Nirvana and the 90s

Plaid flannel swarmed the streets and teenagers were either donning the Birkenstock or the Doc Martin. It was an age defined by commerce as well as anti commerce sentiment. It was the ultimate push and pull of the "Generation X."

Looking back upon it, when we all felt like we were the original 'Lost' generation, we felt like what will Smith coined "Parents just don't understand" was the mantra to follow. Yes, Smith was a singer and song writer before reaching super stardom. Little did we know that every generation that came before us believed the same thing. Even Elvis was censored on national television.

Those days were the hay days of the jam band and the birth of Grunge scene. We had one genre that was singing of transcendence into the music, while other screamed about not being understood and finding solace deep within ourselves. The grunge movement made people appreciate the turmoil of the time. The country was in war in the Gulf and the beginning of national division was commencing.

The teenagers of the time were going the way of political parties and were becoming divided also. On one side you had Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain and their realist teachings that was reaching into the depths of our souls and forcing us to rage against the comfort of our lives, because in the end it was a false sense of security that propped us up, while on the other side we had the jam band culture, that preached a romantic ideal which was seething with wonder of the world around us.

Today a blog came up on my radar about the origin of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and it reminded me of the turbulent times and what it meant to me.

This article, combined with a nostalgic feelings of an age that seemed to represent my lost of innocence and faith in all that seemed safe, allowed me to realize that the teenage wasteland still exists. Divisions of culture still exist as teenagers polarize around either hip hop, country or rock and roll. There is no unity of this generation and it seems to me be echoing the emptiness that is perpetrated by the media and the political arena. The country stands as liberal or conservative because someone else tells them to think that way, thank you "silo effect".

As I end my editorial for the week I look back as I look forward and I ponder over the lyrics of the Pearl Jam song "Release" and realize that we are all riding "the rocking horse of time" waiting for eternity.