"Awful" is a single by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

from the band's third studio album, ''

Celebrity Skin ''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...

''. Released in April 1999 by Geffen Records as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

, the song's lyrics explore how the media and modern

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

corrupt young girls and how they should rebel against this. The line "swing low, sweet cherry" in the song is an allusion to the

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

spiritual hymn, "

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an African-American spiritual song and one of the best-known Christian hymns. Originating in early oral and musical African-American traditions, the date it was composed is unknown. Performances by the Hampton Singer ...

Background and history

Described as "funny" but also "kind of sad" by the writer herself, vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love has proclaimed that this is one of the favorite songs she has written. Writing the lyrics offered her a backwards glimpse at the angry, determined youth she once was but with the sobering experience of her adult years. The words were written before the music and were initially more than two pages long. At the time, they included "we are always on the list, we have always wanted this, finally we're popular, finally we're pretty". Courtney condensed the tome into the finished format to give the song a more suitable length. The opening riff, which carries throughout the song, and the rhythm were written by bassist

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited as the bassist ...

and drummer

Patty Schemel Patricia Theresa Schemel (born April 24, 1967) is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998. Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, ...

, who were roommates at the time. Although credited for authorship, Schemel left during the recording sessions due to personal issues and does not drum on the track, something Love laments. While Love has revealed only that she wishes Schemel's great rhythm was still on the track, Hole guitarist

Eric Erlandson Eric Theodore Erlandson (born January 9, 1963) is an American musician, guitarist, and writer, primarily known as founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002. He has also had several musical si ...

implied that ''Celebrity Skin'' producer Michael Beinhorn drove Schemel to a nervous breakdown.

Music video

The music video for "Awful" was directed by

Jeff Richter Jeff Richter is an American music video director and editor. He has worked for Intuitive Entertainment, MTV Networks, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and is the owner of Earthquake Productions, a production company where he directs and edits his own mu ...

and features clips from various live shows during the band's 1999 tours. Most of the footage is from the band's performance at the Royal Australian Showgrounds on January 23, 1999, for the ''Big Day Out'' festival and features the album version synced over the live performance. Other clips include the band's performance at Cow Palace in March 1999 during the ''

Beautiful Monsters Tour The Beautiful Monsters Tour was a North American concert tour co-headlined by American rock bands Hole and Marilyn Manson. Launched in support of each band's respective third full-length studio LPs, 1998's ''Celebrity Skin'' and ''Mechanical A ...

'' and backstage footage shot by Melissa Auf der Maur.

Formats and track listings

Single

UK CD single #1 INTDE-97098Petterson, Therese. ''* d i s c o g r a p h y *'' Retrieved on April 12, 2010. #Awful (Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Melissa Auf der Maur, Patty Schemel) #Miss World (live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson) * This version also includes a CD-ROM enhanced version of the promotional video for "Celebrity Skin". UK CD single #2 INTDE-97099 #Awful (C. Love, E. Erlandson, M. Auf der Maur, P. Schemel) #She Walks On Me (live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson) * This version also includes a CD-ROM enhanced version of the promotional video for "Malibu". European CD single IND-97060 #Awful (C. Love, E. Erlandson, M. Auf der Maur, P. Schemel) #Violet (live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson) US promotional single #Awful (C. Love, E. Erlandson, M. Auf der Maur, P. Schemel) #Violet (live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson) * The live tracks on all singles were recorded at

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

's '' Big Day Out'' festival on January 26, 1999.

EP

Australian Tour Souvenir EP INTDM-97058 # Awful (C. Love, E. Erlandson, M. Auf der Maur, P. Schemel) – 3:29 # Pretty On The Inside (live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson, Jill Emery, Caroline Rue) – 1:44 # Heaven Tonight (live) (E. Erlandson, C. Love) – 3:58 # Northern Star (live) (E. Erlandson, C. Love) – 5:52 # Awful (live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson, M. Auf der Maur, P. Schemel) – 3:24 # Malibu (Ted Ottaviano Club Mix) (C. Love, E. Erlandson, B. Corgan) – 7:32 * All live tracks recorded at

's '' Big Day Out'' festival on January 26, 1999. Japanese EP MVCF-14001 # Awful (C. Love, E. Erlandson, M. Auf der Maur, P. Schemel) – 3:29 # Pretty On The Inside (live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson, Jill Emery, Caroline Rue) – 1:44 # Heaven Tonight (live) (E. Erlandson, C. Love) – 3:58 # Northern Star (live) (E. Erlandson, C. Love) – 5:52 # Awful (live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson, M. Auf der Maur, P. Schemel) – 3:24 # Celebrity Skin (live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson, B. Corgan) – 2:42 * All live tracks recorded at

's '' Big Day Out'' festival on January 26, 1999, except "Celebrity Skin", recorded at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

's '' Big Day Out'' festival on January 23, 1999.

Charts

References

{{authority control 1999 songs Hole (band) songs Music videos directed by Jeff Richter Songs written by Melissa Auf der Maur Songs written by Eric Erlandson Songs written by Courtney Love Geffen Records singles Song recordings produced by Michael Beinhorn