On the deluxe edition of the rarities album lies a particularly interesting track named ‘Aberdeen’. It would feel a stretch to call this one a song since it contains no music, just a spoken word arrangement reminiscent of a Ginsberg poetry recital. In ‘Aberdeen’, Cobain tells the story of his introduction to marijuana as a young teenager and his subsequent failed attempt to lose his virginity to a special-needs girl from his school. With the sobering shame experienced thereafter, Cobain recounts lying down across railroad tracks in a failed suicide attempt.
Montage of Heck, directed by Brett Morgen, explores Cobain’s early life and personal, often untouched, facets. Following the movie’s release, Buzz Osbourne, a member of Melvins and one of Cobain’s close friends, stated that the inclusion of ‘Aberdeen’ was an example of how the documentary was “total bullshit”.
“I was surprised because the genius of that story is that it’s a piece of art – it’s a very clearly performed and constructed narrative,” Morgen told NME in response to Osbourne’s comments. “Did Kurt have sex with that particular woman? I doubt it – it’s a story, like ‘Floyd The Barber’ is a story.”
“But it reflects Kurt’s experiences of life,” Morgen continued. “I’ve never publicly said this, but I’m fairly confident that it’s an origin story Kurt was metaphorically disguising because one of his earliest sexual experiences was clearly incredibly humiliating and shameful to him, and that’s what it reflects. I’m also pretty confident that Buzz does not know what the real origin story is. When you start to get into Kurt’s art and try to deconstruct it for fact, you miss the point of it.”