Rape Me
| Rape Me | |
|---|---|
| Nirvana | |
| publication | December 6, 1993 |
| length | 2:49 |
| Genre (s) | Grunge |
| Author (s) | Kurt Cobain |
| Producer (s) | Steve Albini |
| album | In Utero |
Rape Me (English for "rape me" ) is a song by the US rock band Nirvana . It was released on December 6, 1993 along with the song All Apologies and was the second single from their third studio album In Utero , which was released in September 1993.
background
Kurt Cobain wrote Rape Me around the time that Nirvana's second album Nevermind was mixed, around May 1991. The song was first performed live on June 18, 1991 in Santa Cruz , California . During the next two years Nirvana played the song a few times at their concerts, but with an anti-solo instead of the later introduced bridge before the song's finale.
Rape Me was to be performed in front of a larger audience for the first time at the MTV Video Music Awards 1992, which MTV probably rejected because of the title (English for "rape me"). Those responsible had originally scheduled the performance of Smells Like Teen Spirit . Finally, they agreed on the then current single Lithium . At the performance, however, Kurt Cobain played the first bars of Rape Me instead of the intro of Lithium, before switching to Lithium. The "in-utero" version was finally recorded in February 1993 by Steve Albini .
Importance and Controversy
Rape Me attracted the anger of many feminists after the release of "In Utero" . But Cobain, a feminist himself, said it was an anti- rape song . He said it was a form of poetic justice where a rapist goes to jail after raping a woman and is raped there himself. Basically, I was trying to write a song that supported women and dealt with the issue of rape (" Basically, I was trying to write a song that supported women and dealt with the issue of rape, ") Cobain said in an interview with of the Rolling Stone music magazine in 1993.
Even so, the song had to be renamed Waif Me for the version of the album sold at Wal-Mart and Kmart . Cobain originally preferred the title Sexually Assault Me , but then found it to be too long. Sometimes Rape Me is also seen as a sequel to Polly , where it is told from the perspective of a rapist.
Track list of the single
- A. "All Apologies" (Cobain) - 3:50
- A. "Rape Me" (Cobain) - 2:49
- B. "Moist Vagina" (Cobain) - 3:34
In some versions, “Moist Vagina” is listed as “MV”.
Chart successes
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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All Apologies / Rape Me reached top 100 chart positions in various countries, including 32nd place in the UK. In France the release was in 20th place, in New Zealand position 32 and in Belgium position 43. In Germany, however, the single could not place in the charts.