ApologetiX- Song Lyrics: Young as You Are

Chart History
From the album Nevermind, Come As You Are was a #3 hit for Nirvana in 1992.

Songwriter:
Kurt Cobain & Nirvana

J's Journal:
I have never to my knowledge mocked Kurt Cobain in our lyrics, in interviews, from the stage or in casual conversation. What happened to him was a tragedy. This is not an anti-Cobain song or an anti-Nirvana song. It is a song that attempts to bring hope to people considering suicide. I know at least two instances in which this parody being played on the radio prevented people from committing suicide. In each case, a listener contemplating suicide called the DJ and was talked out of it and given counsel and help. This parody takes the media to task for running endless videos and glamorous photos of people like Kurt, who die young and die in despair. It was inspired as I watched endless reruns in 1994 of the Nirvana unplugged special and Nirvana tributes, and I felt the media was exploiting somebody else's tragedy. The media perpetuates a myth that we should all die young and stay pretty. Kurt's death wasn't pretty. Kurt was a very talented young man in a very tragic situation. By glamorizing his death and elevating it to martyrdom as many publications and programs and fans do, we do him a grave disservice. Superstars who who die young seldom die happy or glamorously, whether it be Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix, or some of Kurt's fellow artists in the alternative movement like Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, Doug Hopkins of the Gin Blossoms, or Layne Staley of Alice in Chains. The only person who ever died young and is truly worthy of hero worship is also the only person who ever died and brought Himself back to life. He's the only one who can help us. Knowing what I do about Kurt Cobain, I think we can safely assume that he wasn't into hero worship and he wouldn't want somebody else trying to pattern their life after him, even when he was alive. Considering the tragic way in which he died, I'd say he most emphatically wouldn't want others to follow in his footsteps. And yet many do. Suicide is contagious. People see it, and when it gets glamorized, they copy it, especially young people. Furthermore, look at how Nirvana reacted when they became an overnight sensation. Those guys ran from that popularity. They didn't want people blindly copying them.

Stats:
Genre: Grunge
Length: 3:48

Young as You Are
Parody of "Come As You Are" by Nirvana
(Ecclesiastes 12:1)

Young as you are, as you were, as we want you to be
Kurt Cobain lives again in our own memories
Tape rewinds; there you are; the voice is yours
And the face, stays preserved evermore when you’re on M-TV, yeah, M-TV
Young as you are, can’t you see that that’s no way to be?
Kurt is dead; that’s the end and there’s no remedy, yeah, remedy
It’s a chance that he won’t have again, no he won’t have again
Young as He was, 33, Jesus died for you and me
Let Him in as a friend, and you know where you’ll be ... yeah, Heavenly
And that’s when, man, you’ll be born again
Yeah, you’ll be born again