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Journals

Kurt Cobain

3.99 · Rating details · 14,496 ratings · 566 reviews

The lyrics notebook and personal journals of Kurt Cobain, iconic singer of the band Nirvana.

Kurt Cobain filled dozens of notebooks with lyrics, drawings, and writings about his plans for Nirvana and his thoughts about fame, the state of music, and the people who bought and sold him and his music. His journals reveal an artist who loved music, who knew the history of rock, ...more

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Hardcover, 304 pages

Published November 4th 2003 by Riverhead Books (first published October 2002)

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Aug 11, 2016 Deanna rated it liked it

I bought this for my daughter for her birthday as she's a huge fan. I got it for a pretty good deal off of eBay. It is used but in great shape.

There's all kinds of things in it drawings, lyrics, letters even recipes and grocery lists. My daughter and I both thought it was pretty cool. Loved the look of it. The Mead spiral notebook cover reminds me of the notebooks I used to have. Apparently the material was originally contained in around 20 different notebooks.

There were some very funny notes ...more

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Aug 19, 2010 Paquita Maria Sanchez rated it did not like it

Shelves: plays-n-poems, actuals-n-factuals

The fact that this book exists:

1) makes me never want to trust anyone ever ever EVER again.

2) leaves me with even less faith in love than I had before I flipped through it. (Don't worry. I watched Imagine afterward and felt much better.)

3) makes me want to throw up in my mouth a tiny bit. Okay, a lot. Rivers.

4) reminds me that the first time I saw it, it was on a display with a Kurt Cobain action figure. I believe this speaks for itself.

5) makes me want to sock Courtney Love. And I'm non-violen ...more

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Oct 26, 2010 Sarah Jacquie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, nirvana, biography, poetry, music

I've been a Nirvana fan since 1993, and after 1994 I collected all the unfortunate articles, magazines, books, and everything you could think of. I was sad, confused, and most of all lost. I still remember 1994 like it was yesterday and it has stayed with me... but life moved on and you either went on or as a few people I've sadly lost, didn't. It stayed with you though, no matter how much you had moved on. It was like a dark spot in the back of my mind that I kept to myself, or only thought abo ...more

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Jan 28, 2017 F rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017, famous-people, poetry, non-fiction, usa

Very personal notes.

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Oct 15, 2018 Dave Schaafsma rated it liked it

Shelves: auto-bio-memoir, music

I found this at my local library sale this past summer, read it through, and in the process thought I would give it to Jessie Ann Foley, author of Carnival at Bray, which features a concert with Nirvana, and for which Cobain's spirit seems central. Nineties grunge rock. This volume is a facsimile of Cobain's actual journals and notebooks and unsent letters. I, an old folkie, preceded Nirvana by a long shot, but I was smart enough to know what he represented to the young people of his generation, ...more

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May 10, 2017 Horace Derwent marked it as to-read

give me leonard cohen's after world, i have very bad postures

if there's no such things as those beautiful corpses, then how can we witness the magnificent lights of Rock n' Roll without stepping on them? ...more

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Jan 18, 2020 Vartika rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I was balls-deep into Nirvana in my mid-teens, and was as close to worshipping the frontman as could be (a painting of Kurt as a gun-and-cigarette-toting Jesus still hangs prominently in my childhood bedroom today). But over the years, my obsession wore off somewhat, relegated to wherever it is that our precious memories of teenage pretentiousness go after we outgrow them. I never stopped wanting to read these journals, though — I really, really wanted to figure him out.

I finally got to do that I was balls-deep into Nirvana in my mid-teens, and was as close to worshipping the frontman as could be (a painting of Kurt as a gun-and-cigarette-toting Jesus still hangs prominently in my childhood bedroom today). But over the years, my obsession wore off somewhat, relegated to wherever it is that our precious memories of teenage pretentiousness go after we outgrow them. I never stopped wanting to read these journals, though — I really, really wanted to figure him out.

I finally got to do that when I received a copy for my 21st birthday, and it feels like having been re-ordained. Kurt Cobain: Journals is a collection of notes, drawings and personal writings that reveal their author to be a real revolutionary. Kurt hated glamour and capitalism; hated the injustices inherent to the liberal-conservative, sexist and deeply prejudiced white-male-supremacist American core; and most of all, hated the way the system manipulates people into obedience. His writing reveals a deeply perceptive, creative, kind, funny and self-aware man, quite contrary to the pretentious, destructive junkie scum the popular media of the time made him out to be. He was a well-reasoned anarchist, and reading his thoughts in his own words made me understand his work and music much, much better.

While Kurt always expressed his disdain at his personal life being turned into spectacle, collectible and profits, I don't know — and indeed, there is no way of knowing — if he would've ever wanted these pages of "poetry, personal writings and lyrics" published. The way some entries have been written and rewritten do seem to indicate that they were meant for other eyes, but perhaps not everyone's. These journals nevertheless reveal a literary streak in the musical genius, a primal, intuitive sense of ease with which he put his mind to paper as brilliantly as he did to song.

Kurt Cobain: Journals is a powerful collection of the personal musings and lifelong protest of an extraordinarily perspicacious man — an intimate record of a mind that not only defined a musical genre, but also an entire generation. ...more

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Jun 10, 2015 Scarlet Cameo rated it liked it

Shelves: rc-16

"It's hard to decipter the difference between a sincere entertainer and a honest swindler"

Kurt Cobain, the one who change a generation and transcended the dead...was a really complex man. He saw his live in a really dark and sad way, but at the same time, somehow, he was positive about the future, but the world turned his back.

Are two things about this book, first isn't exactly a journal, in fact there are letters and excerpts from the actual diary, but not complete. This is bad? No, i feel ...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Meggan rated it really liked it

Shelves: memoir

0/5. I just don't understand this Cobain guy. He slams his Mead "The Spiral" notebook on a scanner bed, collects a check, and calls it a day. Not even inviting a pompous rock journalist to write an introduction. How am I supposed to know what he means by "THE OLD SCHOOL IS GOING DOWN FAST, FUCK FACE" without Kurt Loder voice overs to interpret for me? I sorta sense that he is angry at baby boomers. But I don't know why. What's wrong with recycling "Louie Louie" and "GeeEllOhArEyeAa" over and ove ...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Ettore Pasquini added it

Shelves: musica

Well, as I expected I felt pretty dirty reading these diaries. Not as bad as watching the Montage of Heck garbage though: the hand-writing at least connects you to a form of reality. 'Cause let's not forget that "Cobain was a master at jerking your chain".

In any case, this book is for die-hard fans only: it's a non-book with a young man's private notes, including a few letters to some of his friends, drawings, lyrics, plus one or two interesting reflections about drug usage.

Cobain's drive and d Well, as I expected I felt pretty dirty reading these diaries. Not as bad as watching the Montage of Heck garbage though: the hand-writing at least connects you to a form of reality. 'Cause let's not forget that "Cobain was a master at jerking your chain".

In any case, this book is for die-hard fans only: it's a non-book with a young man's private notes, including a few letters to some of his friends, drawings, lyrics, plus one or two interesting reflections about drug usage.

Cobain's drive and dedication to create something meaningful permeate these notes. For me that's the main value of this thing: it can be inspiring. "Any band that wants to go anywhere should practice at least 5 times a week.” This quote was from a letter to a drummer they fired because he couldn't practice enough: so much for the slacker ethos. Even when he’s extremely high and rambling a lot, you can feel, almost smell that single focus, the north star that pulled him forward, up and down. The pen can blacken the paper or faint away, and some pages can be hard to read, but you can see the continuous machinations about the craft, the music, the visuals, the band. If the songs had not been enough, here you can understand how Nirvana was the quintessential punk band, more than any other rationalization.

Other things that come out are the contradictions. From “taking the greatest responsibility” of having a child to being addicted to drugs, to the blatant one on the first page:

"Don't read my diary when I'm away.
Please read my diary
And figure me out"

Someone (was it Kim Gordon? I'm not 100% sure) said that only Nirvana were able to use a cheesy guitar chorus effect and actually get away with it without sounding corny. That’s one way to describe the mystery and aura that always surrounded them. For as long as I’ve known them I’ve asked myself, “Why them?” Well, this is it; quite simply, the intensity and the conscious focus (beside the talent, of course) set them apart and allowed those songs to blast out.
...more

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Dec 10, 2007 Sunil rated it really liked it

Shelves: self-narratives, reviews, flats-and-sharps

Though the book is a capitalistic marketing of an icon I could not resist buying it. I wanted to know if he was the same person I had reckoned him to be through his songs. When I finished the book , I had realised how incredibly daft and supremely beautiful was his passion for music. The book is an excellent journey of affect through passion and how it burns you out if left on its own.

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May 14, 2007 Conrad Zero rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: True Fans of Nirvana

Shelves: non-fiction

Have you ever seen a 'serial killer' movie when they find the secret hideout of the bad guy, and inevitibly there are newspaper clippings tacked to the walls, drawings, quotes, pictures, etc...

Well, cross that with your High School Underground Notebook and you have Kurt Cobain's Journals. It's full of doodles, sketches, and lyric work on Nirvana songs. It also has drafts of concert fliers, notes to friends and some diary entries and rants. This was one of many journals made by Kurt Cobain, but ...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Lotus rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

The low rating is NOT due to the journals content (how can you rate something like someone's journals anyhow?!) but more so to the fact that I didn't feel good about reading someones personal thoughts not meant to be shared. I also suspect I likely would have enjoyed this a lot more back in the 80's.

I finally decided to get this out at the library out of curiosity I guess but now wish that I hadn't...I mostly skimmed it, read a bit of it more in depth but it just seemed really so very personal a ...more

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Aug 16, 2019 Ghoul Von Horror rated it did not like it

Shelves: library, books-i-hated, 2019-books-read, not-worth-the-hype, dnf, bio-or-memoir

No no and no. What is this book? These are not journals. I journal everyday and that's not what's in this book. It's just random peices of paper, unfinished letters to random people we don't know, and plans for a cleaning business & tee shirt designs. What a cash grab with this book....! It's super annoying that when letters were included that there was not the person the letter was addressed to talk about the letter. Clearly they gave it back to be published so why not include some little note ...more

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Oct 21, 2013 Brandon Dalo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir-and-autobiography, non-fiction, music

Instead going into a review of Nirvana, let me just stick to reviewing these journals themselves. They are the legitimate journals of the late Kurt Cobain, and also included are various drawings, lyrics of his, and letters he wrote to other people. All of these are scanned up so that you see the original pages as they were.

The first thing I want to mention are how private they feel, and how you almost feel guilty for peeking into them. Even the front of his notebook says, “If you read you’ll ju ...more

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Apr 13, 2019 Udai rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

Oh god I feel like a nosy creep after reading someone else's journals
If someone went through my stuff I'd kill the person in a very slow, painful way

But this is Kurt
and man oh man
he really wasn't made for this world
I really enjoyed discovering that we had a lot of thoughts in common
I looooved his feminist rants
his Ideas about journalism and the media
about mainstream stuff and companies and governments
and most important of all about punk rock
I love Nirvana and I love Kurt
and the only reason I d ...more

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Sep 25, 2016 Sara rated it it was amazing

other people do save the world in 3 hours - I've read the whole book.
Kurt Cobain was such a inspiring personality, I couldn't stop reading through his journals and his thoughts and stories and ideas. he was just brilliant ...more

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Mar 17, 2018 Megan Larson added it

“Don’t read my diary when I’m gone OK, Im going to work now, when you wake up this morning, please read my diary. Look through my things, and figure me out.”

How do you rate someone’s journals? They are a collection of whirling, sporadic, private thoughts of an individual - I don’t think you can rate something like that.

This was an interesting read. This book is made up of diary entries, letters, notes, lyrics, poetry, and drawings that come directly from Kurt’s spiral bound notebooks. The cover “Don’t read my diary when I’m gone OK, Im going to work now, when you wake up this morning, please read my diary. Look through my things, and figure me out.”

How do you rate someone’s journals? They are a collection of whirling, sporadic, private thoughts of an individual - I don’t think you can rate something like that.

This was an interesting read. This book is made up of diary entries, letters, notes, lyrics, poetry, and drawings that come directly from Kurt’s spiral bound notebooks. The cover reads, “If you read, you’ll judge.” From reading this, you find out that Kurt had a lot of problems with how he was portrayed in the media - how he would give an in-depth 2 hour interview, but what ended up being released would be a quote that would be taken out of context - he felt he was not portrayed truthfully, and this lead to the masses judging him based on out of context or incomplete information. He mentions again and again that “I am not a junkie,” but unfortunately this was (and still is) at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds when Kurt Cobain is mentioned. Reading his own words, you’ll judge based off of his truth, rather than the perception that has permeated pop culture. I think he would prefer that.

There is controversy surrounding this book, and I understand why. It is a collection of writings from what were Kurt’s private journals. Kurt has almost become mythic to some, and the publication of what were his personal journals seems disrespectful and an invasion of his private life. It also can seem like a cash grab since he has taken on this myth of the tragic rock star, and Nirvana was such a successful band.

While one end of the spectrum holds him up as mythic, the other side paints him as a one dimensional junkie who screamed into a microphone. These journals reveal a person who believed hard work was necessary to achieve success (“You must practice 5 hours a day if you’re going to make it”), who loved his daughter, who was sensitive, who held strong political beliefs, and cared about those who do not fit society’s status quo.

I think the problem sometimes is that it’s so easy to paint people like Kurt, Amy Winehouse, or Janis Joplin as simply drug addicts and nothing more; that’s like throwing a person away into the trash. I think that’s wrong. These are human beings and they should be treated as such, even after they’re gone. I think reading these journals provides a deeper insight into Kurt Cobain. You might not like what he has to say or the music he created, but there’s no denying that he was a complex person with a lot to say.

Try to figure him out. ...more

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Oct 15, 2016 Rachel rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Rachel by: Kristin

Shelves: nonfiction, biography-memoir, psychology

Reading Kurt Cobain's Journals is a fast track into the mind of the deceased rockstar himself. As someone who was born only a few years before Cobain died, I didn't grow up with Nirvana woven into the fabric of my youth, but I've grown to appreciate their grunge fuck-it-allness over time. Somewhat surprisingly, the biggest thing I got out of the Journals was a sense of Cobain's business mind and commitment to his music. There are a lot of talented, innovative musicians out there, but nothing big ...more

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Jun 12, 2013 Hadeer rated it it was amazing

I'm not really into reading autobiographies of musicians specially if it's the personal thoughts of a dead man who didn't want it to be published .. But my curiosity let me get over the remorse of conscious ..
In the first pages the book describes the early beginnings of nirvana .. to the prime of their glory days
It also shows the overwhelming influence of heroine over Kurt's life , music and mental health and how his drug addiction was enhanced by his stomach condition .. He wasn't one of thes ...more

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Oct 12, 2007 Chris Freeman rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Fans, Non-Fans

Ok when i first heard about this, I thought it was a cheap pandering to the fan-boys. But it is totally worth it. It's more than just scrawled song lyrics. It's really pretty intimate. The voice of a generation was just as confused as the rest of us. I guess we knew that already, but here are the details. ...more

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Dec 13, 2015 Amanda rated it liked it

This is a lower rating simply because I don't really know how to rate it. Yes, I bought this book because I am a HUGE Nirvana fan. Yes, I bought it back in my early teenage years where I was mildly (ok, maybe unhealthily) obsessed with Kurt Cobain. Now it just feels dirty and wrong to read it. Needless to say, I don't have this one displayed out in the open on my bookshelves. Respect for Kurt. ...more

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Jan 18, 2016 Somya rated it it was amazing

This was a gift to me by my best friend on my 18th birthday. I'll always remember that insignificant birthday because of her. ...more

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Oct 14, 2017 Audrey (Warped Shelves) rated it really liked it

Shelves: popsugar-2018

Kurt had really shit handwriting, I gotta say.

It was really sad to see how his entries grew more cynical through the duration of the Journals. Sometimes I found the entries/Kurt's thoughts a little hard to follow (this is partially due to the occasionally illegible handwriting) but nonetheless I still thought that this was an enjoyable, insightful, and very interesting read. It was so personal and REAL.

It seems a little bit wrong to rate somebody's personal journals on a 5-star-scale, but what ...more

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Nov 14, 2015 Marck Rimorin rated it it was amazing

Reading someone's diary will always be an uncomfortable thing, especially if that person is an icon of a generation who is a study in self-destruction. For those of us who know Kurt Cobain's story, we know the elements of depression that came with his ultimate fate: despondency, drug addiction, the ups and downs with life in love and life on the road with one of the world's most phenomenally successful bands. Yet these journals—written in Kurt's own hand—show that story from Kurt's very own eyes ...more

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Dec 26, 2017 Charlie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: autobiographical

Perhaps Kurt is so fascinating -besides his early death which people love to romanticise-
because he was so complex and didn't fear showing it.
I love trying to decipher his, sometimes rather obscure, song lyrics. Whether I completely understand what he was trying to say doesn't matter as long as his writing resonates with me but it is interesting to look into it.
If this book gave me one thing it is references of his. What he liked ( music related and otherwise) and some of his thought/work proce ...more

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Aug 01, 2017 Vivian Vollbrecht rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I am a huge Nirvana fan although I was born 5 years after Kurts suicide.
It was really amazing to see how "normal" Kurt was and that he sometimes lied to himself or felt mistreated as he got ripped apart by journalists trying to keep him in the spot light.
You also follow a man, who at first did what he loved and slowly found the flaws in the industry and the burden that taggs along with fame.
I found a lot of parallels between his thoughts and his way of expressing them and mine. He wrote when h ...more

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Apr 28, 2020 Yash Sinojia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, non-fiction, postmodern, music, memoir

This is the most postmodern thing that I've read so far.
And this is one of the definitive literature of our times. ...more

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Aug 21, 2012 stupidus rated it it was ok

Shelves: music

Kurt apparently never wanted to see his journals to be published. Then again the man was a walking contradiction. Be that as it may, "Journals" offer an insight to Kurt's world.

( Besides, an asshole who shoots himself in the head, leaving behind a daughter and a wife, not to mention band members and other friends, has no moral rights to make any demands as far as I'm concerned. )

Still, it's assuring to know that like most lyricists/poets Kurt honed his lyrics too. In 99 cases out of 100, they al ...more

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May 15, 2010 Natalie Pietro rated it liked it

Shelves: poetry, table-top, poison

I had very mixed feeling about this book. Yes they are Kurt Cobain's personal journals that shouldn't be read but he stated in his journal "Don't read my diary when I'm gone. OK, I'm going to work now, when you wake up this morning, please read my diary. Look through my things, and figure me out." So part of me says yes its okay to read them but the other part says stay back they are his personal thoughts. However anyone who keeps a diary knows one day when they are gone their diary will be read I had very mixed feeling about this book. Yes they are Kurt Cobain's personal journals that shouldn't be read but he stated in his journal "Don't read my diary when I'm gone. OK, I'm going to work now, when you wake up this morning, please read my diary. Look through my things, and figure me out." So part of me says yes its okay to read them but the other part says stay back they are his personal thoughts. However anyone who keeps a diary knows one day when they are gone their diary will be read. They want you to read them or they wouldn't keep such intimate thoughts on paper.
The journals are filled with music lyrics, doodles, layouts for music videos, letters to friends, list of his favorite bangs, and deep reflection about life, music, and his drug problems. I was hopping to find out a different side of Kurt but didn't come close to learning much more then I all ready knew. Okay I take that back, I learned he can draw like a master, his doodles were very original and creepy, he's a great poet and can write great lyrics, we have many favorite bands in common, and well he loves his daughter more then anything and wants to be there for her.
That brings me to the whole realization of why would he off himself at such a young age if his life wasn't complete. He did write, "Hope I die before I turn into Pete Townshend." That doesn't mean he wants to kill himself. He didn't sound sad or confused in his writing. He was a drug addict and that could change your perspective on life. However he states he only used once in a while only to help his stomach ulcers. I am one of those believers that Courtney had something to do with his death. You can't find any facts in the book but you can just tell with his writing he doesn't mean harm.
All in all this was a good read. Different in the way each page was his personal handwriting. Parts were difficult to read cause his handwriting was scribble. Could be cause of the drugs or he just had so much on his mind he had to write it as quick as he could think? I never was a big Nirvana fan and this book hasn't changed my mind in the way I feel. This book was a very offbeat anthology. ...more

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About Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain

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Kurt Donald Cobain, was an American musician who served as lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Seattle-based rock band Nirvana.

Cobain formed Nirvana in 1987 with Krist Novoselic. Within two years, the band became a fixture of the burgeoning Seattle grunge scene. In 1991, the arrival of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" marked the beginning of a dramatic shift of popular rock music awa ...more