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This article is about the Nirvana song. For the French novel and film, see Baise-moi.
"Rape Me"
Single by Nirvana
from the album In Utero
A-side"All Apologies" (double A-side)
B-side"Moist Vagina"
Released6 December 1993
RecordedFebruary 1993
StudioPachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota
GenreGrunge
Length2:49
LabelDGC
Songwriter(s)Kurt Cobain
Producer(s)Steve Albini
Nirvana singles chronology
"Heart-Shaped Box"
(1993) 		"All Apologies" / "Rape Me"
(1993) 		"All Apologies (unplugged)"
(1994)
In Utero track listing
12 tracks
  1. "Serve the Servants"
  2. "Scentless Apprentice"
  3. "Heart-Shaped Box"
  4. "Rape Me"
  5. "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle"
  6. "Dumb"
  7. "Very Ape"
  8. "Milk It"
  9. "Pennyroyal Tea"
  10. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter"
  11. "tourette's"
  12. "All Apologies"
German CD single
The German CD single came with this large covering sticker on the box
Music video
"Rape Me" on YouTube

"Rape Me" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the fourth song on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released in September 1993.

"Rape Me" was released as the album's second single in December 1993, packaged as a double A-side with "All Apologies". It reached number 32 on the UK Singles Chart, and was the band's final single before Cobain's suicide in April 1994.

Background and recording

Early history

"Rape Me" was written by Cobain on an acoustic guitar in Los Angeles in May 1991, around the time the band's second album, Nevermind, was being mixed.[1] It was first performed live on June 18, 1991, at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz. The earliest live versions of the song featured a guitar solo instead of a bridge.[2]

The song's lyrics led to controversy even before it had been officially released. The band had wanted to play it during their appearance at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, but according to Nirvana manager Danny Goldberg in his 2019 Cobain biography Serving the Servant, MTV president Judy McGrath was worried that the song "would make it seem like MTV was normalizing rape."[3] Goldberg recalled reminding McGrath on the phone of Cobain's "commitment to feminism" and assured her that "Rape Me" was an anti-rape song, like "Polly" on Nevermind, but said McGrath "wasn't having it" and wanted the band to play their latest single, "Lithium," instead. The band eventually agreed, but Cobain still played a few seconds of "Rape Me" at the start of the performance, which resulted in the live broadcast almost going to commercial.[4] In Serving the Servant, Goldberg refuted common reports that the network threatened to fire Amy Finnerty, an MTV employee and friend of the band, or boycott other artists signed to Geffen Records, if Nirvana played "Rape Me," saying that "the MTV people were under a lot of pressure to get good ratings, but they weren't bullies, just noodges."[5]

"Rape Me" was first recorded in the studio in October 1992, during a two-day demo session with Jack Endino at Word of Mouth in Seattle, Washington. Two takes of the song were recorded, one of which was instrumental, the other of which featured lead vocals by Cobain and backing vocals by drummer Dave Grohl. Cobain was holding his then-infant daughter Frances Bean Cobain on his lap when he recorded his vocals on the second take, and she can be heard crying on the recording.[6] This version of the song was released on the Nirvana rarities box set, With the Lights Out, in November 2004, and on the compilation album Sliver: The Best of the Box in November 2005.

In Utero

The final studio version of "Rape Me" was recorded in February 1993 by Steve Albini at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, for the band's third and final studio album, In Utero. The instruments for the song were recorded on February 15.[7] The following day, Cobain completed his vocals for the album during a reported six-hour session.[8]

According to Albini, Cobain's screaming during the song's ending was intentionally recorded so that it "just overwhelms the band and becomes this really uncomfortable presence."[9] However, the album's more abrasive vocals in general were softened in the mastered version.[10]

Post-In Utero

On September 25, 1993, the band performed the song, along with "Heart-Shaped Box," on Saturday Night Live at NBC Studios in New York City. It was the band's first show with second guitarist Pat Smear. The song was again performed on television on February 4, 1994 for the show Nulle Part Ailleurs in Paris, France.

The final live performance of "Rape Me" was at Nirvana's last concert, at Terminal 1 of Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, Germany on March 1, 1994.

Composition and lyrics

Music

The song's instrumental opening bars, which features Cobain using pick scratching while playing the verse chord progression, has led to frequent comparisons to the guitar riff of the band's 1991 breakthrough single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit."[11] Will Bryant of Pitchfork wrote that "the four-chord riff that drags the song through the motions is an almost direct inversion of the famous 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' riff,"[12] while Cobain biographer Charles R. Cross described the song as having "the same catchy soft/loud dynamic as "Teen Spirit," which "created a perfect Cobain aesthetic – beautiful, haunting and disturbing."[13] "Rape Me" was written after "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but before Nevermind had been released.[14]

Lyrics

"Rape Me" is an anti-rape song, written from the point of view of the victim. "It's like she's saying, 'Rape me, go ahead, rape me, beat me,'" Cobain told Darcey Steinke of Spin in 1993, "'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.'"[15] Gillian G. Garr described the song's lyrics as "part submissive invitation, part defiant taunt, a mix that confused and disturbed many listeners", and led to Cobain frequently having to explain the song's meaning.[16]

When asked by MUCH's Erica Ehm in an August 1993 interview how the band was helping to raise awareness about sexism, Cobain replied, "By writing songs as blunt as 'Rape Me.'"[17] He stated that it was a song meant to be so blunt that no one could misinterpret its meaning.[18]

American musician Tori Amos commented on the song in a 1994 interview with the NME, saying that she "thought it was very clear what it was about....It's a defiant song. But the scariest thing to a rape victim are the words 'rape me'. When I first heard it I broke out in a cold sweat, but when you get over that you realize he's turning it back on people."[19] In 1996, Jim Dillon, reverend of the hoaxical Church of Kurt Cobain, stated that "in essence, the real message [of "Rape Me"] is one of a Christian theme – treat me the way you want me to treat you".[20]

The song has also been interpreted as an attack on the press for its perceived mistreatment of Cobain and his wife, Courtney Love. While most of the song was written before Nevermind was released, the bridge, which was written later, contains lyrics that address his occasionally contentious relationship with the press.[21] As Cobain explained to Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad, "It was actually about rape ... but now I could definitely use it as an example of my life for the past six months or year, easily."[22] In line with this interpretation, Azerrad suggested that the chorus lyric "I'm not the only one" was Cobain's way of saying that Love and their infant daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, were being hurt along with him by the press and public attention.[22] According to Azerrad, the bridge lyric "My favorite inside source" was a reference to the manager of an unnamed Seattle band Cobain and Love suspected of being anonymously interviewed for a controversial Vanity Fair profile of the couple published in September 1992.[22]

Release and reception

"Rape Me" was released as a double A-side single with "All Apologies" on December 6, 1993 on CD, cassette, and 7" and 12" vinyl record formats.[23] The single was not released commercially in the United States.[23]

The song was relabeled "Waif Me" on the censored Wal-Mart and Kmart version of In Utero, released in March 1994. The chain stores had originally refused to carry the album because of the song's title, as well as the fetus collage on the back cover, which was also edited. Cobain had originally wanted to retitle the song "Sexually Assault Me," but decided on the meaningless title "Waif Me," knowing that another four-letter word was required in order to make a quick graphic change.[24] The song's uncensored title was listed in the booklet, and the recording remained the same. Cobain defended the band's decision to release a censored version of the album by explaining, "One of the main reasons I signed to a major label was so people would be able to buy our records at Kmart. In some towns, that's the only place kids can buy records."[25]

In her Spin cover story on the band, Steinke described the song as carrying a "quiet biblical angst."[15] David Fricke, in his review of In Utero for Rolling Stone, wrote that "'Rape Me' opens as a disquieting whisper, Cobain intoning the title verse in a battered croon, which sets you up beautifully to get blind-sided by the explosive hook line."[26]

In November 1993, "Rape Me" was voted the third "Most Wanted to be Heard" song by listeners of the Hawaii Free Radio.[27]

Criticism

"Rape Me" has occasionally received criticism for its intentionally blunt handling of sensitive subject matter. John Mulvey of the NME wrote that "while you can't doubt Cobain's personal political correctness, there's a distinct moral dubiousness about welding the words 'RAPE ME!' to In Utero's best sing-along chorus."[28] Pitchfork's Will Bryant wrote that the song, despite its victim-empowering intent, "comes off as a shallow and transparent attempt to court controversy."[29]

In 2019, Jenna Bush Hager revealed that her father, George W. Bush, prior to becoming U.S. President, broke one of her Nirvana CDs due to the lyrics of "a really bad song" implied to be "Rape Me."[30]

Legacy

In 1999, "Rape Me" was voted number 90 in Kerrang!'s 100 Greatest Rock Tracks Ever!.[31] In 2015, Rolling Stone placed it at number 31 on their ranking of 102 Nirvana songs, with Julianne Escobedo Shepherd calling it "the closest to an actual Bikini Kill song that [Cobain] would ever write, using the lyrics as a woman-empowering taunt to show would-be rapists that their victims' spirits would not be tamped."[32] In 2019, The Guardian ranked it at number 17 on their list of 'Nirvana's 20 greatest songs'.[33]

"Rape Me" was re-released on both of Nirvana's greatest hits albums, Nirvana (2002) and Icon (2010).

Music video

Although no music video was made for "Rape Me", two treatments for a proposed video were published posthumously in Cobain's Journals in 2002.[34] They included scenes set in a prison, footage of flowers and seahorses as well as a man being prepared for a gynecological exam.[34] A 23-page "Rape Me" music video script, listing Jerry Plansker as director, sold on eBay in January 2003 for $620.[35]

In 1999, the Saturday Night Live version of "Rape Me" began being aired as a music video on MTV2 to promote the album, Saturday Night Live: The Musical Performances, Volume 2, on which it appeared as the opening track.[36] Video of the performance was released on the DVD of the same name.

Track listings

Released as a double A-side with "All Apologies".

Charts

Chart (1993/1994) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[37] 43
European Hot 100 Singles (Music & Media)[38] 77
Ireland (IRMA)[39] 20
UK Singles (OCC)[40] 32
US Rock Tracks National Airplay (Radio & Records)[41] 57
Chart (1995–1996) Peak
position
Denmark (Tracklisten)[42]
Charted on the singles chart as part of the Singles box set 		5
European Hot 100 Singles (Music & Media)[43]
Charted on the singles chart as part of the Singles box set 		55
France (SNEP)[44]
Charted on the singles chart as part of the Singles box set 		17

Accolades

Year Publication Country Accolade Rank
1998 Kerrang! United Kingdom 20 Great Nirvana Songs Picked by the Stars[45] 6
1999 100 Greatest Rock Tracks Ever[46] 90

Personnel

Other releases

  • An acoustic demo of the song, recorded on a boombox in 1991 and featuring Cobain on vocals and acoustic guitar, appeared on the Nirvana box set, With the Lights Out, released in November 2004. The same version was re-released on the compilation album, Sliver: The Best of the Box, in November 2005.
  • A live version, recorded at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle on October 31, 1991, appeared on the live video Live at the Paramount, released in September 2011. Cobain introduced the song as being about "hairy, sweaty, macho redneck men. Who rape."[47]
  • A 2013 Albini remix of the studio version was released on the 20th anniversary "Deluxe" and "Super Deluxe" versions of In Utero in September 2013.
  • A live version, from the band's MTV-recorded performance at Pier 48 in Seattle on December 13, 1993, appeared on the Live and Loud DVD, released in September 2013. "Rape Me" was among the songs on an edited version of the concert that first aired on MTV on December 31, 1993. The Live and Loud DVD also featured rehearsal footage of the song from the band's soundcheck.
  • The version recorded for Nulle Part Ailleurs in Paris on February 4, 1994 appeared as bonus material on the Live and Loud DVD.

"Rape Me" was parodied by American animated sitcom The Simpsons in the January 2008 episode, "That '90s Show," which featured the song "Shave Me" being performed by Sadgasm, a grunge band fronted by lead character Homer Simpson, in the early 1990s. It also featured "Shave Me" later being parodied by guest star "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Brain Freeze".[49]

In the South Park episode "Hummels & Heroin", Cartman, Kenny, Kyle, and Butters perform a Barbershop Quartet cover of "Rape Me" for a retirement home.

In October 2021, the American drama Succession used "Rape Me" in the episode "The Disruption" when Kendall ordered his assistants to play the song on the speakers to counter Shiv addressing the sexual assault allegations made against Waystar.[50][51][52][53][54] Love praised the show's use of the song in an Instagram post, saying that she had "never been so proud of approving one of Kurt’s songs" and that it was "as if they truly understood" the song's meaning.[55]

Notes

  1. ^ Azerrad, Michael (1994). Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday. p. 323. ISBN 0-385-47199-8.
  2. ^ Gaar, p. 19
  3. ^ Goldberg, Danny (2019). Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain (First ed.). New York: Ecco Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-0062861504.
  4. ^ Azerrad, Michael (1994). Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday. pp. 276–277. ISBN 0-385-47199-8.
  5. ^ Goldberg, Danny (2019). Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain (First ed.). New York: Ecco Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-0062861504.
  6. ^ Gaar, p. 19–20.
  7. ^ Gaar, p. 56.
  8. ^ Gaar, p. 61.
  9. ^ Gaar, p. 57.
  10. ^ Gaar, p. 76.
  11. ^ Hampton, Howard. "Nirvana: SPIN's Original Album Reviews, Collected". Spin. Spin. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  12. ^ Bryant, Will. "Nirvana – Nirvana". Pitchforkmedia. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  13. ^ Cross, Charles R. (August 15, 2001). Heavier Than Heaven. United States: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-6505-9.
  14. ^ Azerrad, Michael (1994). Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday. p. 323. ISBN 0-385-47199-8.
  15. ^ a b Steinke, Darcey. "Smashing Their Heads On That Punk Rock". Spin. October 1993.
  16. ^ Gaar, Gillian G. (2006). In Utero. United States: Continium. p. 57. ISBN 0-8264-1776-0.
  17. ^ "Much: Our Last Time w/ Kurt Cobain (1993)". August 10, 1993. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22.
  18. ^ Azerrad, p. 322–23.
  19. ^ Hess, Amanda (12 March 2010). "Date Rape Anthem: Nirvana's "Rape Me"". Washington City PAper. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  20. ^ "Cobain Followers Form Their Own Church Fledgling Group Hopes To Find Meaning In Late Musician's Tragic Life". The Spokesman-Review. May 26, 1996. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  21. ^ Gaar, Gillian G. (2009). The Rough Guide to Nirvana. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-4053-8119-2.
  22. ^ a b c Azerrad, Michael (October 1993). Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. U.S.: Doubleday. p. 323. ISBN 0-385-47199-8.
  23. ^ a b Gaar, Gillian G. "Verse Chorus Verse: The Recording History of Nirvana". Goldmine. February 14, 1997.
  24. ^ Goldberg, Danny (2019). Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain (First ed.). New York: Ecco Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-0062861504.
  25. ^ True, Everett (13 March 2007). Nirvana: The Biography. Da Capo Press. p. 488. ISBN 9781322438757.
  26. ^ Fricke, David (16 September 1993). "In Utero". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  27. ^ "The Hawaiian Island Music Report". November 21, 1993. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  28. ^ Mulvey, John (4 September 1993). "Nirvana : In Utero". NME. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  29. ^ Bryant, Will. "Nirvana – Nirvana". Pitchforkmedia. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  30. ^ Drew Weisholtz, Drew (May 29, 2019). "MUSIC Jenna reveals why her father destroyed 1 of the first CDs she ever bought". Today. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  31. ^ Kerrang! magazine, issue 746, April 17, 1999. (voted by readers).
  32. ^ Escobedo Shepherd, Julianne. "No Apologies: All 102 Nirvana Songs Ranked". Rolling Stone. No. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  33. ^ Petridis, Alexis (20 June 2019). "Nirvana's 20 greatest songs – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  34. ^ a b Gaar, Gillian G. (2006). Nirvana's In Utero Bloomsbury Publishing USA. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  35. ^ Gaar, p. 95.
  36. ^ Billboard – The Clip List (PDF). Billboard. October 23, 1999. p. 94. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  37. ^ "Nirvana – All Apologies / Rape Me" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  38. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. January 15, 1994. p. 15. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  39. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – All Apologies/Rape Me". Irish Singles Chart.
  40. ^ "Nirvana: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  41. ^ "Rock Tracks National Airplay" (PDF). Radio & Records. Radio & Records. June 10, 1994. p. 66. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  42. ^ "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. January 20, 1996. p. 15. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  43. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. December 9, 1995. p. 12. Retrieved June 2, 2019.}
  44. ^ "Nirvana – Singles" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved June 2, 2019}.
  45. ^ "The Hit List: 20 Great Nirvana Songs Picked by the Stars". Kerrang!. No. 709. July 25, 1998. p. 49. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  46. ^ "100 Greatest Rock Tracks Ever". Kerrang!. No. 746. April 17, 1999. p. 25. Retrieved August 25, 2019. As voted for by readers
  47. ^ Gaar, Gillian G (2009). The Rough Guide to Nirvana. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1-85828-945-8.
  48. ^ Nirvana - Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! - Geffen and DGC: DGCV-39541: Closing credits.
  49. ^ "Sadgasm – "Shave Me"". Video fragment (19 seconds) from an Episode of "The Simpsons". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  50. ^ Van Horn, Shawn (March 28, 2022). "From 'The Batman' to 'Succession': The Best Uses of Nirvana Songs in Movies and TV". Collider. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  51. ^ Carter, Emily (November 2, 2021). "Nirvana's Rape Me played in key scene in latest episode of Succession". Kerrang!. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  52. ^ Aswad, Jem (November 3, 2021). "Courtney Love Says Kurt Cobain Would Be 'Proud' of How 'Succession' Used Nirvana's 'Rape Me'". AOL. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  53. ^ Childers, Chad (November 3, 2021). "HBO's 'Succession' Queues Up Nirvana's 'Rape Me', Courtney Love Responds". Loudwire. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  54. ^ Succession S03E03 - Rape Me. USA. November 1, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved November 5, 2021 – via YouTube.
  55. ^ Deville, Chris (3 November 2021). "Courtney Love Comments On Succession's Use Of Nirvana's "Rape Me"". Stereogum. Retrieved 6 November 2021.

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to In Utero (album).
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