secret
* Eyes Adrift
* Fecal Matter
* Flipper
* Foo Fighters
* Giants in the Trees
* Melvins
* The No WTO Combo
* Scream
* Sweet 75
* Them Crooked Vultures
* Queens of the Stone Age

Touring members|

* Pat Smear
* Melora Creager
* John Duncan
* Lori Goldston

Books|

* Nirvana: Flower Sniffin', Kitty Pettin', Baby Kissin' Corporate Rock Whores
* Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana
* Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song
* Who Killed Kurt Cobain?
* Heavier Than Heaven
* Journals
* Love and Death
* Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects
* Dirty Blonde
* Cobain Unseen
* Taking Punk to the Masses
* Letters to Kurt
* Experiencing Nirvana: Grunge in Europe, 1989
* I Found My Friends
* Cobain on Cobain
* Serving the Servant

Albums|

* Nevermind It's an Interview
* The "Priest" They Called Him
* Verse Chorus Verse
* The Songs of Kurt Cobain
* Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings

Tribute albums|

* Smells Like Bleach: A Punk Tribute to Nirvana
* Newermind: A Tribute to Nirvana
* Nevermind Tribute
* In Utero, in Tribute, in Entirety
* Whatever Nevermind
* Doused in Mud, Soaked in Bleach

Films and
documentaries|

* 1991: The Year Punk Broke
* A Tribute to Kurt Cobain
* Teen Spirit: The Tribute to Kurt Cobain
* Hype!
* The Vigil
* Kurt & Courtney
* Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind
* Last Days
* All Apologies: Kurt Cobain 10 Years On
* Nirvana – A Classic Album Under Review – In Utero
* The Last 48 Hours of Kurt Cobain
* Kurt Cobain: About a Son
* Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
* Soaked in Bleach
* When Nirvana Came to Britain
* Kurt Cobain: Moments That Shook Music

* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template