I don't blame the average seventeen-year-old punk-rock kid for calling me a sellout. I understand that. And maybe when they grow up a little bit, they'll realize there's more things to life than living out your rock & roll identity so righteously.
With the lights out, It's less dangerous. Here we are now, Entertain us. I feel stupid, And contagious. Here we are now. Entertain us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a sense of irony about entertainment and the feelings of disconnection in modern life.
Kurt Cobain's lyrics capture a feeling of disillusionment and irony, exploring themes of boredom and the superficiality of fame. The repetition of 'Entertain us' indicates a demand for engagement, while feelings of being 'stupid' and 'contagious' suggest deeper concerns about identity and societal expectations. The phrase 'with the lights out, it's less dangerous' implies a longing for escape from the harsh realities of life, highlighting the paradox of seeking entertainment in times of distress.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a modern art exhibition discussing themes of irony in capitalist culture.
More from Kurt Cobain
All quotes βRape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth and it happens every few minutes. The problem with groups who deal with rape is that they try to educate women about how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men not to rape. Go to the source and start there.
Thank you for the tragedy. I need it for my art.
I get a thrill meeting kids who are into alternative music.
The future of rock belongs to women.
I don't need to be inspired any longer, just supported.
Similar quotes
I didn't want to play it boring and safe. I also didn't want to innovate too much. Second albums, man, they're even scarier than first ones.
Motown will always be a heavy-duty part of my life because those are my roots
Whenever I'm in Kansas City, I think back to all the jazz-blues greats who played the blues here - like Count Basie, Charlie Parker and Jay McShann. I watched those guys jam in different places and heard a lot of things - but I couldn't do what they did. They were too good.
My mom had early rap records, like Jimmy Spicer. In the middle of the records was a turntable and a receiver - I used to scratch records on it - and on top was a reel-to-reel. In front of that wall were more stacks of records. It was either Mom's record or Pop's record, and they had their names on each and every one.
My third day playing saxophone, I was in front of a congregation. I still didn't know the names of all the notes. I was playing by ear, following along, but it was such an encouraging environment, I couldn't fail. It was all, 'Yeah baby, you sound real good' no matter what you play. It was a great way to learn.
The major rock instruments and classical instruments were designed for performance, for sharing the music with an audience, and then later people put microphones on them and recorded them. But for electronic music, the opposite was true - they're designed in laboratories, and later, we tried to put them on stage.