The city of Aberdeen, WA may have adopted the phrase "Come As You Are" as the town's slogan, but apparently they don't like everything hometown hero Kurt Cobain had to say when he was alive.
Case in point: a new plaque that has been erected under the bridge where the Nirvana front-man used to hang out and write tunes. On the plaque are a number of quotes from Cobain penned before committing suicide in 1994, including one that is stirring the pot a little: "Drugs are bad for you, they will fuck you up."
Despite its positive message, that f-word in there really seems to be getting under the city's skin. Aberdeen Mayor Bill Simpson has said, "I'm no prude, but I don't think that's the kind of thing we want to see on city property," according to Los Angeles Times [via Punk News].
It's not that Aberdeen doesn't like Cobain: the local museum offers walking tour maps of important Cobain-related locales, the aforementioned town slogan greets visitors at the entrance to town and the plaque is next to an (unofficial) park in Cobain's honour. It's just that darn curse word.
"I don't like that word," the Times reports Aberdeen Coun. Jerry Mills as saying. "The city pays thousands of dollars a year just to remove it from our parks - painting and sandblasting."
Well, sacrilege or not, the city got their way, getting the masonry company who etched the plaque in the first place to edit the last three letters out of the offending word. Amusingly, it didn't take long for vandals to put those letters right back in.
We don't know what's worse: that a swear word can still cause so much controversy, or that this "insightful" quote was chosen to be on the plaque in the first place.
Case in point: a new plaque that has been erected under the bridge where the Nirvana front-man used to hang out and write tunes. On the plaque are a number of quotes from Cobain penned before committing suicide in 1994, including one that is stirring the pot a little: "Drugs are bad for you, they will fuck you up."
Despite its positive message, that f-word in there really seems to be getting under the city's skin. Aberdeen Mayor Bill Simpson has said, "I'm no prude, but I don't think that's the kind of thing we want to see on city property," according to Los Angeles Times [via Punk News].
It's not that Aberdeen doesn't like Cobain: the local museum offers walking tour maps of important Cobain-related locales, the aforementioned town slogan greets visitors at the entrance to town and the plaque is next to an (unofficial) park in Cobain's honour. It's just that darn curse word.
"I don't like that word," the Times reports Aberdeen Coun. Jerry Mills as saying. "The city pays thousands of dollars a year just to remove it from our parks - painting and sandblasting."
Well, sacrilege or not, the city got their way, getting the masonry company who etched the plaque in the first place to edit the last three letters out of the offending word. Amusingly, it didn't take long for vandals to put those letters right back in.
We don't know what's worse: that a swear word can still cause so much controversy, or that this "insightful" quote was chosen to be on the plaque in the first place.