Nirvana-Rape Me

Nirvana playing Rape Me off their 1993 album In Utero
Made by Brayden Hayes


The song was first recorded in the studio by Jack Endino in October 1992 in Seattle, Washington. The band had wanted to debut it (along with "Tourette's," then called "New Poopy") at the 1992 MTV Awards in Los Angeles a month earlier, but the network wanted them to play "Smells Like Teen Spirit" instead. The band eventually played their then-latest single "Lithium," but not before strumming "Rape Me"'s opening chords, which almost resulted in the performance being taken off the air.
"Rape Me" was finally recorded by Steve Albini in February 1993 for In Utero, and was released alongside "All Apologies" as the album's second single in late 1993. A music video was planned but never made, in part because the band believed MTV would be reluctant to play it. However in 1999, an MTV video was made from their live performance of the song recorded on Saturday Night Live (see "Other versions"). Controversy
"Rape Me" drew the ire of many feminists upon its release on In Utero in 1993, but Cobain, a proclaimed feminist himself, often said in interviews that it was an "anti-rape" song. He said it was a song of poetic justice, in which a man rapes a woman, is sent to jail, and ends up being raped there himself. "Basically, I was trying to write a song that supported women and dealt with the issue of rape," Cobain explained in a 1993 Rolling Stone interview . It has also been said that Cobain offered the song for use in RAINN, a rape, abuse, and incest international helpline. However, Tori Amos, the founder of this organization, declined, stating that many victims of rape cannot deal with such blunt terms.
Still, the song's title was censored as "Waif Me" on Wal-Mart and Kmart releases of In Utero, an intentionally comical name chosen by Cobain himself (he had originally wanted to call it "Sexually Assault Me", but that name was too long). The audio of the song remains uncensored in these versions.
Cobain often pointed out that "Rape Me" was written before Nirvana's ascension to superstardom, and therefore could not have been a cynical comment on fame, as many suggested around the time of In Utero's release. However, the song's bridge, which was written later on, does seem to contain direct references to Cobain's celebrity, such as the lyric, "My favorite inside source." The line "I'm not the only one" seems to reference that it is not just him but his wife and daughter who are affected by his celebrity, or being "raped" by the media, but is more likely about the karmic justice of the rapist being raped in jail.


LYRICS
Rape me,
rape me, my friend.
Rape me,
rape me again.

I'm not the only one. {x4}

Hate me,
do it and do it again.
Waste me.
Rape me my friend.

I'm not the only one. {x4}

My favorite inside source.
I'll kiss your open sores.
I appreciate your concern.
You're gonna stink and burn.

Rape me,
rape me, my friend.
Rape me,
rape me again.

I'm not the only one. {x4}

RAPE ME! (RAPE ME!) {x8}
RAPE ME!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Nirvana
• Kurt
• Cobain
• Rape
• Me
• Krist
• Dave
• Grohl
• Grunge
• In
• Utero
• Brayden070
• hayes

[Memecat118]

great job hun..

RIP KURT COBAIN.. :(

its a shame he passed away

everyone you should read his journal! I dunno but it rocks! he was awesome..

<3

[Brayden070]

=] thanks, i might do that.

[kav10156]

This song is amazing. I still cry when I think that he has passed. I love Seether's version of this song, but the original is always the best. RIP KURT We miss you

[Aiden7171]

RIP Kurt. Great vid.

[cull38464]

Nirvana rocks. good job.

[rsuchpi04]

I love this song, good work!

[wendyxrocker]

awsome dude!!!

one of nirvanas best songs!!!