Kurt Cobain, Chopin and Perfume

Tragic. Iconic. Deeply emotive.

Kurt Cobain was born in a gritty Pacific-Northwest logging town and learned to play music on his own. His music was simple, but raw. His sensitive soul and chaotic energy filled thundering arenas.

At the age of 6, Frédéric Chopin was already a prodigy and enrolled in the finest music schools of his beloved Poland. He composed masterpieces, but he preferred the intimacy and safety of elegant salons to the glimmer of bustling concert halls.

Does it matter that Chopin was a technical master and Cobain was not?

Perfume, like music, is a highly subjective art. We can be touched by the simplest note, and be left indifferent to the work of a master. Capturing someone’s heart is very elusive work.

But in an era of endless Hollywood sequels, music covers, fast fashion, AI art and perfume dupes, mastery is precious.

Mastery is inimitability.

Don’t get me wrong, I listen to Kurt all the time.  

But who is more inimitable?

I think 500 years from now, Chopin will still be rare. He will still be precious.