Samantha (Hole song)
Encyclopedia
"Samantha" is a song by alternative rock
band Hole
, written by vocalist Courtney Love
, The Smashing Pumpkins
frontman Billy Corgan
and music producer
Linda Perry
. The song was featured on the band's fourth studio album, Nobody's Daughter
, in 2010. Originally planned as the album's lead single, the song has not received individual release reputedly due to the controversy over its composition and, as of 2011, it is still unknown whether or not "Samantha" will be released as a single.
in September 2005 after violating drug probation. With additional musical input from Billy Corgan and Linda Perry, the song was composed and originally recorded in 2006 during the embyronic sessions for Love's expected second solo studio album, How Dirty Girls Get Clean, at Perry's recording studios, the Kung Fu Gardens, in North Hollywood. An in-studio rehearsal recording of "Samantha" from these sessions was featured in an episode of All Things Considered
and broadcast online by NPR
in May 2007. A rough studio recording of the song from these sessions has circulated online in MP3
format. Three months prior to the NPR interview, Love announced that the "Samantha" and other songs, including "I See Red", "Too Much Dope" and the eventually-included song "Honey", were possible inclusions on the album, now retitled Nobody's Daughter. The album was reported to have been completed in June 2007.
Due to further delays in production and a reported scrap of the album,, "Samantha" was reworked throughout the 2008-2009 recording sessions for Nobody's Daughter. It was during these sessions that the song was described as what "[lead] to the resurrection of Hole
" and in June 2009, Love and guitarist Micko Larkin
announced the reunion of Love's former band Hole. In an video interview accompanying the announcement, recorded by English music magazine NME
, a reworked version of "Samantha" was previewed alongside a rough version of "Nobody's Daughter." This version, recorded at Henson Recording Studios
in Los Angeles, California
, was changed lyrically one last time before the final album version of the song premiered on March 30, 2010, by Stereogum
and was later released on Nobody's Daughter in April 2010.
", Billy Corgan composed the main guitar riff to "Samantha" whilst rehearsing with Love at The Village Recorder
in Los Angeles. Corgan's lead guitar recording, originally featured on a studio version of the song, was omitted from the final mix by Love and replaced with a cello. Composed in standard tuning, the song's opening chords (A-Am) are featured on numerous occasions throughout the song, usually on the first lines of a verse. The following progression (C-F-C) is incorporated into the opening riff to form the basic verse structure. The pre-chorus consists of two parts (Dm-C-A-Asus2)/(G-F-D9) and the main chorus follows a standard three-chord progression (A-F5-C5), two of which are power chords. The album version of the song, featuring the "through villages of ether" refrain, also has a pre-bridge verse that does not follow the formula of the previous verses (A9-C-G-D7). The bridge follows a four-chord progression (F-Dm-A-C) repeated twice and ending partway through a third repeat on the same chord as the pre-chorus ending.(F-D9) The final two verses are complex with the infamous "people like you" verse rehashing the same four chords as "Nobody's Daughter" (Em-G5-C5-A/A9) and the pre-bridge being repeated.
Lyrically, the song's character and meaning are both ambiguous. According to the All Things Considered episode aired in May 2007, the song was intended to be "about a working girl named Samantha" which "will join the canon of great rock songs about women, such as Sting's "Roxanne
" or Fleetwood Mac
's "Rhiannon
." However, in an April 2010 interview with Amazon.com
, Love implied that the song was semi-autobiographical, stating that "it's probably me" and that the character was "coming from [her] own space."
", cannot be released without his approval, saying that he "has not signed off on any of those songs" and "so it would be a real big problem." Hole's music attorney, Peter Paterno, has since called Corgan's block as "an unlitigated issue" and "suspects the law would favour Love." Love herself has expressed concern and hopes "that The Smashing Pumpkins frontman will one day reconcile." In light of Paterno's statement, "Pacific Coast Highway" was released as a single, indicating that Corgan's issue may have been resolved.
and New York
. The reworked version of the song was premiered on Hole's debut television appearance since their reunion, on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
on February 12, 2010 and also performed during Hole's three-date European reunion tour in London, Amsterdam
and Milan
. The band also performed "Samantha" at the NME Awards
on February 24, 2010 alongside Nobody's Daughters lead single, "Skinny Little Bitch" prior to the album's release.
described the song, as well as others on the album, by stating that "the guitars are so dated, raunchy, and overstated that every track starts to feel like cartoon-rock-- more a Sunset Strip-rehash than grunge
nostalgia" whereas Allan Raible of ABC
's On the Record referred to it as "a classic Hole track, until it devolves into a repetition of the lines, “People like you f___ people like me, in order to avoid agony. / People like you f___ people like me in order to avoid suffering.” Despite the polished production, this indicates that Love is still willing to get a little rough around the edges."
" was released in March 2010 as the album's lead single. Following the release of "Skinny Little Bitch", the song was then expected to be the second single from the album, however, the similarly-penned "Pacific Coast Highway" was announced for release in April 2010 and "Letter to God
", the album's final single, was released less than a month later. Artwork for the unreleased single of "Samantha" has been circulated online.
would direct the promotional music videos for singles from her then-forthcoming album and mentioned "i miss videos so happy Lachapelle is doing mine!" in a status update on social networking site Twitter
. However, there is no confirmation, as of 2011, that LaChapelle has directed any promotional videos for Hole. A censored live version of the song, performed during Hole's reunion show at London's O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on February 17, 2010, was released on HoleVEVO, Hole's channel as part of VEVO
, by Island Def Jam on YouTube
on May 4, 2010.
On May 30, 2011, Love announced on Twitter that a music video for "Samantha" was being recorded. Alongside the announcement, Love also posted a number of pictures from the video shoot on her fashion blog, What Courtney Wore Today. The video features Love in a wedding dress with the word "cunt" embrodied on it, with burning dollar bills, inspired by Tracy Emin's Sometimes the Dress is Worth More Money Than the Money, and is set in "a post-apocalyptic world." The video, according to Love, is costing $250,000 to make. Liberatum founder Pablo Ganguli
and Turkish director Alphan Eseli joined forces to make the music video of 'Samantha' in Istanbul
, Turkey
. The video is produced by Bocek Productions. The video is the first by Hole since "Be a Man
" (2000) and first to promote Nobody's Daughter.
An unfinished version of the video was leaked on Vimeo
on August 27, 2011 but its privacy settings were updated within less than an hour, adding password-protection. The video re-emerged on the website, courtney-love.org on September 23, 2011 with Love's blessing, though she has stated the video has yet to be finished.
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 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 Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
frontman Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...
and music producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Linda Perry
Linda Perry
Linda Perry is an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer. Once best known as the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, Perry has founded two record labels and has become a major songwriter and producer...
. The song was featured on the band's fourth studio album, Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide on April 27, 2010 through Mercury Records. The album was originally conceived by Hole frontwoman Courtney Love as a solo project titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean, following her poorly-received solo debut...
, in 2010. Originally planned as the album's lead single, the song has not received individual release reputedly due to the controversy over its composition and, as of 2011, it is still unknown whether or not "Samantha" will be released as a single.
Origins and recording
"Samantha" one of twenty-six original songs that Courtney Love had written following her three-month lockdown in rehabDrug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
in September 2005 after violating drug probation. With additional musical input from Billy Corgan and Linda Perry, the song was composed and originally recorded in 2006 during the embyronic sessions for Love's expected second solo studio album, How Dirty Girls Get Clean, at Perry's recording studios, the Kung Fu Gardens, in North Hollywood. An in-studio rehearsal recording of "Samantha" from these sessions was featured in an episode of All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
and broadcast online by NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
in May 2007. A rough studio recording of the song from these sessions has circulated online in MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format. Three months prior to the NPR interview, Love announced that the "Samantha" and other songs, including "I See Red", "Too Much Dope" and the eventually-included song "Honey", were possible inclusions on the album, now retitled Nobody's Daughter. The album was reported to have been completed in June 2007.
Due to further delays in production and a reported scrap of the album,, "Samantha" was reworked throughout the 2008-2009 recording sessions for Nobody's Daughter. It was during these sessions that the song was described as what "[lead] to the resurrection of 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...
" and in June 2009, Love and guitarist Micko Larkin
Micko Larkin
Michael Joseph "Micko" Larkin is an English musician of Irish background, most notable as the lead guitarist of the indie rock band Larrikin Love and more recently, Hole.-Early life and career :...
announced the reunion of Love's former band Hole. In an video interview accompanying the announcement, recorded by English music magazine NME
NME
The 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...
, a reworked version of "Samantha" was previewed alongside a rough version of "Nobody's Daughter." This version, recorded at Henson Recording Studios
Henson Recording Studios
Henson Recording Studios was established in 2000 at the former A&M Studios. The remake of We Are the World was recorded at Henson Recording Studios in February 2010 to benefit the Haiti earthquake victims....
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, was changed lyrically one last time before the final album version of the song premiered on March 30, 2010, by Stereogum
Stereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
and was later released on Nobody's Daughter in April 2010.
Composition and lyrics
Alike Hole's "Celebrity SkinCelebrity Skin (song)
"Celebrity Skin" is the tenth single by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 1, 1998 by Geffen Records. It is the debut single from their third studio album Celebrity Skin and is Hole's most commercially successful single, being the only one to reach #1 on the Modern Rock...
", Billy Corgan composed the main guitar riff to "Samantha" whilst rehearsing with Love at The Village Recorder
The Village (studio)
The Village is a famous recording studio in Los Angeles, California.Since the 1960s, The Village has been the home to recordings by artists such as Aerosmith, The Allman Brothers, The Beach Boys, Mariah Carey, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Alice Cooper, Elvis Costello, The Doors, Bob...
in Los Angeles. Corgan's lead guitar recording, originally featured on a studio version of the song, was omitted from the final mix by Love and replaced with a cello. Composed in standard tuning, the song's opening chords (A-Am) are featured on numerous occasions throughout the song, usually on the first lines of a verse. The following progression (C-F-C) is incorporated into the opening riff to form the basic verse structure. The pre-chorus consists of two parts (Dm-C-A-Asus2)/(G-F-D9) and the main chorus follows a standard three-chord progression (A-F5-C5), two of which are power chords. The album version of the song, featuring the "through villages of ether" refrain, also has a pre-bridge verse that does not follow the formula of the previous verses (A9-C-G-D7). The bridge follows a four-chord progression (F-Dm-A-C) repeated twice and ending partway through a third repeat on the same chord as the pre-chorus ending.(F-D9) The final two verses are complex with the infamous "people like you" verse rehashing the same four chords as "Nobody's Daughter" (Em-G5-C5-A/A9) and the pre-bridge being repeated.
Lyrically, the song's character and meaning are both ambiguous. According to the All Things Considered episode aired in May 2007, the song was intended to be "about a working girl named Samantha" which "will join the canon of great rock songs about women, such as Sting's "Roxanne
Roxanne (song)
"Roxanne" is a hit song by the rock band The Police, first released in 1978 as a single and on their album Outlandos d'Amour. It was written from the point-of-view of a man who falls in love with a prostitute.- History :...
" or Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
's "Rhiannon
Rhiannon (song)
"Rhiannon" is a single released by Fleetwood Mac in 1976. The song was written by Stevie Nicks."Rhiannon" was voted #488 in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. Its US chart peak was in June 1976, when it hit #11...
." However, in an April 2010 interview with Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, Love implied that the song was semi-autobiographical, stating that "it's probably me" and that the character was "coming from [her] own space."
Billy Corgan co-writing controversy
Co-writer Billy Corgan has claimed that the song, along with others such as "Pacific Coast HighwayPacific Coast Highway (song)
"Pacific Coast Highway" is the fifteenth single from alternative rock group Hole. It is the second single from the band's fourth studio album Nobody's Daughter...
", cannot be released without his approval, saying that he "has not signed off on any of those songs" and "so it would be a real big problem." Hole's music attorney, Peter Paterno, has since called Corgan's block as "an unlitigated issue" and "suspects the law would favour Love." Love herself has expressed concern and hopes "that The Smashing Pumpkins frontman will one day reconcile." In light of Paterno's statement, "Pacific Coast Highway" was released as a single, indicating that Corgan's issue may have been resolved.
Promotion
The song was premiered live on July 9, 2007 at Love's surprise birthday show at Bush Hall in London, United Kingdom. It was also performed during all shows on Love's short-lived 2007 tour, including shows in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The reworked version of the song was premiered on Hole's debut television appearance since their reunion, on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross was a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 November 2001. The programme featured Ross's take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...
on February 12, 2010 and also performed during Hole's three-date European reunion tour in London, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. The band also performed "Samantha" at the NME Awards
NME Awards
The NME Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine, NME .The first awards show was held in 1953 as the NME Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of the magazine....
on February 24, 2010 alongside Nobody's Daughters lead single, "Skinny Little Bitch" prior to the album's release.
Critical reception
"Samantha" received mixed reception both upon its digital premiere on Stereogum and upon its inclusion on Nobody's Daughter. Amanda Petrusich of Pitchfork MediaPitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
described the song, as well as others on the album, by stating that "the guitars are so dated, raunchy, and overstated that every track starts to feel like cartoon-rock-- more a Sunset Strip-rehash than grunge
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...
nostalgia" whereas Allan Raible of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's On the Record referred to it as "a classic Hole track, until it devolves into a repetition of the lines, “People like you f___ people like me, in order to avoid agony. / People like you f___ people like me in order to avoid suffering.” Despite the polished production, this indicates that Love is still willing to get a little rough around the edges."
Reported single release
Since its initial mention in February 2007, "Samantha" was expected to be the lead single from Nobody's Daughter, however instead the Hole song "Skinny Little BitchSkinny Little Bitch
"Skinny Little Bitch" is the fourteenth single from alternative rock group Hole. It is their first single in ten years and lead single from fourth studio album Nobody's Daughter. The single also marks the first release by Hole not to feature founding member Eric Erlandson...
" was released in March 2010 as the album's lead single. Following the release of "Skinny Little Bitch", the song was then expected to be the second single from the album, however, the similarly-penned "Pacific Coast Highway" was announced for release in April 2010 and "Letter to God
Letter to God (song)
"Letter to God" is a song by alternative rock band Hole, written solely by music producer Linda Perry. The song was released as the band's sixteenth single, and third and final single from their fourth studio album Nobody's Daughter, on April 20, 2010, as a digital download...
", the album's final single, was released less than a month later. Artwork for the unreleased single of "Samantha" has been circulated online.
Music video
In 2009, while the song was still intended for release under Courtney Love, Love revealed that David LaChapelleDavid LaChapelle
David LaChapelle is a photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique, sexualized, and often humorous style.-Early life:...
would direct the promotional music videos for singles from her then-forthcoming album and mentioned "i miss videos so happy Lachapelle is doing mine!" in a status update on social networking site Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. However, there is no confirmation, as of 2011, that LaChapelle has directed any promotional videos for Hole. A censored live version of the song, performed during Hole's reunion show at London's O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on February 17, 2010, was released on HoleVEVO, Hole's channel as part of VEVO
Vevo
Vevo is a music video website. It is a joint venture among Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media with EMI licensing its content to the group without taking an ownership stake. The service was launched officially on December 8, 2009...
, by Island Def Jam on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
on May 4, 2010.
On May 30, 2011, Love announced on Twitter that a music video for "Samantha" was being recorded. Alongside the announcement, Love also posted a number of pictures from the video shoot on her fashion blog, What Courtney Wore Today. The video features Love in a wedding dress with the word "cunt" embrodied on it, with burning dollar bills, inspired by Tracy Emin's Sometimes the Dress is Worth More Money Than the Money, and is set in "a post-apocalyptic world." The video, according to Love, is costing $250,000 to make. Liberatum founder Pablo Ganguli
Pablo Ganguli
Pablo Ganguli is a cultural entrepreneur and impresario who has created and directed several international festivals of arts, literature, media, film, fashion and culture, through his organisation...
and Turkish director Alphan Eseli joined forces to make the music video of 'Samantha' in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. The video is produced by Bocek Productions. The video is the first by Hole since "Be a Man
Be a Man
"Be a Man" is the thirteenth single by alternative rock band Hole and last before their breakup in 2002. The song was a co-written by Hole members Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson with contribution from frequent guest Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins...
" (2000) and first to promote Nobody's Daughter.
An unfinished version of the video was leaked on Vimeo
Vimeo
Vimeo is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. It was founded by Zach Klein and Jake Lodwick in November 2004...
on August 27, 2011 but its privacy settings were updated within less than an hour, adding password-protection. The video re-emerged on the website, courtney-love.org on September 23, 2011 with Love's blessing, though she has stated the video has yet to be finished.