Heart-Shaped Box
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| "Heart-Shaped Box" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Nirvana | ||
| from the album In Utero | ||
| B-side(s) | "Milk It"/"Marigold" | |
| Released | August 1993 | |
| Recorded | February 1993 at Pachyderm Studios, Cannon Falls, Minnesota | |
| Genre | Grunge | |
| Length | 11 min 04 s | |
| Label | DGC | |
| Producer(s) | Steve Albini | |
| Chart positions | ||
|
||
| Nirvana singles chronology | ||
| "Puss/Oh, the Guilt" (1992) |
"Heart-Shaped Box" (1993) |
"All Apologies/Rape Me" (1994) |
| In Utero track listing | ||
| "Scentless Apprentice" (2) |
"Heart-Shaped Box" (3) |
"Rape Me" (4) |
"Heart-Shaped Box" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the third song on, and first single from, their 1993 album, In Utero.
Contents |
[edit] History
"Heart-Shaped Box" was written by Kurt Cobain sometime in late 1992 or early 1993.
According to Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, the song was written in a closet in the couple's bedroom. "We had this huge closet," she explained in a 1994 Rolling Stone interview, "and I [heard] him working on 'Heart-Shaped Box.' He [wrote the song] in five minutes." [1]
Love also revealed that she asked Cobain for the song's guitar riff, and that he jokingly slammed the door in her face. "He was trying to be so sneaky," said Love. "I could hear that one from downstairs."
"Heart-Shaped Box" was first performed live on January 16, 1993, in São Paulo, Brazil. The first studio version was recorded by Craig Montgomery in January 1993 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This embryonic version appears on the band's 2004 box set, With the Lights Out, and on their 2005 compilation album, Sliver: The Best of the Box. It features unfinished lyrics, as well as a longer chorus and more caustic guitar solo.
The In Utero version was recorded in February 1993 by Steve Albini in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. It was remixed, along with "All Apologies" and later "Pennyroyal Tea," by Scott Litt prior to the album's release, which led to accusations of selling out from many of the band's detractors. Cobain was unapologetic about the band's decision, and maintained that the vocals and bass were not prominent enough in the original mixes. [2]
Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic was also unhappy with the original mix of "Heart-Shaped Box." In a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times interview, he said the original effect used on the song's guitar solo sounded "like a fucking abortion hitting the floor." This too was changed in the remix.
"Heart-Shaped Box" was released as In Utero's first single.
[edit] Meaning
In many ways, "Heart-Shaped Box" represents the epitome of Cobain's fascination with the female body. In the unused In Utero liner notes - published posthumously in Journals in 2002 - Cobain writes that the song was inspired by "Camille's vaginal/flower theory," most likely referring to the American social critic Camille Paglia, of whom he was a fan. [3] In Paglia's 1990 book Sexual Personae, she explores the prevelance of female genitals being perceived as wounds - often manifesting in diseased flower imagery - in psychoanalytic literature. She cites the ailing flower in William Blake's "The Sick Rose," the "poisonous genital flowers" in Joris-Karl Huysmans' À rebours, and a description by Tennessee Williams comparing a vagina to "a dyin' orchid." [1] Cobain, too, was also reminded of vaginas by flowers, and in the second verse of "Heart-Shaped Box," he sings of "meat-eating orchids" that "forgive no one just yet."
Indeed, in a 2005 Spin interview, Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, claimed that "Heart-Shaped Box" was written about her vagina. Critics of Love often cite the song as proof of her domineering presence in their relationship, but Cobain refuted this in interviews. "Everyone thinks of me as this sad little spineless puppy who needs to be taken care of," he told Details in November 1993. "It sickens me." [4]
"Courtney is my wife, and a lot of people could not accept the fact that I'm in love, and that I could be happy," he railed in a 1993 interview with Jon Savage.
Cobain's relationship with Love may also have inspired the song's title. According to the 2001 Cobain biography Heavier Than Heaven by Charles R. Cross, Love courted Cobain by sending a small heart-shaped box to his hotel room while he was on tour. After their marriage in 1992, Cobain adopted Love's hobby, and the couple eventually accumulated a large collection of heart-shaped boxes, which lined the shelves of their many homes. According to Heavier Than Heaven, the original heart-shaped box remained in Love's possession after Cobain's death in April 1994, and contains Cobain's suicide note and a lock of his hair.
It's worth noting that the lyrics of "Heart-Shaped Box" contain references to Cobain's and Love's respective astrological signs, Pisces and Cancer.
[edit] Political meaning?
The lyrics of "Heart-Shaped Box" may also contain a political dimension. According to Novoselic, the line "Broken hymen of your highness," from the second verse, was Cobain's direct attack on then-pending censorship bills.
"In that song, the word 'hymen' is used as a metaphor," he told Musician in 1995. "In the context of these censorship bills, if you were to discuss the hymen as a normal, natural part of the female anatomy with a teenager, you would technically be breaking the law." [5]
[edit] Music video
The "Heart-Shaped Box" music video was directed by Dutch photographer and video director Anton Corbijn. It includes a number of striking images, including a skeletal old man in a Santa hat hanging from a crow-ridden cross, a young girl in a Ku Klux Klan costume reaching for fetuses in a tree, and even a large woman dressed to resemble the anatomical model of the cover of In Utero, complete with angel wings. It also includes shots of the band performing in a field of poppies, hinting at the field of sleep-inducing poppies from the The Wizard of Oz, and of Cobain singing playfully into the camera in a fake-starlit room as Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl sit behind him. A less-common version of the video was made with alternate footage during the final verse (very likely a director's cut), including more shots of the young girl and the large woman, and scenes of Cobain lying on his back in the poppy field, with smoke rising from his mouth. It also includes a very brief shot of the young girl's white robe turning blood-red from the inside, which may be a literal interpretation of the song's "broken hymen" line from the previous verse.
After the video's release, Nirvana was sued by Kevin Kerslake, who had directed the videos for "Come as You Are," "Lithium," "In Bloom" and "Sliver," and who claimed that the band had stolen his early ideas for the clip in the final product. Kerslake dropped the case following Cobain's death in April 1994. The video won two posthumous MTV Video Music Awards in 1994: for best alternative video, and for best art direction. The awards were accepted by Cobain's former bandmates Novoselic, Grohl, and Pat Smear.
The "Heart-Shaped Box" music video was the final proper clip the band ever made.
[edit] The Girl
According to Charles Cross' book 'Heavier Than Heaven', the identity of the actress playing the young Klan girl in the "Heart-Shaped Box" video is Cobain's half sister Brianne O'Conner.
The girl's appearance in the clip recalls Cobain's original plan for the "Lithium" video. According to Michael Azerrad's 1993 Nirvana biography Come As You Are, the "Lithium" video was originally envisioned as a cartoon about a Klan girl named Prego, who grows to reject the racism of her upbringing. In the "Heart-Shaped Box" video, the girl's white hat is blown off her head into a puddle of ink, and her entire robe turns black.
[edit] Early variation
An early treatment for the song's music video appears in Journals. [2]
Apparently, Cobain had wanted the American beat poet William S. Burroughs to appear as the skeletal old man on the cross. This variation describes "William and I sitting across from one another at a table" in a room with blinding sunlight pouring through the window. Then, "he gropes me from behind and falls dead on top of me...a ghost vapor comes out of his chest and groin area and enters me [sic] body."
The treatment also features Novoselic dressed as a New Wave keyboardist, shots of violins and strobe lights, and animated doll footage. None of these made it into the video.
[edit] Trivia
- The video was made based from a sketch Kurt Cobain drew which was based on one of his dreams.
- All the characters were made by Kurt, except the large woman with wings who was created by director Anton Corbijn. Her scenes were shot while the band wasn't in the studio.
- According to Anton, there are two different endings for the video. Courtney Love wanted the video to end on the long shot of the band and Anton wanted it to end in the bedroom scene. Eventually, the 'Courtney' version was released first then Anton released his version a week later.
- To make the technicolor look, the video was shot in color, turned it into black and white and then hand-draw every frame.
- In Neil Strauss' book "The Game", a true story based on Strauss' time spent in an underground society of pickup artists, Strauss claims that Courtney Love lived with him and gave him the original "Heart-Shaped Box."
- According to Charles R. Cross' 2001 Cobain biography Heavier Than Heaven, the song's original title was "Heart-Shaped Coffin."
- A cover of this song is playable in the Playstation 2 game, Guitar Hero II in the Amp-Warmers catagory.
- It won the MTV Music Video Award "Best Alternative Music Video." This was Nirvana's third in a row victory for the this award they had previously won it for "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and "In Bloom." After Nirvana stopped winning Weezer was the first to win with their video for "Buddy Holly."
[edit] Other versions
A live version of "Heart-Shaped Box" appears on Nirvana's 1996 live compilation album, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah. It was recorded on December 30, 1993 in Inglewood, California. The In Utero version was re-released in 2002 on the "best-of" compilation, Nirvana. A demo version of the song was released on the 2004 boxset With the Lights Out and also the 2005 compilation Sliver: The Best of the Box.
[edit] Covers
"Heart-Shaped Box" has been covered by the following artists:
- American rock musician Patti Smith
- American rock band Evanescence
- South African rock band Seether
- American pop punk band The Used
- American pop artist Michelle Branch
- American rock singer Jordis Unga
- British "casio nihilist" act The Vichy Government
- American indie rock band Lovedrug
[edit] Track listing
The following songs appeared on the single:
- "Heart-Shaped Box" [LP Version] (Cobain) - 4:39
- "Milk It" [LP Version] (Cobain) - 3:52
- "Marigold" (Grohl) - 2:33
[edit] Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Modern Rock Tracks (US) | No. 1 |
| 1993 | Australian Alternative Music Charts | No. 1 |
| 1993 | Hawaiian Island Charts | No. 3 |
| 1993 | Mainstream Rock Tracks (US) | No. 4 |
| 1993 | Slovakian Airplay Charts | No. 4 |
| 1993 | Official UK Singles Charts | No. 5 |
| 1993 | Official Irish Singles Charts | No. 6 |
| 1993 | Finland Mitä hittiä Charts | No. 6 |
| 1993 | Official New Zealand Singles Charts | No. 9 |
| 1993 | Polish Airplay Charts | No. 13 |
| 1993 | Official Finland Singles Charts | No. 14 |
| 1993 | Official Sweden Singles Charts | No. 16 |
| 1993 | Official Australian Singles Charts | No. 17 |
| 1993 | Triple J Hotest 100 (Australia) | No. 20 |
| 1993 | Official Belgium Singles Charts | No. 31 |
| 1993 | Official Holland Singles Charts | No. 32 |
| 1993 | Official French Singles Charts | No. 37 |
| 1993 | French Airplay Charts | No. 52 |
[edit] Accolades
- Ranked #3 in Rolling Stone's "Singles - Critics Pick" (1993)
- Ranked #10 in Kerrang!'s "100 Greatest Rock Tracks Ever" (1999)
- Ranked #32 in Kerrang!'s "100 Greatest Singles of All Time" (2002)
- Ranked #4 in NME's "Top 20 Nirvana Songs" (2004)
- Ranked #5 in Q's "10 Greatest Nirvana Songs Ever" (2004)
- Won The Pazz and Jop Award for Video of the Year (1993)
[edit] References
- ^ Paglia, Camille. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. Yale University Press, 1990. p.434 ISBN 0-300-04396-1
- ^ Cobain, Kurt. Journals. Riverhead Hardcover, 2002. p. 244 ISBN 1-57322-232-1
- Azerrad, Michael. Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Doubleday, New York: 1993, ISBN 0-86369-746-1
- Cross, Charles. Heavier Than Heaven. Hyperion, 2001. ISBN 0-7868-6505-9
- LiveNirvana
- Nirvana: Never Fade Away
- Dark Side Of The Womb: Part 1 by the Stud Brothers, Melody Maker, August 1993
- Kurt Cobain: The Lost Interview by Jon Savage, Guitar World, 1997
- Heaven Can Wait by Gavin Edwards, Details, November 1993
