Paul McCartney Promises Israel Show Will Go On Despite Outcry

Despite demands from pro-Palestinian groups to cancel his return concert in Israel, Paul McCartney promises Israeli fans he'll go on with his September 25th concert in Tel Aviv. "I was approached by different groups and political bodies who asked me not to come here. I refused. I do what I think, and I have many friends who support Israel," McCartney said in an interview. The concert marks Macca's first performance in Israel since the Beatles' cancelled concert in 1965, when the Israeli government thought the Fab Four would corrupt the nation's youth. "The Beatles had a pretty positive influence on the world and only regimes that wanted to control their peoples were afraid of us. We mostly laughed at the Israeli government decision," McCartney said. In other Beatles news, Hamburg, Germany has dedicated a city square to the band to commemorate the band's time there in 1962. The square will feature steel statues of all four members of the Beatles, plus original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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