No. 988 – All Apologies

Performer: Nirvana

Songwriter: Kurt Cobain

Original Release: In Utero

Year: 1993

Definitive Version: The studio version. I like the electric feedback hum at the end.

I know I might be blowing this story out prematurely, but this song seems the most appropriate for it anyway, so here it is. My buddy Doug, who was the music writer at the Flint Journal, had been promising me for about a year that he would take me to a concert the next time his (now ex) wife bailed, and my number finally came up for a biggie in the fall of 1993—Nirvana.

I carefully worked the schedule to have that Friday night off, which wasn’t easy. Friday nights in the fall, of course, meant prep football and girl’s basketball, so it was the definition of hectic. At the time, I was part of a three-man sports copy-desk rotation, and two copy editors were needed on Friday nights to pull it off. We did this by using a part timer to help out with pages on the Friday morning edition, so two of the three full-timers would be there Friday night.

As (bad) luck would have it, the part timer was on vacation. Dan was going to work a double shift to cover the vacation (and allow me to go see Nirvana). The day before, the other copy editor, John, called in sick—a not infrequent occurrence given his constant health issues—and it seemed that there were two chances that he’d be able to work the Friday night shift—fat and no.

Well, I think you can see what’s coming. Dan not only would have to pull a double, he’d also have to work solo Friday night for me to go the show. No way. Even though Dan insisted—on my behalf—that he could do it, I took the bullet and volunteered to work that night (we both would pull doubles), and I told Doug I couldn’t make the Nirvana concert.

At the time, I knew that Nirvana was scheduled to headline Lollapalooza the next summer, so I would definitely have another chance to see them—unless, of course, something like the band suddenly breaking up for some reason took place before then …

I don’t regret my decision much—only whenever I think about it. No, I’m just kidding. I did the right thing, but … damn.