The bridge referenced in Nirvana‘s song ‘Something In The Way’ is at risk of destruction.
Located in frontman Kurt Cobain‘s hometown of Aberdeen, Washington, the Young Street Bridge has become a shrine of sorts for the late singer, having been covered with Nirvana-themed graffiti and messages in the 30 years since his death. It is referenced in the opening lines of ‘Something In The Way’ as Cobain contemplates what life would be like “if I was living under the bridge and I was dying of AIDS, if I was sick and I couldn’t move and I was a total street person” – “Underneath the bridge/Tarp has sprung a leak.”
However, the bridge, which was built in 1956, is suffering from the effects of “aging and deteriorating bridge conditions” according to a website created by the city of Aberdeen. Though the bridge is at risk of destruction, the city has secured a $23million federal funding grant to revitalise the bridge and “honour the significance of Kurt Cobain”. Nonetheless, the original structure itself may be destroyed.
One option they have is to just restore the bridge in its current form, while they could also just replace parts of it, or instead replace the bridge in its entirety. Regardless, the city has promised that whatever happens “accommodates Kurt Cobain significance.”
The news follows numerous people close to Cobain paying tribute to him on the 30th anniversary of his death on Friday (April 5).
Krist Novoselic paid tribute to his former bandmate this week, saying Nirvana remain “as strong as ever, if not stronger” and said the reason for that endurance lies with Cobain.
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“It’s Kurt – he had this charisma, this intensity that was, and still is, compelling to people. And then he had the knack for melody. Something came from deep inside.”
Meanwhile, Frances Bean Cobain, the daughter of Kurt, yesterday (April 5) shared a moving post on the 30th anniversary of the musician’s death.
Frances took to Instagram to share a series of images of her father alongside a tribute to him while opening up about his death impacted her throughout her life. She discussed how she wished she “could have known” him.
Elsewhere on the anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death, the BBC announced special programming to commemorate the life of the rock icon, and photography duo Guzman (aka husband and wife Constance Hansen and Russell Peacock) spoke to NME about their new book of unseen images of the late Nirvana frontman.