Retard Girl
Encyclopedia
"Retard Girl" is a song by American
alternative rock
band Hole
, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love
. The song was released as the band's debut single in April 1990 on 7" vinyl by Sympathy for the Record Industry
. The single was produced by Love's then-husband, James Moreland
, before they divorced after a three month marriage which Love referred to as a "joke". The song was featured again seven years later on Hole's compilation album, My Body, The Hand Grenade
(1997).
The first and only known studio version of "Retard Girl" was recorded at the band's first studio session on March 17, 1990 at Rudy's Rising Star in Los Angeles. The band was given $500, by Sympathy For The Record Industry
's president Long Gone John, to record the session, which was initially meant to only include the song, however others were recorded alongside it, including "Turpentine", "Phonebill Song" and "Johnnie's in the Bathroom." "Retard Girl" along with the latter songs were released in full form on The First Session
EP in 1997. The session was produced by Love's then-husband, James Moreland, with additional product by lead guitarist Eric Erlandson
.
, a Los Angeles fanzine
:
In a 2010 interview on VH1
, Love also mentioned that she had written "Retard Girl" after an incident in which she was almost raped while working at Jumbo's Clown Room
in Los Angeles: "I was almost raped, and I ran out onto Melrose
, and nobody would help me... I was so angry, I wrote "Retard Girl"."
Musically, the song was performed in Drop D tuning and follows a simple structure; opening with a bass line, progressing to distorted guitars and featuring aggressive vocals. The composition highlights the band's initial no wave
and punk rock
-influenced sound, inspired by the likes of Sonic Youth
. The lyrics in the song tell a story of a girl being ridiculed on the school playground, though they likely are metaphorical in context. The line "As shines the moon among the lesser fires" in the second verse of the song is a direct reference to Roman
poet Horace
, pulled verbatim from Odes, a book of Latin
lyric poems composed in 23 BC
."As shines the moon among the lesser fires" is an English translation of a lyric from Horace's Book I of Odes, written circa 23 BC.
All releases of the single list the songwriting credits collectively as Hole, however BMI
's website shows that "Retard Girl" was written by Love alone.
The single also featured two b-sides
, "Phonebill Song" and "Johnnie's in the Bathroom". "Johnnie's in the Bathroom" is a noise track featuring Courtney Love reading diary
entries to distorted guitar picking, accompanied by unidentified lounge music
and what seems to be a recorded conversation between Love and a phone sex
operator. The song exhibits again the band's no wave and noise rock
influences. "Phonebill Song" is a punk-style track composed of three chords, and seems to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to Love spending too much time talking on the telephone, with lyrics like "Before I go to sleep / Get it away from me / Gotta run the phonebill up."
in 1990 on 7" only. The first pressing was on white vinyl with inserts, followed by blue and pink versions later on. Generic black vinyl versions were also issued later. Several different versions of the front cover were produced in differing color schemes, which features a picture of a young girl hanging upside down from a tree limb, widely reported to be Love's friend Kat Bjelland
of Babes In Toyland
.
and Eric Erlandson
, unless where noted.
Technical personnel
Music of the United States
The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Among the country's most internationally-renowned genres are hip hop, blues, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, barbershop, pop, techno, and rock and roll. The United States has the...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Hole
Hole (band)
Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love
Courtney 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...
. The song was released as the band's debut single in April 1990 on 7" vinyl by Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by record industry anti-mogul Long Gone John...
. The single was produced by Love's then-husband, James Moreland
The Leaving Trains
The Leaving Trains were an American indie rock band from Los Angeles, California. The Leaving Trains were founded in 1980 by Falling James Moreland, a frontman who became known for his chaotic performances and penchant for cross-dressing...
, before they divorced after a three month marriage which Love referred to as a "joke". The song was featured again seven years later on Hole's compilation album, My Body, The Hand Grenade
My Body, the Hand Grenade
My Body, the Hand Grenade is a compilation album by alternative rock band Hole that includes b-sides, demo recordings, live songs, and other rarities and unreleased tracks by the band...
(1997).
Origin and recording
Love is known to have written "Retard Girl" prior to, or within the first few weeks of, Hole's formation as the song was performed at Hole's second live performance in 1989.The first and only known studio version of "Retard Girl" was recorded at the band's first studio session on March 17, 1990 at Rudy's Rising Star in Los Angeles. The band was given $500, by Sympathy For The Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by record industry anti-mogul Long Gone John...
's president Long Gone John, to record the session, which was initially meant to only include the song, however others were recorded alongside it, including "Turpentine", "Phonebill Song" and "Johnnie's in the Bathroom." "Retard Girl" along with the latter songs were released in full form on The First Session
The First Session
The First Session is an EP by American alternative rock band Hole, released on August 26, 1997 on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The EP features the entire recording of the band's first ever studio session on March 17, 1990 and also a twenty-page booklet focusing on the band's early career prior...
EP in 1997. The session was produced by Love's then-husband, James Moreland, with additional product by lead guitarist Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
.
Composition and lyrics
Love revealed the meaning of "Retard Girl" in a 1990 interview with FlipsideFlipside
Flipside, flip side, or flipsyde may refer to:* The B-side of a gramophone record.* An opposite, reverse, or sharply contrasted side or aspect of something or someone.-Print:...
, a Los Angeles fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
:
"'Retard Girl', that's our single. It's about getting picked on in school, anyone who's ever been picked on in a big way, or a small way. I just got this vibe one day about how when I was in school I was really shy and sort of picked on and I swore that I would never pick on people who were picked on."
In a 2010 interview on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
, Love also mentioned that she had written "Retard Girl" after an incident in which she was almost raped while working at Jumbo's Clown Room
Jumbo's Clown Room
Jumbo's Clown Room is a dance bar located on Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California. It was opened on July 27, 1970 and later became a dance bar in 1980. Jumbo's Clown Room embodies the burlesque spirit more than its counterparts in Hollywood and farther west. Some of the interior and front of...
in Los Angeles: "I was almost raped, and I ran out onto Melrose
Melrose Avenue
Melrose Avenue is an internationally renowned shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts from Santa Monica Boulevard at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and ends at Lucille Avenue in Silver Lake...
, and nobody would help me... I was so angry, I wrote "Retard Girl"."
Musically, the song was performed in Drop D tuning and follows a simple structure; opening with a bass line, progressing to distorted guitars and featuring aggressive vocals. The composition highlights the band's initial no wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
and punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
-influenced sound, inspired by the likes of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
. The lyrics in the song tell a story of a girl being ridiculed on the school playground, though they likely are metaphorical in context. The line "As shines the moon among the lesser fires" in the second verse of the song is a direct reference to Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
poet Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
, pulled verbatim from Odes, a book of Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
lyric poems composed in 23 BC
23 BC
Year 23 BC was either a common year starting on Saturday or Sunday or a leap year starting on Friday, Saturday or Sunday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
."As shines the moon among the lesser fires" is an English translation of a lyric from Horace's Book I of Odes, written circa 23 BC.
All releases of the single list the songwriting credits collectively as Hole, however BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
's website shows that "Retard Girl" was written by Love alone.
The single also featured two b-sides
B-Sides
B-Sides is an iTunes-exclusive album from the Coventry Trio The Enemy, consisting of ten songs that were B-sides to the single releases from their debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns.-Track list:#Fear Killed the Youth of Our Nation...
, "Phonebill Song" and "Johnnie's in the Bathroom". "Johnnie's in the Bathroom" is a noise track featuring Courtney Love reading diary
Diary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
entries to distorted guitar picking, accompanied by unidentified lounge music
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
and what seems to be a recorded conversation between Love and a phone sex
Phone sex
Phone sex is a type of virtual sex that refers to sexually explicit conversation between or other persons via telephone, especially when at least one of the participants masturbates or engages in sexual fantasy...
operator. The song exhibits again the band's no wave and noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
influences. "Phonebill Song" is a punk-style track composed of three chords, and seems to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to Love spending too much time talking on the telephone, with lyrics like "Before I go to sleep / Get it away from me / Gotta run the phonebill up."
Packaging and artwork
The single was released by Sympathy for the Record IndustrySympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by record industry anti-mogul Long Gone John...
in 1990 on 7" only. The first pressing was on white vinyl with inserts, followed by blue and pink versions later on. Generic black vinyl versions were also issued later. Several different versions of the front cover were produced in differing color schemes, which features a picture of a young girl hanging upside down from a tree limb, widely reported to be Love's friend Kat Bjelland
Kat Bjelland
Katherine "Kat" Bjelland is an American musician who is currently the lead singer-guitarist of the band Katastrophy Wife, and is the former lead singer and guitarist of the punk rock band Babes in Toyland....
of Babes In Toyland
Babes in Toyland (band)
Babes in Toyland was an American alternative rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1987. The band was formed by Oregon native Kat Bjelland , with Lori Barbero and Michelle Leon , who was later replaced by Maureen Herman in 1992...
.
Track listing
All songs written by 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 Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
, unless where noted.
Musicians and personnel
Hole- Courtney LoveCourtney LoveCourtney 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...
- lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... - Eric ErlandsonEric ErlandsonEric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
- lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure... - Jill EmeryJill EmeryJill Emery is an American artist and former musician based in Los Angeles, California. Best known as the bassist for the alternative rock band Hole from 1990 until 1992, Emery left the band after the subsequent tour for the band's debut album, Pretty on the Inside and was replaced by Kristen Pfaff...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Caroline Rue - 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 ....
, percussion
Technical personnel
- James Moreland - producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineer - Eric ErlandsonEric ErlandsonEric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
- producer, engineer - John Vestman - mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
, masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...