That Legendary Divorce is Such a Bore

Here we dissect the great Cobain’s lyrics to “Serve the Servants” They begin…

Teenage angst has paid off well
Now I'm bored and old

I’m putting Kurt in his mid twenties when he wrote this. I too can remember feeling much more ‘tame’ after the whirlwind that was my teenage years. It seems silly to me now but I first started to think of myself as ‘old’ when I was in my mid twenties. I thought I had peaked at sixteen. Actually I had peaked then, now I realize it was the first of many peaks.

Cobain goes on…

Self-Appointed judges judge
More than they have sold

Here a twist is introduced. The growing old aspect in the first two lines is tied to a ‘souring’ or ‘selling out’. This is what I love about Cobian’s writing. His words are rarely bound by any grammar rules, yet they swirl around images like bees buzz around a hive. Perhaps these hypocritical judges are somehow tied to the record industry. The fact that he mentions selling brings to mind record sales. I always have been suspect of the relationship between Kurt Cobain and media mogul David Geffen, but hell, what would I know about them.

If she floats than she is not
A witch like we had thought
A down payment on another
One at Salem’s lot

I purpose that this entire stanza ties much together. There is the obvious reference to the Salem witch trials that bring in an anti-Christian theme. The term “down payment” adds an anti-capitalist element, which ties it all with the souring 'selling out' from the previous stanza. It is interesting to me that what we seem to have here is a condemnation of the political right. Youthful idealness is pitted against more mature reason, capitalism is contrasted with communal sharing, and secularism is promoted with one of the most stereotypical anti-Christian parables: the Salem witch trials.

Next we have the chorus

Serve the servants - Oh no
That legendary divorce is such a bore

The title of this song speaks to me in a personal way. When this song was released I was both a devout fundamentalist Christian and a Non Commissioned Officer in the Army. (I also was (and still am) a husband and father) Servant leadership was my life, and the focus of much of my meditations. I often would wonder why such a conservative and Christian mantra was immersed in such liberal and secular lyrics. Did Kurt Cobain see servant leadership as a good in the face of the established church’s corruption? Was he simply throwing Jesus philosophy back at modern Christian who had strayed so far form his teachings? The second line here drew me in to Kurt Cobain in a generational manner. I knew we were the about same age. At the time I felt we had a unique loathing, not only for divorce itself but the de-moralization the divorce rate had come to represent. It also seems fitting that he was addressing the moral decay he saw with the loss of youthful liberalism.

The next stanza is where the meat is. Perhaps some back-story is in order before I show these next four lines through Nick Danger’s mind. When I was a teenager I worshipped the band Jane’s Addiction. I cannot imagine it was much different for Kurt Cobain. Perry Ferrell’s seminal song “Had a Dad” dealt with similar issues as I have purposed here. The short of it is “Had a Dad” is about a lost personal relationship with God.

As my bones grew they did hurt
They hurt really bad
I tried hard to have a father
But instead I had a dad

What I think Mr. Cobain says here in the first two lines is that he was experiencing growing pains, emotional growing pains, that he longed and tried for a relationship with the creator, yet found a lost relationship with God. If that was his intention in writing that I must say I felt his pain. Who hasn’t?


I just want you to know that I
Don't hate you anymore
there is nothing I could say
that I haven't thought before

Now this sounds like conversations I've had with God in my head. I have felt guilt for thoughts that would be considered blasphemous. It’s ironic, yes, but I have wrestled with it my whole life. Perhaps I’m dating myself here (thx Mr G) but, I felt a rush of relief that someone else may be dealing with the same horrible issue as me: wrestling with God. I think it may have been my Catholic upbringing or just my natural rebellion or that my dad was an atheist, maybe it is all of them. I have wrestled with my concept of God my whole thinking life.

I know many of you come here for the humor. This is the second somber post out of the last three so let me leave up with this.

In order to made a Kleenex dance…blow a little boogie in it, and don't forget, fuck the Joneses Danger