From album
In Utero
Nirvana · 2013 · Track 4
Details
TonalidadF#
Compás4/4
Tempo112 BPM
Duración2:50
CompositorKurt Cobain
ÁlbumIn Utero
Año2013
ISRCUSGF19960704
Credits
Music Kurt Cobain
If you like this, try
The story behind
When Kurt Cobain wrote "Rape Me", he did so in Los Angeles in May 1991, just as the album Nevermind was being mixed. The initial idea was for it to be a direct song against rape. However, the bridge section was added months later, and it reflects the difficulties that Cobain and his partner, Courtney Love, faced with the media following the massive success of Nirvana. The title and lyrics caused MTV to ban its performance at the 1992 awards, even before the song was released. This also influenced some major stores in the United States, such as Walmart and Kmart, to initially refuse to sell the album In Utero.
The song was first recorded in a studio in Seattle in October 1992, with Jack Endino. Two takes were made in that session, one instrumental and another with Cobain's vocals and Dave Grohl's backing vocals. Interestingly, Cobain recorded his lead vocals while holding his newborn daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, who can be heard crying on the recording. This version appeared on the compilation With the Lights Out in 2004. The final version we know, part of the album In Utero, was recorded in February 1993 in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, with Steve Albini as producer and engineer. The music was recorded on the 15th, and the next day Cobain completed the vocals in a session that lasted about six hours. "Rape Me" was released as the second single from the album in December 1993, alongside "All Apologies". It reached number 32 in the UK and the Top 40 in Belgium and Ireland. It was the band's last original single before Cobain's death in April 1994.
0:00