Welcome to Aberdeen - Come As You Are
The ink barely dried on my last post before a decision was made:
The City Council in Aberdeen, Wash., voted 10-1 against a resolution to rename a bridge after the late Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain.
Eight citizens and several council members spoke against renaming the bridge, which is unofficially named after pioneer Alexander Young.
KXRO reports the vote against the Cobain rename drew applause from the audience at Wednesday’s council meeting. Some people were concerned about memorializing the grunge rock musician because of his drug use, suicide and negative comments about his hometown.
The council did vote to name a small body of land on the Wishkah River the Cobain Landing.
This may come as a surprise to some, but frankly, I applaud this decision. It’s the first sincere decision I have seen from any group of people in quite some time.
While every other politician and corporate group in Washington State insincerely trip over each other to paint themselves as Cobain fans, the Abderdeen City Council said what everyone else already fully knew: “Cobain’s lifestyle is wholly incompatible with the values we espouse”.
That’s the way it should be. The Aberdeen City Council shouldn’t be Cobain fans. Neither should Boeing, Wells Fargo, or any corporate news station. While Aberdeen folks have taken it upon themselves to exploit his fame on some level (The ironic “Come as You Are” Sign is a good example), they’ve decided to draw the line and say “Okay, now it’s time for us to do something that doesn’t involve riding on Kurt’s coattails for the next 20 years. Honestly, we really don’t even like the guy.”
Good for them.
It may just be the most punk decision they’ve ever made.
