Did Kurt Cobain say that he loves animals, but people bother him because they are aggressive?

For many years, a quote attributed to the musician has been circulating on the Runet that he adores all animals “indiscriminately,” but does not like people: “Some aggressive ones rush around and run around.” We found out if the Nirvana leader said this.

One of the most common versions of the alleged Cobain quote is: “I generally love animals. Some people there love cats or dogs, but I love them all indiscriminately. I just don't like people. Tired of it, bitch. They rush around and run around, kind of aggressive.” In some publications the phrase sounds a little different. For example, somewhere an artist supposedly calls people are “scum”, and sometimes adds, that they “yell at each other, fuss and are all kind of angry.”

According to a VKontakte search, only in the last three years there appeared There are about 200 posts with this quote under the authorship of Cobain, although earlier entries can be found (2019, 2018, 2015, 2012). Similar publications can be found on other platforms: Facebook* (examples here, here, here, here And here), Telegram (here, here And here), Twitter (here, here And here), Instagram* (here And here), "Zene", to "Peekaboo", YouTube And websites With quotes.

Cobain really loved animals, especially cats, turtles and rodents, as confirmed by numerous photos And articles in magazines, interviews with himself musician and him colleagues, as well as the documentary "Cobain: Damn montage"about the life and work of the artist. Here's what about Cobain told Bruce Pavitt is the co-founder of the Sub Pop label, which released Nirvana's debut album: “He was a sensitive person, he loved children and animals. I remember when I first visited his apartment, there were about three different cages with gerbils. I got the impression that he loved animals more than most people. He talked about possibly opening a petting zoo. He was just thinking."

However, “Verified” was unable to find the quote we were interested in in English. More precisely, there are publications in English, but they are just translations posts on VKontakte. The thing is that the phrase about love for animals and dislike for people has nothing to do with Cobain and originally appeared in Russian.

In 2008, the Russian feature film “Nirvana", filmed by director Igor Voloshin from a script by Olga Larionova. According to the plot of the film, the heroine Alice moves to St. Petersburg, and her apartment neighbors are a girl named Val and her boyfriend Valera Mortvy. In one of the scenes, Dead, played by actor Artur Smolyaninov**, tells Alice about her studies at the Moscow Veterinary College and says:

I generally love animals. Some people there love cats or dogs, but I love everyone indiscriminately. I just don't like people. Tired of it, bitch. There are some aggressive ones rushing around and running around, especially in Moscow. And here, in short, too.

Film on the YouTube channel of the STV film company posted in the public domain. The original segment begins at the 14:06 timestamp.

Most likely, users initially signed the quote with the word “Nirvana” (for example, as here), and someone mistakenly decided that we were talking about Cobain’s musical group, and not about a Russian film. In addition, the part mentioning Moscow was cut out of the phrase.

*Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, is an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.

**Russian authorities added Artur Smolyaninov to registry foreign agents, as well as list terrorists and extremists.

Cover photo: colorized frame film "Cobain: Montage of God"

Incorrect quote attribution

What do our verdicts mean?

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