Yesterday I tuned into a town-hall interview with the rock band Nirvana to commemorate the 25th anniversary of their breakthrough album, Nevermind.
A caller asked how successful their album might have been if it were released today instead of 25 years ago. I wish I could quote their answer verbatim, but I was driving, so no dice. I thought they would talk about how society has been changing and why their album may or may not resonate with music fans the same way now.
Instead, though, they talked all about how they recorded the album, and what a difference that made. Their method of recording resulted in everything being recorded—the great riffs, and the mistakes. One of the guys admitted to tempo troubles, speeding up and slowing down at various times. One or another of the band occasionally missed a note, or missed a lyric. All of these things made it onto the final album.
That is what they felt was the success of the album. They talked about how 
much depth and soul the album had because of those nuances. The edgy quality and the “seductive” sound that they achieved. Then they talked about today’s music—how so much of it is sound-engineered and manipulated until it’s perfect. “You hear it and think, this sounds great, but then you realize there is just no soul.”
Music can be made perfect in terms of sound quality, tempo, etc. but it will end up missing the edge that makes it resonate with us as individuals. When the music is too perfect, we can’t see our own reflection in it. The flaws may be subtle and hardly noticed, but they are what make the songs real and trustworthy.
So how does this relate to us?
A perfectly smooth background would make this whole painting look flat. (And did you notice one of the plant stems doesn’t connect to anything?) The buyer didn’t care!
First of all, I try to teach this in ART. Students in painting classes are often stressed out over making mistakes. One errant line or sweep of paint and they are crushed, thinking that their painting is ruined. I try to convey to them that those are the character traits that give a painting personality! Those small nuances are what can make an artwork breathtaking instead of just “nice to look at.”
And of course, this relates to LIFE in general. We can strive for perfection, but at what cost? Do we lose our depth, our real-ness? Does it make us someone “great to know” but not truly close to anyone? We all have our flaws, and we all make mistakes, so maybe it’s time to channel a little Nirvana and embrace them! We can recognize that the “warts and all” are what make us so relatable and real.
I’m sure you have something to say about this!
