That one time my uncle swore Kurt Cobain was a genius and I just nodded along

Sitting at my aunt's kitchen table in Portland two years ago, uncle Dave went on a 20 minute rant about how Nirvana changed music forever. He said 'you wouldn't get it, you were born in the 90s.' I didn't even like their stuff that much but felt too awkward to push back. Has anyone else dealt with older relatives acting like you can't question certain dead musicians?

3 comments

3 Comments

karen_carter4d agoMost Upvoted

@amy_martin totally get that, it's like you're honoring a dead musician more by letting their fans have their moment than by starting some debate. Nodding along is just survival mode at family gatherings sometimes. At least you got some green bean casserole out of it.

amy_martin4d ago

My uncle Ron in St. Louis did this exact thing with Prince. He spent a whole Thanksgiving dinner telling me how Prince was "the only real artist left" and I just sat there eating my green bean casserole nodding. I like Prince okay but I'm not obsessed, and he kept saying things like "you kids today don't understand real music." It's so awkward when they make you feel like you have to pretend just to keep the peace, especially since I know he'd argue with me if I said anything different. Did you ever try to change the subject or just let him talk himself out?

the_alice4d ago

Ugh that is so painfully relatable lol. I usually just let them talk and throw in a "oh wow that's cool" every few minutes until they run out of steam, then ask a really random question like "so did you try the cranberry sauce?" to shift the vibe.