The Generation They Called “X”

Nirvana’s Nevermind Released Sept. 24th, 1991

There are certain things that make your Aunt Betty feel her age: buying a nice sauvignon blanc and not being asked for ID; accepting that “misses” fashions are never as cool as “20-something” fashions; not knowing who most of the bands on MTV are these days (causing laughter and ridicule from my kids)...and the list goes on!

But when I realized it’s now been over 15 years since Nirvana’s Nevermind album came out, I really felt the cobwebs starting to settle. I vividly remember the first time I heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I was driving home from work, tires hugging a winding curve, when the local DJ announced he was going to play “a song from a new alternative band with a lot of buzz.” I already knew who Nirvana were, and owned their first album, Bleach, but figured they’d remain under the radar like so many other “indie” bands of that era.

The minute I heard the opening guitar riff to “Teen Spirit” I knew the world was about to change.

Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic had unleashed all the fear and frustration we wayward Gen X kids had felt since 1983. At least those of us who were more like The Breakfast Club’s free-thinking John Bender than the sushi-eating Claire.

Every generation has its musical lightning rods: Sinatra, Lennon and McCartney, Bowie, Bono. What made Cobain one of these is that 16 years later, “Come As You Are,” “Lithium,” “Heart Shaped Box,” and one of my personal favorites, “Pennyroyal Tea” all sound just as exciting (and a tad unnerving) as they did a decade ago.

That “lightning in a bottle” effect is what turns melancholy musicians from Aberdeen, Washington into icons, even when most of their music cautioned against the very concept.

So, for all of you Gen X-ers out there, take a moment and remember the first time you heard Nevermind. Because it influenced everything you’re hearing today.