DAVE GROHL KNOWS THAT COURTNEY LOVE KNOWS THAT DAVE KNOWS THAT COURTNEY KNOWS THAT DAVE F*CKING KNOWS THAT COURTNEY KNOWS
Yesterday, we saw video of Courtney Love flying off the handle when a fan held up a Kurt Cobain t-shirt during a recent performance; amongst other topics, her subsequent rant honed in on Dave Grohl, who, she seemed to claim, had been fired from Nirvana by Cobain. Later, as part of a kind-of-new-but-really-the-same rant, she said that “I don’t care what you listen to at home. But a guy takes money off my kid’s table… fuck him!” I wasn’t really clear what the hell she meant at the time, but a MetalSucks commenter named Chris asserted that “she was claiming Grohl is the one taking money off her kid’s table, which makes sense given the history of those two arguing over royalties and rights and whatnot.”
And bravo to Chris for apparently being fluent in Courtney, ’cause his assessment of the situation was absolutely correct. The PRP posted the below post-show interview with Love, in which she clarifies why she’s so pissed at Grohl. To hear her tell it, Grohl didn’t write any of Nirvana’s music (including the “drum riff” from “Smells Like Teen Spirit”), makes a shit ton of money from the Foo Fighters (which is not hard to believe) and is consequently not hurting for money (which is also not hard to believe) — and yet he continues to own a piece of Nirvana, and recently purchased an Aston Martin with his Nirvana, Inc. credit card (thus he is “taking money off my kid’s table”) while Cobain’s mother and sister suffer from poverty. Check it out below, and get my thoughts after the jump:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=2IPNIeLm28c
So, before we get totally cereal in a second, I just wanna take a moment to laugh at those bizarrely disaffected looking young women hanging around Courtney, ’cause what the fuck is going on with that deal?
Now, onto more pressing matters…
If we take Courtney at her word and don’t stop to think about what she’s saying, her rage does, indeed, seem pretty righteous.
But if we do stop to think about what she’s saying, shit stops making sense in a hurry.
For one thing, even if Dave didn’t write any of Nirvana’s songs, he’s still entitled to a piece of ownership in Nirvana, Inc. Why? Because he was in the band! He recorded with them, he toured with them, and whether he wrote his own parts or not, his hard-hitting drum style was undeniably a big part of their sound. And that’s how shit works — if you were there, you get a piece. I’ve heard some other grumpy musicians argue that only the songwriters deserve ongoing royalties — I know Axl Rose is pissed that Steven Adler still makes money from Appetite for Destruction, for example — but that’s just the way things are. Sorry.
Furthermore, if Courtney is, as she claims, so very concerned about the well-being of Kurt Cobain’s mother and sister, and if Courtney does “make tons of money” (her words), then… well, what is she doing to help the Cobain family? She can’t put Kurt’s sister in her guest house, or rent her an apartment? It probably wouldn’t even have to be a nice apartment — I’m sure if Cobain’s sister currently resides under a bridge, she’ll take any abode she’s offered as long as it has four walls and a roof. And why doesn’t Courtney buy a new door for Cobain’s mom? Why isn’t Courtney footing the bill for boiler repair? And when says that, due to tax laws, she “has” to share some of her Nirvana money with Cobain’s family… well, maybe she didn’t intend for that sound as though she doesn’t wanna pay the Cobains, but it sure does come across that way. In fact, it almost makes it seem as though the whole rant is really about the fact that she’s pissed that she has to share her Nirvana money while Dave doesn’t.
I understand that this is not a simple issue, and I understand Courtney’s instinct to say “Dave should be helping out, too.” But, ultimately, her argument still seems somehow… I dunno, off, to me.
Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.
-AR
