1) Much like the hit song (shake me down), this song features themes of life and death/lifespan. Aberdeen is most likely a reference to the birthplace of kurt cobain; here functions as a symbol of birth, beginnings and potential.
2) The opening line is "I've been trying real hard to realize; but some things take a long long long long time (a long time)". Clearly this is a reference to lifespan (craving, temptation, living and learning, making mistakes and potential consequences). The part where he says "I've been trying real hard to realize" seems to suggest the naive curiosity surrounding drugs; people view drugs as giving access to higher understanding or experiences otherwise unavailable to them, often illusory.
The repeats of long (long long long long) suggest a struggle, an inability to overcome obstacles in life... making the same mistakes over and over. This is a reference to drug abuse and the compulsive nature of it. So there is this duality in this line of the curiosity and excitement (of experimenting and recreational use of drugs) and ultimately the stagnant compulsive need to use (of drug addiction).
3) "Hold the phone; hit repeat; you've got me foaming at the knees" seems drug related as well, again seems to reference a cycle of compulsive self destructive behavior and powerless craving associated with drug addiction.
"Saw the flame; tasted sin; you've burned me once again" This is clearly drug related. Flame represents the inherent danger, tasted sin describes the forbidden indulgence. Being burned again clearly describes the ultimate result of drug use - being spent, ashes. Play with fire, get burned. "once again" is another reference to the compulsivity of drug use.
4) "Cut the cord, she's a creep" - this is the most powerful line of the whole song as it describes severing himself from drugs. The phrase "cut the cord" has a dual meaning, as cutting the cord literally means to sever ties from something, usually something destructive to you... however the double meaning is that cutting the cord can also symbolize rebirth as in the umbilical cord. "She's a creep" would be his realization that his relationship with drugs was illusory and harmful, a new realization and beginning.
Immediately after he says this line (cut the cord // shes a creep) he screams "ABERDEEN...WAY BACK, WAY BACK" which is clearly a reference to new beginnings/opportunities/birth. As in, cobain was born in aberdeen, way back when... way back before he ended up in a rehab center in heroin withdrawals leading him to kill himself impulsively.
5) "Never saw my dark side in your eyes; back and fourth bloody fingers paintin up the sky...the sky"
This also seems to suggest drug use & addiction. "Never saw my dark side in your eyes" suggests his vulnerability to end up a drug addict (that is, he never thought he would end up a drug addict initially because all he was thinking of was the pleasure of the drug )... or it could be a reference to the utility of escapism through drugs (while high, everything was okay, he had no darkness).
"Back and fourth bloody fingers paintin up the sky" again references compulsivity of drug use (back and fourth), it also seems to continue the prior theme of moral guilt and temptation ( bloody fingers painting up the sky, much like the line "saw the flame / tasted sin" suggests craving, guilt, consequences). Hands are said to be bloody when one does something immoral, and drugs create a feeling of expansiveness which would conjure images of the vastness of sky (as jimmy hendrix said, "excuse me while I kiss the sky"). Jimmy Hendrix was another casualty of drug addiction, might I add.
I would also mention he seems to imply sexuality, and seems to compare the temptation of drugs similar to the temptation of sex, as sex from a religious perspective is an old sin and a condemned pleasure, much like drug use is in modern society. He gives the drug use a gender ("she's a creep") and "back and fourth" sounds sexual as well.
In fact, the whole song could apply to a bad relationship just as well as drug addiction... however the title of "aberdeen" (kurt cobain's place of birth) clearly makes this a song about drug addiction and the potential consequences of it.
@Noonie! Nice job! But I thought that the "she's a creep" part was a reference to Courtney Love cause Kurt's relationship with her was just as destructive as his drug addiction and I'm pretty sure that Kurt did not kill himself instead Courtney got him killed.
@Noonie! Nice job! But I thought that the "she's a creep" part was a reference to Courtney Love cause Kurt's relationship with her was just as destructive as his drug addiction and I'm pretty sure that Kurt did not kill himself instead Courtney got him killed.
Pretty sure this is about drug abuse.
1) Much like the hit song (shake me down), this song features themes of life and death/lifespan. Aberdeen is most likely a reference to the birthplace of kurt cobain; here functions as a symbol of birth, beginnings and potential.
2) The opening line is "I've been trying real hard to realize; but some things take a long long long long time (a long time)". Clearly this is a reference to lifespan (craving, temptation, living and learning, making mistakes and potential consequences). The part where he says "I've been trying real hard to realize" seems to suggest the naive curiosity surrounding drugs; people view drugs as giving access to higher understanding or experiences otherwise unavailable to them, often illusory. The repeats of long (long long long long) suggest a struggle, an inability to overcome obstacles in life... making the same mistakes over and over. This is a reference to drug abuse and the compulsive nature of it. So there is this duality in this line of the curiosity and excitement (of experimenting and recreational use of drugs) and ultimately the stagnant compulsive need to use (of drug addiction).
3) "Hold the phone; hit repeat; you've got me foaming at the knees" seems drug related as well, again seems to reference a cycle of compulsive self destructive behavior and powerless craving associated with drug addiction. "Saw the flame; tasted sin; you've burned me once again" This is clearly drug related. Flame represents the inherent danger, tasted sin describes the forbidden indulgence. Being burned again clearly describes the ultimate result of drug use - being spent, ashes. Play with fire, get burned. "once again" is another reference to the compulsivity of drug use.
4) "Cut the cord, she's a creep" - this is the most powerful line of the whole song as it describes severing himself from drugs. The phrase "cut the cord" has a dual meaning, as cutting the cord literally means to sever ties from something, usually something destructive to you... however the double meaning is that cutting the cord can also symbolize rebirth as in the umbilical cord. "She's a creep" would be his realization that his relationship with drugs was illusory and harmful, a new realization and beginning. Immediately after he says this line (cut the cord // shes a creep) he screams "ABERDEEN...WAY BACK, WAY BACK" which is clearly a reference to new beginnings/opportunities/birth. As in, cobain was born in aberdeen, way back when... way back before he ended up in a rehab center in heroin withdrawals leading him to kill himself impulsively.
5) "Never saw my dark side in your eyes; back and fourth bloody fingers paintin up the sky...the sky" This also seems to suggest drug use & addiction. "Never saw my dark side in your eyes" suggests his vulnerability to end up a drug addict (that is, he never thought he would end up a drug addict initially because all he was thinking of was the pleasure of the drug )... or it could be a reference to the utility of escapism through drugs (while high, everything was okay, he had no darkness). "Back and fourth bloody fingers paintin up the sky" again references compulsivity of drug use (back and fourth), it also seems to continue the prior theme of moral guilt and temptation ( bloody fingers painting up the sky, much like the line "saw the flame / tasted sin" suggests craving, guilt, consequences). Hands are said to be bloody when one does something immoral, and drugs create a feeling of expansiveness which would conjure images of the vastness of sky (as jimmy hendrix said, "excuse me while I kiss the sky"). Jimmy Hendrix was another casualty of drug addiction, might I add.
I would also mention he seems to imply sexuality, and seems to compare the temptation of drugs similar to the temptation of sex, as sex from a religious perspective is an old sin and a condemned pleasure, much like drug use is in modern society. He gives the drug use a gender ("she's a creep") and "back and fourth" sounds sexual as well. In fact, the whole song could apply to a bad relationship just as well as drug addiction... however the title of "aberdeen" (kurt cobain's place of birth) clearly makes this a song about drug addiction and the potential consequences of it.
DAMN. Very nice.
DAMN. Very nice.
It's about one of the guys losing his virginity in Aberdeen....population next to nothing, Butler County KY. The guys are from around here.
It's about one of the guys losing his virginity in Aberdeen....population next to nothing, Butler County KY. The guys are from around here.
@Noonie! Nice job! But I thought that the "she's a creep" part was a reference to Courtney Love cause Kurt's relationship with her was just as destructive as his drug addiction and I'm pretty sure that Kurt did not kill himself instead Courtney got him killed.
@Noonie! Nice job! But I thought that the "she's a creep" part was a reference to Courtney Love cause Kurt's relationship with her was just as destructive as his drug addiction and I'm pretty sure that Kurt did not kill himself instead Courtney got him killed.