Rock Star Requiem,
©℗ 2024 Kenn Harris.
All rights reserved.
May 31, 2024
Short Version:
Rockstar Requiem is a tribute album in memory of Kurt Cobain, with reference to the Nirvana MTV Unplugged Video, and more specifically to the hauntingly beautiful song, “Come As You Are.”
TMI version:
Kurt Cobain was a genius, a sensitive soul, and the more I learned about his life, music, writing and profound sadness, the more important this project became to me.
It is hoped that this heartfelt requiem will be an honor to his memory, and that those who loved, love or will love his legacy as the leader of Nirvana will understand that intent.
I thought I was going to record just one single track but after recording & mastering one version, another was created, & another... each with a different aesthetic palette of sound, & voice, and instrumentation, & reverb, echo, & distortion within the mastering challenges.
Eventually there were 7 versions that required a decision, pick "the best track" or expand the single to an album. I found out that each individual track needed its own titlei n order to publish. Each reflects my understanding of the story,,, of Kurt & Nirvana & the geographical, musical, developmental & emotional complexity of each stage of Kurt’s life. I came to realize that he was an absolute genius, & the full sadness, expressed in every moment of the MTV Unplugged performance, and succession, of events, that lead to his death, thereafter were so deeply tragic.
I had written the song just after his death, and remember the incomprehensible loss of another Rock Star in the "27 Club" (I had seen Janice a few times, & was at Wood stock & heard Jimmy) and loved the Doors....
The original version was fairly raw, caustic, etc. I was not a fan of Punk Rock. But over the years since, I think I got better at the craft of songwriting, and only really remembered the chorus thus rewrote most of it after watching the MTV Unplugged Video for the first time, & was almost shocked by the pathos, tone, mood... & nearly prophetic vision of his requiem appearing in real time, yup right there on TV!
The more I studied, learned and incorporated... the more stark the sadness became, the more direct the lyrics and music became. Tons of writes cross outs rewrites over months... Although I take many liberties with grammar, I had an wonderful English teacher in High School, who introduced me to the love of use of language.
This album was my way of paying tribute to Kurt, with the hope that some of the words and images, will reflect that intent, and in some way connect, and comfort others who loved Nirvana, and Kurt Cobain, & the legacy of the music.
Lake Washington Boulevard was the last & most complex track, and the subject of the full video.
I took 2 film courses in College from a wonderful teacherProf William Keyworth) and used some old knowlege & created the images to accompany the sound track one late night... after Easter.
There is a full music album, & a few shorts on YouTube, & a 7 minute, 27 seconds version which incorporates a thematic methodology inspired by work of the visual, video and conceptual artist, Bill Viola.
This Track is named Lake Washington Boulevard.
Critical review by my dear wife & daughter over texts & calls etc & a ton of music language discussions, ("too synthy"(how about just guitar/voice +/- harmonica simpler... ) & a lot of rethinking & collaboration over every minute detail with my friend Odie at ABCAT made this a labor of love. Each session complete with master, done, then Re-do. So by the end of the process ather than trying to pick one song... one song became an album, with multiple takes, guitars, etc.
(I had a discussion with my son (a huge Nirvana Fan & saw them in Phoenix) what was his favorite song? on the MTV Unplugged Show... "Come as You Are" so I listened to this one over & over again... I made my own arrangement for acoustic, electric guitar... & just before playing it at an open mic in Tempe, I asked a friend who loved Nirvana, to read the lyrics to see if It was ok... his response was one word "perfect!" So I played Come as You Are and Rock Star Requiem...
On doing research I I later found out Nirvana played at the Mason Jar in Phoenix when first starting out. My son's HS band played there... I played there! now called The Rebel Lounge.
Album everywhere and & Video on YouTube
Rock Star Requiem CP Kenn Harris 2024
Lyrics & Music & Production Kenn Harris 2024
LYRICS:
There was a man
He had a band
He had it made
That’s what they said
He threw it all away
He threw it all away
He threw it all away
He threw it all away
He had a wife
They had a child
Love and a life
Sometimes it got wild
He threw it all away
He threw it all away
He threw it all away
He threw it all away
A burned out star of wounds and memories
Of suffering that never went away
The enemy dressed up like an old friend
Promising to help ease all the pain
Promising to help ease all the pain
The requiem premiered on MTV
Of twenty-seven vigils ‘round the sun
Black candlelight and Eastertide lilies
And he swore that he didn’t have a gun
And he swore that he didn’t have a gun
There was a man
He had a band
He had it made
That’s what they said
He threw it all away
He threw it all away
He threw it all away
He threw it all away
He threw it all away…
LINK BELOW TO FULL YOUTUBE VIDEO 7 MINUTES 27 SECONDS VERSION LAKE WASHINGTON BOULEVARD
