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Kim Gordon reveals new solo song, excerpts from her memoir

Kim Gordon

Kim Gordon‘s new memoir Girl In A Band comes out next week (2/24), and it’s seeming like it’s gonna be pretty awesome (not that we would’ve thought otherwise). A few excerpts have come out where Kim has less-than-nice things to say about Lana Del Rey, Courtney Love, Billy Corgan, and her split with Thurston Moore. One also appeared where she had nice things to say about Kurt Cobain (whose birthday is today, happy birthday Kurt). Catch up on those excerpts below.

Today a new Billboard podcast came out where Kim reads a part from her memoir about Sonic Youth’s final show, and she also debuts a new solo track, “Close Your Eyes,” on the podcast. Listen to that below too (song starts at 18:29).

Kim’s book tour in support of Girl In A Band hits NYC on February 23 at Greenlight Books/BAM Cinematek and February 24 at Strand. More info and all dates here.

Kim on Lana Del Rey
“Today we have someone like Lana Del Rey, who doesn’t even know what feminism is, who believes women can do whatever they want, which, in her world, tilts toward self-destruction, whether it’s sleeping with gross old men or getting gang raped by bikers. Equal pay and equal rights would be nice. Naturally, it’s just a persona. If she really truly believes it’s beautiful when young musicians go out on a hot flame of drugs and depression, why doesn’t she just off herself?”

Kim on Courtney Love
No one ever questions the disorder behind her tarantula LA glamour – sociopathy, narcissism – because it’s good rock and roll, good entertainment! I have a low tolerance for manipulative, egomaniacal behaviour, and usually have to remind myself that the person might be mentally ill.

Kim on Billy Corgan
Courtney asked us for advice about her ‘secret affair’ with Billy Corgan. I thought, Ewwww, at even the mention of Billy Corgan, whom nobody liked because he was such a crybaby, and Smashing Pumpkins took themselves way too seriously and were in no way punk rock.

Kim on Thurston Moore’s affair
And so it all started, in slow motion, a pattern of lies, ultimatums, and phoney promises, followed by emails and texts that almost felt designed to be stumbled on, so as to force me to make a decision that he was too much of a coward to face. I was furious. It wasn’t just the responsibility he was refusing to take; it was the person he had turned me into: his mother. We tried to save it. We were both in therapy and seeing a marriage counsellor, too. But it was like dealing with an addict who was unravelling, who couldn’t stop himself. He and I still slept in the same bed – it was a big bed – but in the mornings, we would get dressed and go downstairs and do our own thing. I could either put up with the humiliation, or I could end things.

Kim on Kurt Cobain
I’m not sure why, but I felt an immediate kinship with him. When Nirvana toured with us in 1991, before Nevermind broke, no one in Europe knew who they were. Kurt was funny and fun to be around, and soaked up any kind of personal attention. I felt very big sisterly, almost maternal, when we were together.