Sunday, April 20, 2014

Nirvana: The Man Who Sold the World



The Man Who Sold the World is a David Bowie song which, a little improbably, was brought to the British singles chart in 1974 by Lulu.

I like this Nirvana version, which I heard playing in the little shop at Market Harborough station the other day while I waited for my coffee. Grunge did for American rock what punk did for British rock in its day: purged it of bombast for a little while.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I saw Bowie (supportedby Morrissey) at Webley not long after Cobain's death. He sang this song and the audience were obviously thinking of Cobain. Bowie said "he was stupid and he deserved to die". Cue sharp intakes of breath from everyone. And yet over the years I have come to the conclusion that Bowie said exactly the right thing, not as a heartless remark but as a shock that might pause the hand of anyone who found themselves in Cobain's condition.