If it's illegal to rock and roll, throw my ass in jail!
Interpretation
The quote expresses a defiance against societal norms regarding music and personal freedom.
Kurt Cobain's statement highlights the importance of self-expression and the significance of rock music in culture. He conveys a rebellious attitude toward any restrictions placed on artistic creativity, implying that if playing and enjoying rock music is deemed wrong or illegal, then he would willingly face the consequences rather than conforming to conventional expectations.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the impact of music on culture during a seminar.
I don't blame the average seventeen-year-old punk-rock kid for calling me a sellout. I understand that. And maybe when they grow up a little bit, they'll realize there's more things to life than living out your rock & roll identity so righteously.
Rape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth and it happens every few minutes. The problem with groups who deal with rape is that they try to educate women about how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men not to rape. Go to the source and start there.
Thank you for the tragedy. I need it for my art.
I get a thrill meeting kids who are into alternative music.
The future of rock belongs to women.
I don't need to be inspired any longer, just supported.
Music fills the infinite between two souls. This has been muffled by the mist of our daily habits.
Every time a new record started, people exhaled with pleasure, or their bodies moved automatically. I really started getting high off of the euphoric exclamations. Every record I put on was like a baptism.
A lot of people don't realise I came out of the Smoky Mountains with a load of songs.
The major rock instruments and classical instruments were designed for performance, for sharing the music with an audience, and then later people put microphones on them and recorded them. But for electronic music, the opposite was true - they're designed in laboratories, and later, we tried to put them on stage.
I used to think that, given enough goodwill, anybody would be able to 'get' any music, no matter how distant the culture from which it came. And then I heard Chinese opera.
I can't think of a greater guitar icon than someone who has the musical intellect to change what was there before and take music in another direction. That's a guitar hero for me.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.