Recently, I was doom-scrolling TikTok (add me, @Millerverse), and the question was posed: “who is more influential, Taylor Swift? Or Kurt Cobain?” A lot of folks said Taylor Swift—and I’m not knocking them, at their age, Taylor Swift has been a point of influence—but I disagree. I started to film a response, but honestly, the diatribe was meant for my blog.
There are a few misconceptions the Pro-Cobain movement has incorrect:
- Nirvana didn’t invent Grunge; they were certainly the mainstream catalyst of Grunge’s embrace, but they weren’t the first ones to don flannel & play through sub-par equipment.
- “Influence,” in context of the question asked, isn’t necessarily the fact that people are still wearing their merchandise—I still see people wearing AC/DC, Ramones, Misfits, etc. I would agree that Kurt Cobain was more influential than Taylor Swift, just not for that reason.
What makes Kurt Cobain more influential than Taylor Swift? Influence, in the context of the question, could be said “who has had the most impact?,” or “who has encouraged the most change?” If you phrase the question like that, the answer is clearly Kurt Cobain.
My brother John has been my hero since I was a toddler. John listened to cool music, played guitar, had good looking girls trying to get under his arm, so on, and so forth. There is quite a generational gap between my brother, and I, and it’s not because of our ages. John was a big fan of 80’s thrash, some glam metal, and a completely different aesthetic. “Nevermind” (Nirvana’s mainstream break-through mega album) came out in 1991, and I started developing my own tastes shortly afterward. I developed my tastes in a post-Nevermind media platform; I enjoy indie rock, DIY punk bands, and the style that comes with. Only one year separates the tastes of my brother, and I, and that year is 1991.
Full disclosure: I wasn’t allowed to watch MTV until I was eightish, and even then, it was my mother getting tired of busting me for watching MTV. Before MTV wasn’t monitored, it was TNN—the Nashville Network—and it wasn’t nearly as fun as MTV. While I didn’t get to see the music videos for “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Man in the Box,” or “Evenflow” debut on MTV, I could certainly see the effect they were having on the world around me. Stores like Spencers (which I argue was EXPONENTIALLY worse than watching MTV) were carrying Nirvana shirts, posters, and the record stores had displays with Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden.
In my mind, what makes Kurt Cobain more of an influence than Taylor Swift, is how media as a whole changed. The quality of successful musician certainly took a downturn—for example: my brother is a wonderful guitar soloist. I am not—and that was OK thanks to Nirvana. Television shows went from “Growing Pains” to “My So Called Life.” Music videos went from Twister Sister’s cartoon violence to unsettling mood pieces. The times had changed and the transition was not smooth, nor gradual. One day, everything is big hair, and Ice Ice Baby, and then the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” debuts. The end of the previous guard was concussive, sudden, and the clarion call was the initial F chord of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
I am not aging gracefully. Much like the nineties, one day I feel like I’m still a young man, and the next day people are calling me things like “sir.” I like Taylor Swift, I think she writes great music, I’m just not young enough to believe she has had a cultural impact on Nirvana levels. There could come a day, very soon, where Taylor Swift is the champion of the new way of popular life. She has the skills and the talent.
Thank you for joining me on this trip across the Millerverse! I’ll see you next time.
A.P. Miller 