Well really a big thing is finding out that all your favorite musicians died. It's bad enough that you have to find out that Kurt died, but then you find out that Andrew Wood did too, and so did Layne Staley, and Mia Zapata, and Stefanie Sargent, and Shannon Hoon, and Ben Mcmillan etc. And then Mike Starr just died, which was really sad because it was not too long ago and while I actually knew who he was, and he was in his 40s! Everyone expects the young rockers to die, and die from drugs, because it's the stereotype and everyone knows kids live fast and all that, but no one really expects the middle-aged people to die. It's like wow, even if you get over a thing like drugs in your youth, you're never really over it, and it can hit you at any time. It's like all of your favorite musicians are dropping like flies right before your eyes, though most of them before you even knew who they were, but they KEEP dying! I hate that. Right before Mike Starr died, Rick Kulwicki, the guitarist of The Fluid died, and then back in 2008 Ben McMillan of Skin Yard and Gruntruck died, and then I think Layne was the one before that back in 2002, but it feels like they never stop dying, and I'm too young to have all my idols die so fast, and they're still too young to die. I'm only 21, and they are only in their 40s! They shouldn't even be dying for another 40 years and yet they started 20something years ago at the age of 24(Andy Wood)! 24 is way too young to die! I'll be that age in just a few years. I don't blame the guys themselves for their habits though, if they were one of the ones who died from it (some had weird/random circumstances like Mia being murdered and Rick dying with something wrong with his heart). I don't know why we're supposed to care that they are "rockstar junkies." I mean I think it's sad and all, but it doesn't change the way I think about them. It's just sad that they end up being beaten by it.
Well, one good thing about this generation is getting to relate to all the other outcasts and modern grungers. When I was little and first starting to feel like an outcast of the modern times, I thought that I was different, but a lot of times I actually liked that. I was never the kind of person that felt like we need people and will die without friends or if we aren't part of a group and everyone feels the need to fit in with a group. Then grunge came along and I realized it's cool to be part of a group as well. It was actually awesome being part of something bigger than yourself, and being around people that are a lot like you. Recently I've been thinking about how wild and cool it is to grow up and see all these modern grunge bands that are around my age. It's great to like grunge in general, but now I think I get it a bit more, with the whole being a part of your generation, and being around people that are going through what you are going through. It's cool to realize there are other young grungers today that probably have felt like an outcast as well. The old grungers will always have a special place in my heart, but there's nothing like ragging on your own generation with people your age that are interested in the same things you are and get to sarcastically laugh at the world with. It helps to think of the other modern grungers as your generation, so that you can actually feel like your generation isn't so bad, and, heck, the outcasts always end up rising up and becoming the generation eventually, so we might end up being that anyway. I used to hate it when people always refer to grunge as a generation X thing, and I still do, because I can relate to them a lot, and of course it never went away, but now I get it a little bit more as it is cool being around people that grew up with the same stuff you did and who are your age, and feeling like you're on the same wavelength. It's great that other kids can get what I'm going through, because they're going through it too. Ha, I was watching an interview from maybe a year ago recently for Pissed Jeans, and the frontman was talking about how they started when they were 13 and they're 19, 20 now, and I'm like "WHOAA, they're MY age!!!" I guess I was so used to my favorite bands being my parents age or a little older, that it just caught up on me, but yeah most bands do seem like the members are in their early and mid 20s, so it would be about time. Here's to growing up with this generation of grunge, and feeling connected to these people.
The funny thing is how much of a difference real life is to the internet. You can find buttloads of modern grungers on the internet, like there's a whole world of us out there, so much that it feels like there are millions or billions of us out there, and then in real life, nothing. It's hard to find people who have even heard of grunge in real life (well, at least for people under 30), let alone who follow it. Yet it still is the genre for 20somethings and teens. Most of the people on the grunge forum and other online grunge sites are in their teens or twenties. Heck, the dude who runs grungereport.net is my age. It's as if it stayed the same but the world changed around it. Luckily some middle-aged people are still into it, but I wish there were more, as I've always expected to see long-haired 40somethings wearing Nirvana shirts walking around town, and I've had no such luck.
Well, one good thing about this generation is getting to relate to all the other outcasts and modern grungers. When I was little and first starting to feel like an outcast of the modern times, I thought that I was different, but a lot of times I actually liked that. I was never the kind of person that felt like we need people and will die without friends or if we aren't part of a group and everyone feels the need to fit in with a group. Then grunge came along and I realized it's cool to be part of a group as well. It was actually awesome being part of something bigger than yourself, and being around people that are a lot like you. Recently I've been thinking about how wild and cool it is to grow up and see all these modern grunge bands that are around my age. It's great to like grunge in general, but now I think I get it a bit more, with the whole being a part of your generation, and being around people that are going through what you are going through. It's cool to realize there are other young grungers today that probably have felt like an outcast as well. The old grungers will always have a special place in my heart, but there's nothing like ragging on your own generation with people your age that are interested in the same things you are and get to sarcastically laugh at the world with. It helps to think of the other modern grungers as your generation, so that you can actually feel like your generation isn't so bad, and, heck, the outcasts always end up rising up and becoming the generation eventually, so we might end up being that anyway. I used to hate it when people always refer to grunge as a generation X thing, and I still do, because I can relate to them a lot, and of course it never went away, but now I get it a little bit more as it is cool being around people that grew up with the same stuff you did and who are your age, and feeling like you're on the same wavelength. It's great that other kids can get what I'm going through, because they're going through it too. Ha, I was watching an interview from maybe a year ago recently for Pissed Jeans, and the frontman was talking about how they started when they were 13 and they're 19, 20 now, and I'm like "WHOAA, they're MY age!!!" I guess I was so used to my favorite bands being my parents age or a little older, that it just caught up on me, but yeah most bands do seem like the members are in their early and mid 20s, so it would be about time. Here's to growing up with this generation of grunge, and feeling connected to these people.
The funny thing is how much of a difference real life is to the internet. You can find buttloads of modern grungers on the internet, like there's a whole world of us out there, so much that it feels like there are millions or billions of us out there, and then in real life, nothing. It's hard to find people who have even heard of grunge in real life (well, at least for people under 30), let alone who follow it. Yet it still is the genre for 20somethings and teens. Most of the people on the grunge forum and other online grunge sites are in their teens or twenties. Heck, the dude who runs grungereport.net is my age. It's as if it stayed the same but the world changed around it. Luckily some middle-aged people are still into it, but I wish there were more, as I've always expected to see long-haired 40somethings wearing Nirvana shirts walking around town, and I've had no such luck.
I think I understand your perspective on grunge much better now. Well said.
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