And now the internet is full of dudes whining about how those “girls” screwed up what the public had expected to be just another testosterone-tinted exercise in cock-strutting nostalgia.
Granted, the complainers aren’t coming entirely from out in left field – one doesn’t usually look to the Rock & Roll Hall as a showcase for women. The selection committee has historically had a pretty strong “rockist” bent, enshrining group after group of white guys with guitars, while neglecting to recognize the importance of most acts outside that narrow field of view; this year, there were nine inductees, and only one (Linda Ronstadt) was a woman. (Out of the initial sixteen nominees, the only other act with any female representation was Chic – but likely due to the lingering air of misogyny and homophobia regarding disco in critical circles, any act known for their dance hits faces a massive uphill battle to get enshrined in the Rock Hall.)
But this is Nirvana. An act that despite their massive popularity and mainstream acceptance, never played by the established rulebook. Sure, Kurt Cobain had issues with drugs, died young, became a rock martyr for a generation… But that’s all in retrospect. In the early ’90s, they turned the world upside-down on a regular basis, and thrived on subverting expectations and defying conventions.
Nirvana was a band that spoke openly of their influences: of R.E.M., Hüsker Dü, The Carpenters, The Vaselines, Young Marble Giants, Boston, Bad Brains, The Knack, The Beatles, Patti Smith, The Cowsills. They had an open contempt for music business concepts of what was “cool”, and were avowedly feminist, promoting women musicians at every possible opportunity. L7, The Raincoats, The Shaggs, Hole, Bikini Kill – these were bands that Nirvana campaigned for, and helped bring into the mainstream consciousness.
So this Hall Of Fame enshrinement ceremony? It was about the most Nirvana thing Nirvana could do. They pulled a straight punk rock move, and instead of reinforcing the vibe of men and more men and yet more men, reinvented some of their most popular songs with female vocalists.
Who did they choose to sing these tunes? Joan Jett, Kim Gordon, Annie Clark (AKA St. Vincent) and Lorde – a group ranging in age from 17 to 60, each one of whom has carved her own position in the punk and indie echelon and redefined what it means to be a woman, a rock and roller, and a musical icon.
In making this unexpected choice, in choosing to push the boundaries and make a statement instead of playing it safe, Grohl, Novoselic, and Smear reinforced all that really ever mattered about Nirvana. They could have had any guy in the music business fronting their band, and instead, they reached out, and brought in four women with distinct voices to make something new and different. They upended the game once again, and instead of simply celebrating their band’s legacy, they revived and recreated it.
So, to every guy who’s complained that the performances didn’t sound like the records: Guess what? YOU STILL HAVE THOSE RECORDS. They still exist, you can listen to them whenever you like, they’ll always be there for you – in your CD player, on your ipod, floating in the cloud. They will always sound exactly like you remember. And while they haven’t changed since you were a teenager, the world we live in has. And continues to. If you’re a guy listening to the same old rock and roll, you may not notice. But if you look and see politicians trying to roll back women’s “inalienable” rights, if you notice that you’re in a world where misogyny and privilege are still things that need to be fought against on a daily basis… Then you’ll hopefully know that the world is constantly changing, and every little bit of effort makes a difference. Every effort changes the world.
And Thursday night, in one tiny way, it changed for the better. Nirvana could have gone softly into the annals of history, but instead they took their moment in the spotlight, and used it to shine a spotlight on four incredible women.