All Apologies
Encyclopedia
"All Apologies" is a song by the American grunge
band Nirvana
, written by frontman Kurt Cobain
. It was released as the second single
(as a double A-side with "Rape Me
") from the band's third album, In Utero, which was released on September 21, 1993. "All Apologies" was the band's third number one Modern Rock hit and reached number 32 on the UK Singles Chart
.
in Seattle, Washington. This version of the song had more a folk music
aspect than later versions. Bassist Krist Novoselic
accompanied Kurt Cobain on a second guitar instead of his standard instrument, utilizing several seventh chord
s as he played. Drummer Dave Grohl
's drumming was accented by a tambourine.
Nirvana recorded the song for its third album In Utero in February 1993 with Steve Albini
in Cannon Falls, Minnesota
. The song, at that point tentatively titled "La La La", was recorded on February 14. The recording featured Kera Schaley on cello
, who was the only other musician to play on the album besides the band members. It was remixed, along with "Heart-Shaped Box
" and later "Pennyroyal Tea
," by Scott Litt
prior to the album's release, with Cobain asserting that the vocals and bass sounded "mushy" in the unmastered Albini recording. Nirvana bassist
Krist Novoselic viewed "All Apologies" and "Heart-Shaped Box", the other single released from In Utero, as "gateways" to the more abrasive sound of the rest of the album, telling journalist Jim DeRogatis
that once listeners played the record they would discover "this aggressive wild sound, a true alternative record, one of the best songs of the nineties".
and their daughter, Frances Bean Cobain
. The songwriter told biographer Michael Azerrad
that while the lyrics had nothing to do with his family, the song's mood (which Cobain summarized in the words "Peaceful, happy, comfort") was intended for them.
" in December 1993 on CD, cassette tape, and 7" and 12" vinyl record formats. The only instruction Cobain gave the single's art director Robert Fisher regarding the packaging was that he wanted "Something with seahorse
s". Like its predecessor "Heart-Shaped Box", the single was not released commercially in the United States. Everett True
of Melody Maker
made "All Apologies" the Single Of The Week for the magazine; he wrote "It's the most supremely resigned, supremely weary fuck you to the outside world I've heard this year. 'All Apologies' has the most gorgeous, aching tune, an emotionally draining ennui." In 2004, Rolling Stone
magazine ranked the song at number 455 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. This song also ranked at number 99 in Blenders The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.
The Unplugged version, which features Lori Goldston on cello, appears on the band's 1994 album MTV Unplugged in New York
. This version was also included on the 2002 "best-of" compilation album, Nirvana. An acoustic demo
appears on the band's rarities box set, With the Lights Out
released in 2004 and on the compilation album, Sliver: The Best of the Box released in 2005.
"All Apologies" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
and Best Rock Song
in 1995.
Some versions of the single list "Moist Vagina" as "MV".
in 1995.
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
band Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, written by frontman Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
. It was released as the second single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
(as a double A-side with "Rape Me
Rape Me
"Rape Me" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by frontman Kurt Cobain. The song was released as the second single from Nirvana's third album In Utero in 1993, packaged as a double A-side along with "All Apologies"...
") from the band's third album, In Utero, which was released on September 21, 1993. "All Apologies" was the band's third number one Modern Rock hit and reached number 32 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
History
"All Apologies" had been around since 1990. Nirvana first recorded the song during a January 1, 1991 demo session with Craig MontgomeryCraig Montgomery
Craig Bryant Montgomery is a fictional character on the soap opera As The World Turns.-Actor history:Since the character of Craig Montgomery was introduced in January 1982, he has been portrayed by four actors in total...
in Seattle, Washington. This version of the song had more a folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
aspect than later versions. Bassist Krist Novoselic
Krist Novoselic
Krist Anthony Novoselic II is a Croatian-American rock musician, best known for being the bassist and co-founder of the grunge band Nirvana. After Nirvana ended, Novoselic formed Sweet 75 and then Eyes Adrift, releasing one album with each band...
accompanied Kurt Cobain on a second guitar instead of his standard instrument, utilizing several seventh chord
Seventh chord
A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a major triad with an added minor seventh...
s as he played. Drummer Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
's drumming was accented by a tambourine.
Nirvana recorded the song for its third album In Utero in February 1993 with Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
in Cannon Falls, Minnesota
Cannon Falls, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,795 people, 1,550 households, and 996 families residing in the city. The population density was 946.4 people per square mile . There were 1,611 housing units at an average density of 401.8 per square mile...
. The song, at that point tentatively titled "La La La", was recorded on February 14. The recording featured Kera Schaley on cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, who was the only other musician to play on the album besides the band members. It was remixed, along with "Heart-Shaped Box
Heart-Shaped Box
"Heart-Shaped Box" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. The song was released as the first single from the group's third and final studio album, In Utero, in 1993. It was one of two songs from the album mixed by Scott Litt in order to augment...
" and later "Pennyroyal Tea
Pennyroyal Tea
"Pennyroyal Tea" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. Featured on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero , it was initially scheduled to be released as the third single in April 1994...
," by Scott Litt
Scott Litt
Scott Litt is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums.-Biography:...
prior to the album's release, with Cobain asserting that the vocals and bass sounded "mushy" in the unmastered Albini recording. Nirvana bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Krist Novoselic viewed "All Apologies" and "Heart-Shaped Box", the other single released from In Utero, as "gateways" to the more abrasive sound of the rest of the album, telling journalist Jim DeRogatis
Jim DeRogatis
James "Jim" DeRogatis is an American music critic and co-host of Sound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as Spin, Guitar World and Modern Drummer, and for fifteen years was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.He joined Columbia College Chicago as a full-time...
that once listeners played the record they would discover "this aggressive wild sound, a true alternative record, one of the best songs of the nineties".
Composition and lyrics
Cobain dedicated "All Apologies" to his wife Courtney LoveCourtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
and their daughter, Frances Bean Cobain
Frances Bean Cobain
Frances Bean Cobain is the daughter of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Hole singer Courtney Love.-Childhood and youth:...
. The songwriter told biographer Michael Azerrad
Michael Azerrad
Michael Azerrad is an American author, journalist and musician. He grew up in the New York City area and received his BA degree from Columbia College in 1983...
that while the lyrics had nothing to do with his family, the song's mood (which Cobain summarized in the words "Peaceful, happy, comfort") was intended for them.
Release and reception
"All Apologies" was released as a split single with "Rape MeRape Me
"Rape Me" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by frontman Kurt Cobain. The song was released as the second single from Nirvana's third album In Utero in 1993, packaged as a double A-side along with "All Apologies"...
" in December 1993 on CD, cassette tape, and 7" and 12" vinyl record formats. The only instruction Cobain gave the single's art director Robert Fisher regarding the packaging was that he wanted "Something with seahorse
Seahorse
Seahorses compose the fish genus Hippocampus within the family Syngnathidae, in order Syngnathiformes. Syngnathidae also includes the pipefishes. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek hippos meaning "horse" and kampos meaning “sea monster”.There are nearly 50 species of seahorse...
s". Like its predecessor "Heart-Shaped Box", the single was not released commercially in the United States. Everett True
Everett True
For the cartoon character, see The Outbursts of Everett True.Everett True is a British music journalist, who grew up in Chelmsford, Essex...
of Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
made "All Apologies" the Single Of The Week for the magazine; he wrote "It's the most supremely resigned, supremely weary fuck you to the outside world I've heard this year. 'All Apologies' has the most gorgeous, aching tune, an emotionally draining ennui." In 2004, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine ranked the song at number 455 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. This song also ranked at number 99 in Blenders The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.
The Unplugged version, which features Lori Goldston on cello, appears on the band's 1994 album MTV Unplugged in New York
MTV Unplugged in New York
MTV Unplugged in New York is a live album by the American rock band Nirvana. It features an acoustic performance taped at Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993 for the television series MTV Unplugged. The show was directed by Beth McCarthy and first aired on the cable television...
. This version was also included on the 2002 "best-of" compilation album, Nirvana. An acoustic demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
appears on the band's rarities box set, With the Lights Out
With the Lights Out
With the Lights Out is a box set, containing three CDs and one DVD, of previously rare or unreleased material, including b-sides, demos, rough rehearsal recordings and live recordings, from the American rock band Nirvana. It was released in November 2004...
released in 2004 and on the compilation album, Sliver: The Best of the Box released in 2005.
"All Apologies" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011.The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories...
and Best Rock Song
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
in 1995.
Track listing
All songs written by Kurt CobainKurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
- A. "All Apologies" - 3:50
- A. "Rape MeRape Me"Rape Me" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by frontman Kurt Cobain. The song was released as the second single from Nirvana's third album In Utero in 1993, packaged as a double A-side along with "All Apologies"...
" - 2:49 - B. "Moist Vagina" - 3:34
Some versions of the single list "Moist Vagina" as "MV".
Personnel
- Kurt CobainKurt CobainKurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
: vocals and guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, backing vocals - Krist NovoselicKrist NovoselicKrist Anthony Novoselic II is a Croatian-American rock musician, best known for being the bassist and co-founder of the grunge band Nirvana. After Nirvana ended, Novoselic formed Sweet 75 and then Eyes Adrift, releasing one album with each band...
: bassElectric BassElectric bass can mean:*Electric upright bass, the electric version of a double bass*Electric bass guitar*Bass synthesizer*Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-powered singing fish... - Dave GrohlDave GrohlDavid Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
: drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocal on "Moist Vagina"
- Kera Schaley: celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
on "All Apologies"
Charts and succession
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
20 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
32 |
| Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks |
4 |
| Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
| Canadian RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
41 |
| French Singles Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
20 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
32 |
Cover version
Sinéad O'Connor released the song as a double A-side single with Famine, from her album Universal MotherUniversal Mother
Universal Mother is the fourth album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It was released in 1994, and sold 1.5 million copies worldwide.-Track listing:# "Germaine" – 0:38...
in 1995.