Rape Me
Encyclopedia
"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
". The single reached number thirty-two on the UK Singles Chart
.
, was being mixed in 1991. Nirvana first performed the song live that year, although Cobain had not yet written lyrics for the bridge section.
Nirvana had wanted to play "Rape Me" during their performance at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards
. While MTV
initially told the band they could play any song it wanted, it later insisted that the group play "Smells Like Teen Spirit
" instead. Hours before the show, Nirvana refused to play. However, due to concerns that the network could boycott other artists on the group's label if the group refused to play the show, Nirvana ultimately settled on performing their then-latest single "Lithium". At the start of the performance, Cobain started playing and singing "Rape Me" instead; he said he did so "just to give [MTV] a little heart palpitation". Panicked, MTV was moments away from switching from the live performance to a commercial when the band segued into "Lithium".
Nirvana first recorded "Rape Me" during two-day demo sessions with producer Jack Endino
in Seattle, Washington in October 1992. Two takes of the song were recorded; the first was instrumental, while the second featured lead vocals by Cobain and backing vocals by drummer Dave Grohl
. Cobain was holding his then-infant daughter in his lap when he recorded his vocals, and she can be heard crying on the demo.
In February 1993, Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls
, Minnesota
, to record its third album In Utero with producer Steve Albini
. The band recorded the music for "Rape Me" on February 15. The following day, Cobain completed his vocals for the album during a reported six-hour session.
song. He told Spin
, "It's like she's saying, 'Rape me, go ahead, rape me, beat me. You'll never kill me. I'll survive this and I'm gonna fucking rape you one of these days and you won't even know it.'"
Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad
stated that "Rape Me" seemed to deal with Cobain's distaste of the media's coverage on his personal life. While Cobain said the song was written long before his troubles with drug addiction became public, he agreed that the song could be viewed in that light.
on September 25, 1993, appears on the compilation album, Saturday Night Live: The Musical Performances, Volume 2, and on the DVD
, Saturday Night Live: 25 Years of Music, Volume 4.
Two versions of the song appear on the 2004 Nirvana box set, With the Lights Out
: a solo acoustic
home demo
, and the 1992 studio version. Both versions also appear on the 2005 compilation album, Sliver: The Best of the Box. Frances Bean Cobain
can be heard crying in the background of the studio demo version.
A live version, recorded on October 31, 1991 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington
, appears on disc four and the DVD of the "Super Deluxe" version of the 2011 Nevermind reissue, and on the standalone 2011 Live at the Paramount DVD and Blu-ray release.
The song was relabeled "Waif Me" on the packaging for Wal-Mart
and Kmart
stores, which found the actual title too controversial; the song itself remained unchanged.. The song is listed by its proper title in the booklet.
The In Utero version appears on both of Nirvana's greatest hits albums, Nirvana (2002) and Icon (2010).
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...
. The song was released as the second single from Nirvana's third album In Utero in 1993, packaged as a double A-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
along with "All Apologies
All Apologies
"All Apologies" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by frontman Kurt Cobain. It was released as the second single from the band's third album, In Utero, which was released on September 21, 1993...
". The single reached number thirty-two 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 ...
.
Background and recording
"Rape Me" was written by Kurt Cobain on an acoustic guitar around the time the band's second album, NevermindNevermind
Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
, was being mixed in 1991. Nirvana first performed the song live that year, although Cobain had not yet written lyrics for the bridge section.
Nirvana had wanted to play "Rape Me" during their performance at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards
1992 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1992 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 9, 1992, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1991, to June 15, 1992. The show was hosted by Dana Carvey at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles....
. While MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
initially told the band they could play any song it wanted, it later insisted that the group play "Smells Like Teen Spirit
Smells Like Teen Spirit
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, Nevermind , released on DGC Records...
" instead. Hours before the show, Nirvana refused to play. However, due to concerns that the network could boycott other artists on the group's label if the group refused to play the show, Nirvana ultimately settled on performing their then-latest single "Lithium". At the start of the performance, Cobain started playing and singing "Rape Me" instead; he said he did so "just to give [MTV] a little heart palpitation". Panicked, MTV was moments away from switching from the live performance to a commercial when the band segued into "Lithium".
Nirvana first recorded "Rape Me" during two-day demo sessions with producer Jack Endino
Jack Endino
Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
in Seattle, Washington in October 1992. Two takes of the song were recorded; the first was instrumental, while the second featured lead vocals by Cobain and backing vocals by 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...
. Cobain was holding his then-infant daughter in his lap when he recorded his vocals, and she can be heard crying on the demo.
In February 1993, Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls
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...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, to record its third album In Utero with producer 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...
. The band recorded the music for "Rape Me" on February 15. The following day, Cobain completed his vocals for the album during a reported six-hour session.
Music and lyrics
Kurt Cobain conceived "Rape Me" as a life-affirming anti-rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
song. He told Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
, "It's like she's saying, 'Rape me, go ahead, rape me, beat me. You'll never kill me. I'll survive this and I'm gonna fucking rape you one of these days and you won't even know it.'"
Nirvana 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...
stated that "Rape Me" seemed to deal with Cobain's distaste of the media's coverage on his personal life. While Cobain said the song was written long before his troubles with drug addiction became public, he agreed that the song could be viewed in that light.
Other versions
A live version of "Rape Me", recorded on Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
on September 25, 1993, appears on the compilation album, Saturday Night Live: The Musical Performances, Volume 2, and on the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, Saturday Night Live: 25 Years of Music, Volume 4.
Two versions of the song appear on the 2004 Nirvana 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...
: a solo acoustic
Steel-string acoustic guitar
A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
home 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...
, and the 1992 studio version. Both versions also appear on the 2005 compilation album, Sliver: The Best of the Box. 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:...
can be heard crying in the background of the studio demo version.
A live version, recorded on October 31, 1991 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, appears on disc four and the DVD of the "Super Deluxe" version of the 2011 Nevermind reissue, and on the standalone 2011 Live at the Paramount DVD and Blu-ray release.
The song was relabeled "Waif Me" on the packaging for Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
and Kmart
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
stores, which found the actual title too controversial; the song itself remained unchanged.. The song is listed by its proper title in the booklet.
The In Utero version appears on both of Nirvana's greatest hits albums, Nirvana (2002) and Icon (2010).
Charts
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
58 |
| French SNEP 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... Singles Chart |
20 |
| 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 |
| New Zealand RIANZ 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... Singles Chart |
32 |
| 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 |
Accolades
- Ranked #90 in Kerrang!s "100 Greatest Rock Tracks Ever" (1999).
- Ranked #10 in NME'sNMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
"Top 20 Nirvana Songs" (2004).