the AMP Issue 42

"I didn't know how to deal with success. If there was a Rock Star 101, I would have liked to take it. It might have helped me."
— Kurt Cobain

In This Issue... 16 pages [less than 24 minutes to read] You'll Get...

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• RECOMMENDS— Fearless Singing by Mike Goodrich

• BACKSTAGE PASS— Kurt Cobain from Philosophers You Have Never Heard Of— The Martyr of Authenticity by Jim Palmer

• the 100 GREATEST SINGER SONGWRITERS of All Time— Kurt Cobain

• MONDEGREEN— Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

• COACHING— a Human Revolution from Tina Turner

• TECH TALK— Surprising ways to prompt AI by Jeremy Caplan

• PS from PS—Do This One Simple Action 

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Here’s the playlist

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• RECOMMENDS— Fearless Singing by Mike Goodrich— and, it’s yours FREE!

There Is No Secret Key To Unlock Your Singing... Because it's a Combination Lock!

This Book Gives You The Combination...
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Yes! Send Me The Book Fearless Singing— Just tap the link.

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Would you like to have Better High Notes, a More Powerful Mix, No Break, Better Tone, and a Dependable Vibrato?

MORE CONFIDENCE!

Wherever you are with your singing, Mike says he's been where you are or maybe even worse!
 
No high notes, no vibrato, lots of strain and discomfort when he sang, couldn't sing softly, terrible phrasing, dull tone, and much more!
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Sounds fun, huh?
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It wasn't. Isn't.
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No, Mike is clearly not selling you on sounding that way.
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That's just how he sounded!
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Mike had to learn pretty much everything, so there's very little (if anything) he hasn't seen and fixed in the singers and voice teachers that have come to him in the last 31 years from all over the world.

So... If You Want:

• Strong and easy high notes you're audience loves
• Great mix and no more breaks, so you can sing anything
• Consistent vibrato to enhance your sound and beautifully color your voice
• Nice tone that everyone loves hearing
• Easy singing so you have plenty of stamina for long shows or recording sessions so it's fun and feels great!

Mike's helped 1000's of singers and well over 100 voice teachers all around the world do all that and more.
 
If you've struggled to get the results you want or for any reason have not been able to crack the code of your voice, then read Fearless Singing for Free and check out the Bonuses that come with it! This book will show you what you've been missing.

Send Me The Book Fearless Singing by Mike Goodrich— Just tap the link.

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• BACKSTAGE PASS— Kurt Cobain from Philosophers You Have Never Heard Of — The Martyr of Authenticity by Jim Palmer

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Ed Note: I (John Fogg) haven't been a fan of Kurt Cobain. Nor 'Punk.' Nor 'Grunge.' I dismissed and dissed them. All. Waste of ear-time. But then I read this article. 

I am ashamed of myself.

I AM a TrueFan of Jim Palmer's thinking and writing, so when I saw this piece on his Substack page I was immediately intrigued. How the hell did Palmer mix Kurt Cobain in with the likes of Spinoza, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, and Michel Foucault? 

"It's not like you're gonna google the greatest philosophers," Palmer wrote, "and start working down the list— Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche…. Cobain. 

"No, Cobain did not earn a degree in philosophy. He dropped out of Aberdeen High School. He never wrote a book about philosophy. Despite the mixed opinions about the legacy of Kurt Cobain, many of the things he said and lyrics he wrote caused me to rethink some of my answers to matters of ultimate significance... I'm not saying we should put Descartes and Cobain on the same list. Socrates wrote, 'The unexamined life is not worth living.' Cobain inspired me to examine mine more vigorously."

And Palmer's article caused me to examine Kurt Cobain more vigorously.

I urge you to tap this link SubStack and read the real deal. It's truly remarkable, so much richer than the chopped-up falling-short taste you'll get here. I tried.
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Kurt Cobain, a philosopher?
Kurt Cobain is an American music icon, most known as the lead singer and guitarist of the American rock band Nirvana. He was heralded as a spokesman for Generation X and is widely recognized as one of the most influential alternative rock musicians. Cobain is shrouded in perplexity and mystique. He is a complicated, controversial, and at times polarizing figure. I speak of Cobain as if he were still alive because thirty years later he remains immortal in the memories of his fans and postmortem cult following. His raw angst and cynicism resonated. He was the John Lennon of grunge.

Cobain and his music appealed to those who felt disaffected and disillusioned, with little hope for the future, and little connection with the world that their parent's generation had created. The eighties culture of greed and materialism had left a generation emotionally and spiritually vacant.

Kurt Cobain and his music ushered in a new era of music that emphasized integrity, emotional honesty, and moral values. His music awoke a whole generation and gave them someone and something to connect with— somebody who represented honest, human qualities. He did not act with ego, he was humble, kind-hearted, and sensitive, and millions of 'kids' from around the world connected with him in a way that is extremely rare, to the point where when he killed himself there were copycat suicides.

It is difficult to overstate just how much of an impact Kurt Cobain had on millions of kids around the world. He literally changed their lives, and whilst he spoke of no overt spiritual message, he somehow expressed a profound message about life, not so much through his actions, but through his being. He was incredibly charismatic and magnetic. 

It is hard to describe his impact, for many he was revered as a religious figure, and his legend and continuing impact on our culture seems only to have increased with time.

There are very few human beings who have had the positive impact that Kurt Cobain has had on millions around the world. He made it a positive thing to be a good human being, a caring human being, a socially aware human being, someone of integrity. Cobain wrote, "The duty of youth is to challenge corruption."

Cobain, the Musician
It's difficult to quantify Kurt Cobain's impact on music. His family had a musical background. His maternal uncle, Chuck Fradenburg, played in a band called the Beachcombers; his aunt, Mari Earle, played guitar and performed in bands. When Cobain was nine years old, his parents divorced. He later said the divorce had a profound effect on his life, and his mother noted that his personality changed dramatically; Cobain became defiant and withdrawn.

Cobain's teenage rebellion quickly became overwhelming for his father who placed him in the care of family and friends. While living with a born-again Christian family, Cobain became a devout Christian and attended church services regularly. He later renounced Christianity and was largely considered an atheist.

Cobain's flirtation with Christianity didn't last long, but his contact with the local church had one benefit— it was here that Cobain met future Nirvana bassist, Krist Novoselic. Novoselic agreed to join Cobain, forming the beginnings of Nirvana. Religion appeared to remain a significant muse to Cobain during this time as he often used Christian imagery in his work and developed an interest in Jainism and  Buddhist philosophy.

When Kurt Cobain and his band became popular, it came from nowhere. There was no expectation for the band to be a success, but from literally being nobodies in September 1991 they were the biggest band in the world by Christmas and knocked Michael Jackson off number one the following January. Their success was so rapid that Kurt was still living in his car when his band was number one.

Nirvana's top singles, voted by fans are:

• Lithium
• Smells Like Teen Spirit
• Heart-Shaped Box
• Come As You Are
• Drain You

The success of their second album Nevermind provided numerous Seattle bands, such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, access to wider audiences. As a result, alternative rock became a dominant genre on radio and music television in the U.S. during the first half of the 1990s. Nirvana was considered the flagship band of Generation X. Cobain was reluctantly anointed by the media as the generation's "spokesman." He resented this characterization since he believed his artistic message was misinterpreted by the public.

Cobain's genuine and raw performances resonated with audiences, connecting with them on an emotional level. His introspective and poetic lyrics, often exploring themes of angst, alienation, and vulnerability, captured the hearts and minds of listeners, establishing him as a voice for a generation. As the frontman of Nirvana, Cobain played a pivotal role in shaping the grunge movement, bringing a new and distinctive sound to rock music that captivated a global audience. He became a symbol of the counterculture and youth rebellion of the 1990s, representing a rejection of societal norms and a search for authenticity.

Cobain's musical career came with consequences. He wrote: "My body is damaged from music in two ways. I have a red irritation in my stomach. It's psychosomatic, caused by all the anger and the screaming. I have scoliosis, where the curvature of my spine is bent, and the weight of my guitar has made it worse. I'm always in pain, and that adds to the anger in our music."

Cobain was Nirvana's chief songwriter and wrote all their lyrics and almost all of their music. Cobain said Nirvana settled on that name because he wanted a more "beautiful" or "friendly" name, as opposed to the harsh names of punk or alternative rock bands at the time (i.e. Angry Samoans). Though Cobain was fond of Buddhism, it is unknown if this factored into the name. Before they became Nirvana, the band was known as Skid Row, Fecal Matter, and Ted Ed Fred. Following the death of Cobain, Nirvana disbanded. In 1994, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl founded a new band, Foo Fighters.

Kurt was outspoken on gay rights, homophobia, and sexism. He was considered by many to be a feminist. The band were ahead of their time in attitudes toward inclusivity. He once said he wished he'd been gay, just to annoy homophobes, and often wore dresses to protest against sexism. "Wearing a dress shows I can be as feminine as I want," he told the LA Times, in a jab at the macho undercurrents he detested in rock. He said, "I'm a heterosexual, big deal. But if I was a homosexual, it wouldn't matter either." He admitted to spray-painting cars with "God is gay" and was once arrested for graffitiing by police in Aberdeen, Washington State.

Cobain, the 'Tortured Soul'
Writing an article on Kurt Cobain is maddening. How could I possibly do justice to the musical brilliance of Cobain, the legend of Nirvana, or adequately even skim the surface on the complexities of Cobain's traumatic childhood and youth, drug addiction, and mental health disorders? I can't.

Despite his fame, there are those who would simply write off Cobain as a drug addict who killed himself, and be off-put by my giving him such high regard. I get it. Perhaps he's not the role model one might choose for their children...

It hurts my heart that some people so quickly condemn Cobain as nothing more than a degenerate druggie. No child says, "I hope someday I grow up and become clinically depressed, swallowed whole by emotional pain, addicted to drugs, and take my life. Emilie Autumn wrote, "You are a terribly real thing in a terribly false world, and that, I believe, is why you are in so much pain." I tend to think of Kurt Cobain in these terms. He once wrote, "There's good in all of us and I think I simply love people too much, so much that it makes me feel too fucking sad." Additionally, he said, "If my eyes could show my soul, everyone would cry when they saw me smile."

There are three things that Kurt Cobain said, which made me think more deeply about my own life.

"They laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at them because they're all the same."

"I was tired of pretending that I was someone else just to get along with people."

"I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."

Perhaps Kurt Cobain was a martyr of authenticity. In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown wrote, "Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen." This was Cobain— honest. real.

"Authenticity" is a buzzword these days, and has become a sort of Holy Grail or personal development. But what is "authenticity" exactly?

Authenticity is being faithful to your inner self rather an external code. Authenticity is the degree to which we are true to our own nature, personality, heart, spirit, values, character, and commitments, despite external pressures. Shakespeare wrote, "To thine own self be true."

The journey of being an authentic person involves the resolve to stop pleasing others at the expense of your own integrity of self. Oscar Wilde wrote, "It is tragic how few people ever possess their souls before they die. Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."

I read in an article about Cobain, "Kurt Cobain was probably the last person who was true to his guts that we saw in popular culture." He vehemently resisted selling out" 

 Cobain wrote, "The worst crime is faking it."

Cobain also wrote: "Punk is musical freedom. It's saying, doing and playing what you want. In Webster's terms, ‘nirvana' means freedom from pain, suffering and the external world, and that's pretty close to my definition of Punk Rock."

Nirvana connected with Gen X because of their subversive moxie. The video for  Nevermind's fourth single, In Bloom, depicts the band's attitude through a brilliant parody, mocking the hype it was receiving together with the conventional ideals of the celebrity and rock hero.

The video starts with the band— dressed in sharp, 50s-style rock 'n' roll suits and Buddy Holly glasses— playing on an Ed Sullivan-esque soundstage to screaming teenybopper fans. As the track progresses, however, the clip is cut with images of band members dressed in lingerie, dancing salaciously through Cobain's lethargic solo, before destroying the set with their instruments. Finally, in a dark portending of the corporate media's embrace and assimilation of the grunge scene, the show host—  like the media machine throughout Nirvana's career— simply smiles and applauds, blind to his own hollowness in the face of the Real forcing its way to the surface.

I realize the above video (tap the link to watch In Bloom on YouTube) may be difficult for those who are not a fan of this kind of music. And I'm pretty sure that the faculty in the University of Oxford's philosophy department is not requiring the viewing of this video in their undergrad classes.

• You can't fully figure out Kurt Cobain, because we're not supposed to.

• Writing off Kurt Cobain as a loser junkie is missing the value of who he was and his continuing legacy.

• Kurt Cobain's life was a beautiful letdown, and the letdown is how short he lived.

• The process of self-actualization requires unflinching authenticity.

Kurt Cobain wrote, "Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are."

Oscar Wilde wrote, "Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through  disobedience and through rebellion."

You see Kurt Cobain in there, right?

I'm not like them, but I can pretend
The sun is gone, but I have a light
The day is done, but I'm havin' fun
I think I'm dumb
Or maybe just happy
— Nirvana, Dumb
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Jim Palmer's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support Jim's work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. PLEASE, tap this link SubStack, and read the full article Jim wrote. It's truly remarkable, so much richer than what I've been able to show you here. Didn't make me a TrueFan. Did dramatically up my regard for Kurt Cobain. High up.

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• the 100 GREATEST SINGER SONGWRITERS of All Time—  Kurt Cobain

Nirvana accidentally kicked off a cultural revolution with 1991's Nevermind, an album that brought rock & roll kicking and screaming into the modern world. The Seattle trio disdained the kind of bloated, corporate music that was then dominating the airwaves; as a result, their approach was raw, punk-inspired, and messy, and fueled by an underlying desire to ignore (and subvert) the status quo. Nirvana expressed angst, ennui, and frustration through their music— but made sure to deliver plenty of catharsis as well. 
— Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2014)

Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the frontman of the rock band Nirvana, serving as the band's guitarist, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona, Cobain's compositions widened the thematic conventions of mainstream rock music. He was often heralded as a spokesman of Generation X and is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in the history of alternative rock. 

Cobain formed the band Nirvana with Krist Novoselic and Aaron Burckhard in 1987 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene which later became known as grunge. After signing with major label DGC Records, Nirvana found global success with Smells Like Teen Spirit from their critically acclaimed second album Nevermind (1991). Although Cobain was hailed as the voice of his generation following Nirvana's sudden success, he resented this, believing his message and artistic vision had been misinterpreted by the public. In addition to Smells Like Teen Spirit, Cobain wrote many other notable songs for Nirvana, including Come as You Are, Lithium, In Bloom, Something in the Way, Heart-Shaped Box, All Apologies, About a Girl, Aneurysm and You Know You're Right. 

During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction and chronic health problems such as depression. He also struggled with the personal and professional pressures of fame, and he had a tumultuous relationship with his wife, fellow musician Courtney Love. In March 1994, Cobain overdosed on a combination of champagne and Rohypnol, and he subsequently entered an intervention and underwent a detox program. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle at the age of 27; police concluded he had died on April 5 from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. 

Cobain was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Nirvana bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, in their first year of eligibility in 2014. Rolling Stone included Cobain in its lists of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, 100 Greatest Guitarists, and 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. He was ranked 7th by MTV in the "22 Greatest Voices in Music". In 2006, he was placed 20th by Hit Parader on their list of the "100 Greatest Metal Singers of All Time"

To visit on the MusicThisDay.com website, tap the link: The 100 Greatest Songwriters Of All Time.

in partnership with Where Music's Going and Rob Abelow

• MONDEGREEN—  Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

Original

Here we are now, entertain us

Mondegreen

Here we are now, in containers

Nirvana's anthem for apathetic kids is one of the most popular songs of all time. Still, plenty of people wondered why the grunge kids were in containers.

If you're up for more mondegreens of Nirvana songs, tap the link. There are a few of them.

And for hundreds of other head-shaking misheard lyrics, tap this link to go to AmIRight. "Making fun of music, one song at a time, since 2000" and they're amazing!

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• COACHING—  Human Revolution by Tina Turner from an interview with Alison Beard posted on Facebook in Don's Tunes.

Tina said, "I'm Anna Mae, and I'm also Tina. They're two sides of my personality, two facets of my life. Anna Mae is the homebody side and loves peace and quiet and privacy, and Tina is the artistic side and loves all kinds of artistic expression. I'm sure aspects of Anna have merged with Tina and vice versa.

"I've been a performer since childhood. As a girl, every chance I got, I'd go to our local movie theater and memorize scenes so I could reenact them. Although I did have a bit of singing training in high school and even learned some opera, my voice and dance abilities have mostly come naturally to me.

"I never considered giving up on my dreams. You could say I had an invincible optimism. And I always knew that the 'what' was more important than the 'how.' In other words, although I had a hard time seeing how I could make my dreams come true, I focused more on what I wanted to achieve in my life, personally and professionally. I took actions day by day, often outside my comfort zone, to better myself and bring me closer to those goals. 

"In Buddhism we call this inner process of transformation a 'human revolution.'

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TECH TALK— Surprising ways to prompt AI by Jeremy Caplan

Singer Songwriters: Push AI to be bolder and stranger for creative inspiration

Many Singer Songwriters are gun-shy of AI. Part of that may be because the AI outputs they’ve experienced have been disappointingly conventional. To avoid predictable responses, Jeremy Caplan instructs AI engines to be strange. Unexpected, radical ideas can be useful for creative inspiration. Odd perspectives stretch your thinking. Read on for specific ways to prompt AI to break beyond its bland boundaries and help you make more creative songs.

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When I’m in a creative rut, I paste in a section of writing and prompt AI to be bold and unconventional:

• “Offer five surprising, unexpected suggestions for specific ways to improve the following piece of writing. Along with each suggestion, include a detailed, creative explanation with the rationale for the observation.”

• “Act as an unpredictable, brilliant writing coach who offers strange, bold, creative suggestions. Provide specific, granular input.”

• “Detail novel topic ideas or peculiarly provocative questions I could answer to help me disrupt the conventionality or predictability of the following outline I've begun.”

• “Point out blindspots that others with radically different perspectives from mine on this subject might identify if they were to read this work with a critical eye. Include examples of ways in which these could be remedied.”

Here’s a fast sample of a few AI prompts to get radically new results. Submit your lyrics, then follow with…  

• Propose 5 questions a listener would be surprised to find answered on my song. 

• What are 3 quirky, unusual analogies to explain the theme of my song?

• What rarely discussed, counter intuitive insights on the theme of my song might startle listeners accustomed to bland expected lyrics? 

• Give me 5 lively, colorful, unusual words to use in a description of… insert the subject/theme of your song? 

There’s more. Read the full story on Jeremy’s Substack: Surprising ways to prompt Just tap the link.

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• PS from PS— Do This One Simple Action 

Make this easy to do change at the next set you play— even if that show is opening for another artist. I learned this from Rick Barker… Who taught it to Taylor Swift… Who took it to the bank... And back.

During your set— even if it's a 3-to-5 song short at a festival, or you're opening for someone, or you're one of those multi-artists on the ticket and you're way down the bill— do this (But first, ask the promoter if you can stick around after the show to sign autographs and meet people. The promoter will say yes. If they don’t… Shoot them— though it’s best to wait until after you’re paid.

Then… Add this to your set in a suitable place— if you playing 5 songs perhaps between song 3 and 4. Say…

“My manager is traveling with me and he made me personally autograph like 200 CDs for you. You’d be my new best friend if you would pick up one of my CDs. And... I would love to meet you. Take a selfie. See pics of your cat…”

What will happen— minimum— is, you'll sell more CDs and Merch. One simple action, but so few artists do it.

Remember that no matter how short your set is, while you're playing you have the attention of the audience. It’s your chance to connect and start engaging with them. 

You'll be doing just what Rick taught Taylor. It’s what she did at hundreds of shows early in her career. Meet people. Meet people. Meet people. It pays off. Big Time. Try it at your next show.

Until we speak again…

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