Thoughts about 'The Man Who Sold The World'

This is the first song from the repertoire of Nirvana that I fell in love with. My friends got bogged down by the immortal "Smells Like Teen Spirit", sometimes diluting it with "Rape Me" - the other Cobain was not familiar to them. At the time I was trying to disassemble the guitar part of this composition.

Do not rush to correct me. I know that Kurt didn't write this song. It was just that there was a time when you started talking about “The Man Who Sold The World”, guys say: “Oh, do you know Nirvana?”.

The guys come up to me after the concert and say: "Cool, dude, that you are playing the song of Nirvana". And I think: "F@$k you, petty nerd!"
David Bowie

I think, “Mr. Chameleon” was hurt to hear such words in his address. And I would do the same, if someone pin my work to someone else. It's not fair, but it's a fact. However, Bowie himself has repeatedly said that he admires Cobain’s version and would have liked to work with him.

Lets listen to "The Man who sold the world" from Nirvana. "MTV Unplugged in New York", the distant 1993 year:

I started listening to Nirvana in the early 2000s, while being pimply schoolboy. About David Bowie learned much later. But I think that the popularity of the cover version of The Man Who Sold The World is due to the popularity of the band itself and the grunge. Somehow it so happened that the straightforward and simple music of Kurt Cobain was closer to many.

Bowie was famous, Nirvana is younger and more interesting in its own way. Well, we, I mean, the youth of the 90s and the beginnings of the zero, due to our musical ignorance, herd instincts and taste preferences, went from Nirvana to David Bowie, but not vice versa. And if I was asked now whose repertoire I like more - I would have weighed out a concise “nobody's” and would not have started talking about music with this person. Contrary to all disputes, they can not be compared, especially with each other.

Yes, Cobain sang "The man who sold the world" in his own way. As many say - sensitive and emotional. Just to Kurt, she came up more with his hoarse voice and the text itself seemed to be written for him. But after listening to the original later, I was surprised how similar they were. And after that, I myself had a “split”.

There is a lot of talk about the text itself too, and critics and fans have long been actively discussing and disagreeing about what Bowie wrote in this song. We all know very well that he was an unusual person, whose work not everyone can understand. Therefore, I will not begin to dispute and reflect on the veracity of each version.

I still like “The Man Who Sold The World” and I enjoy listening to it, smoothly moving away from all the fuss and thoughts. After all, first of all, this is a great composition, and it is not important who performed it or will perform it. The main thing - not Bieber. Such songs live their lives and it is beautiful.