Britney Spears '07-'08 Vs Kurt Cobain '93-'94.

I would just like to say that is possibly my most favourite thread title ever.........


(this is meant in no way detrimental to Ms Spears, thankyou)

that's what im here for.

i think it's a nice pic of her. it's a punk rock moment. it is a young woman throwing off the shackles of her image. it is a healthy self-destruction of all expectations and a 'fuck you' to her record company, management and those who would choose to exploit her appearance to sell her as a commodity just before she has to be in tip-top shape and looking incredible to promote an album. (in rock terms, it's the equivalent of Nirvana getting Albini to record the follow-up to their big pop-rock hit album).

in an age of media saturation, with a million channels of whatever you want whenever you want it... in an age of faceless perfection in pop... in an age of meaningless drivel in popular new rock culture... she is, truly, a saviour.

she is a voice of common failings, imperfections and mistakes.. in much the same way that Cobain reached out and screamed the insecurities, fears and anger of millions of young people at the start of the 90's.

Use just once and destroy
Invasion of our piracy
Afterbirth of a nation
Starve without your skeleton key

I love you for what I am not
I did not want what I have got
A blanket acne'ed with cigarette burns
Speak at once while taking turns

What is what i need?
What is wrong with me?
What is what i need?

It's nothing to do with what you think
If you ever think at all
Bi-polar opposites attract
All of a sudden my waters broke

I love you for what I am not
I do not want what I have got
A blanket acne'ed with cigarette burns
Second-rate third degree burns

what is what i need
What is wrong with me
What do I think I think

Hate your enemies
Save, save your friends
Find, find your place
Speak, speak the truth.

"she was not meant for a world like this."

I agree. Now make her go away. m, you seem to have lost your mind. Maybe as a tribute to your britney, who knows. She looks quite insane in your avatar.

Now I'm going to ignore this thread.

I agree entirely with mokkz.

I once compared the Backstreet Boys with Elvis Presley (this was 10 years ago probably). I like the Britney/Kurt comparison.

Nice pic of Mick Miller you have as an av there, m

I think you draw out interesting similarities between the two, but, though it may be obvious, I think it bears stating that Kurt was more intelligent, insightful, and creatively gifted than Britney. Which gave him the capacity to really stand outside of his own condition, and in some cases, the world's, and look in. That is what is so haunting about his music.

Britney, on the other hand, seems to me to be simply caught in a blind reaction to her circumstances, in which others are trying to place her into a role into which she clearly does not fit. Her reactions provide an interesting commentary on her personal condition and a lot of larger social conditions, but how self-aware is she, really?

That element of awareness is what elevates a person's story from the pathetic to the tragic, and it is what I find informs the most compelling art. Does Britney have the capacity to become more self-aware? Perhaps, but even so, I have my doubts she will ever come into her own power like many strong women in the pop and rock world. I'd love for her to prove me wrong, but I find her much less interesting than, say, a woman like Courtney Love, who, love her or hate her, knows how to locate her own power and use it.

Back to Kurt... Another difference is, one gets the sense from things that Kurt said and wrote that he realized that there was ultimately nothing and no one to rebel against. Britney is still caught in the mindset that she is rebelling against something, like an adolescent rebelling against her parents. There is a depth of despair that can be reached when one realizes there is nothing to fight against that simply cannot be reached when one has a mental image that one is fighting against some truly existing, larger entity, whether that be a government conspiracy, larger than life parents, or whatever else. Kurt seemed to stand alone, and know it, in a way Britney does not.

I feel for Britney, I admire and cheer on her rebellion, and I think she has potential to become an even more interesting artist and person if she continues to survive. But I cannot deny the obvious lack of depth to her when she is compared to someone who had gifts and capacities that she plainly does not.

well, all of that is a given, obviously. but that is the difference between rock and pop, which i already stated. and quite honestly, i dont think anyone since Kurt has hit that depth and clarity in rock music, let alone in pop music.



i think she is hugely self-aware. she has a lifetime of being in the public eye, and a lifetime of media-training which has clearly turned her back on.



i disagree about the Courtney thing. she is a bit of a puppet, and not remotely creative (im thinking- albums helmed/arranged/co-written by Kim Deal, Kurt Cobain, Billy Corgan, Linda Perry). she is, like Britney, primarily a crowd-pleasing performer who gets people in to do the groundwork.



i disgree again on some of that. but i dont have time to explain why right now as im going to the cinema.



of course she has depth. i think you're underestimating what it takes to be a child star and to leave all that behind. to be a mother without her children. to love someone who is ultimately destroying you personally and professionally.

perhaps a Marilyn Monroe comparison is more the order of the day... but who here would've bothered to read that and listen to me spouting opinions..? for effect, and for the 'music star in freefall' comparison, this was my best option.

does anyone want to hear about how the Beatles recorded and arranged Strawberry Fields Forever....?

i cant believe this thread has reached 2 pages

Just dont make me listen to the crap and im fine with whatever she does, if she has Jesus's love child or cuts her hair.

do you believe in life after love?

youtube.com/watch?v=W-xKUU5sWS4

I believe this should be in every thread from now on.