Retard Girl

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"Retard Girl"
Single by Hole
from the album The First Session
Released	April 1990
Format	7"
Recorded	1989
Genre	Grunge
Length	4:47
Label	Sympathy
Hole singles chronology
	Retard Girl (1990)	Dicknail (1991)

Retard Girl is the debut single of the grunge band Hole. These were some of the very first songs written and performed by Hole and can be heard on The First Session EP. These tracks were later included on My Body, the Hand Grenade in their single form. It was released by Sympathy for the Record Industry in 1990 on 7-inch. The 1st pressing on white vinyl w/ inserts, with later copies being of various colours. On the front cover is a picture of a young girl hanging from a tree, widely reported to be Love's old friend Kat Bjelland.

Courtney Love said in a 1990 interview with Flipside fanzine, '"Retard Girl", that's our single. It's about getting picked on in school, anyone who's ever been picked on in a big way, or a small way. I just got this vibe one day about how when I was in school I was really shy and sort of picked on and I swore that I would never pick on people who were picked on.' The song therefore seems to be an antibullying anthem of sort. The song is credited to Love alone.

B sides 'Phonebill Song' and 'Johnnie's in the Bathroom' can also be found on the First Sessions EP, and are typical of the experimental style that was present in Hole's music at the time. 'Phonebill Song' is also found on My Body, the Hand Grenade, the B sides and Outtakes album released in 1997.

Besides the songwriting credits goes collectively to Hole, BMI's website shows that "Retard Girl" was written only by Love and the other two by her and bandmate Eric Erlandson.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Hole

1. "Retard Girl" - 4:47
2. "Phonebill Song" - 1:48
3. "Johnnie's in the Bathroom" - 2:17

Hole
Courtney Love | Eric Erlandson | Patty Schemel | Melissa Auf der Maur
Jill Emery | Leslie Hardy | Samantha Maloney | Kristen Pfaff | Lisa Roberts | Caroline Rue | Errol Stewert
Discography
Studio albums and EPs: Pretty on the Inside | Live Through This | Ask for It | The First Session | My Body, the Hand Grenade | Celebrity Skin
Singles: "Retard Girl" | "Dicknail" | "Teenage Whore" | "Beautiful Son" | "Miss World" | "Doll Parts" | "Violet" | "Softer, Softest" | "Gold Dust Woman" | "Celebrity Skin" | "Malibu" | "Awful" | "Be a Man"
Related articles
Sympathy for the Record Industry | Kurt Cobain | Nirvana | Billy Corgan | Kat Bjelland | "Asking for It" | "Old Age"
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