"Dicknail" is a song 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 ...

, written by vocalist/guitarist

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as t ...

and lead 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 ...

. The song was released by

Sub Pop Records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designate ...

as the band's second single in February 1991 on 7"

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

. The song was recorded in November 1990 at the band's second studio session, with production by Michael James. "Dicknail" has been noted for its disturbing lyrics that allude to themes of

child molestation Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (wheth ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

and

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...

. Love referred to the song as an "anti- misogynism anthem". The single's cover artwork features a

prepubescent Preadolescence is a stage of human development following middle childhood and preceding adolescence.New Oxford American Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2005. Oxford University Press. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty. Preadolescence is ...

Love lying naked in a bathtub with the band logo superimposed over the photo.

Background and recording

Love and Erlandson are thought to have written "Dicknail" in 1990. The song's first documented performance was at a concert on September 15, 1990, at The Shamrock, a club in Los Angeles. The first and only known studio version of "Dicknail" was recorded at the band's second studio session in November 1990 at Radio Tokyo in Los Angeles. The song's eventual

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, "Burn Black", was also recorded at the session, which was produced by Michael James and mixed by

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

producer

Jack Endino Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhon ...

. Later mixes of the song — mixed by Barry Goldberg and Erlandson — were released on Hole's 1997 compilation album, ''

My Body, the Hand Grenade ''My Body, the Hand Grenade'' is the first and only compilation album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on October 28, 1997, through the band's European label, City Slang Records. It was also imported for sale in the United Stat ...

''.

Composition

In an interview with the Los Angeles fanzine '' Flipside'' in 1990, Love and drummer

Caroline Rue Hole was an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1989. It was founded by singer Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. It had several different bassists and drummers, the most prolific being drummer Patty Sc ...

revealed the meaning behind the song: The idea of a woman "asking for it" also influenced later work by Hole such as the song " Asking for It" from the band's second album, ''

Live Through This ''Live Through This'' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 12, 1994, by DGC Records. Recorded in late 1993, it departed from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodies ...

''. In this respect, "Dicknail" can be seen to be a forerunner to the song, even though the musical and vocal styles are different, with "Dicknail" being influenced by no wave and punk rock music and "Asking for It" being influenced by more standard alternative rock and

powerpop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...

. In a 1992 interview commenting on the song's overtones of incest and child molestation, Love stated: "The British press speciallyhas set me up as someone who lived it, but I think that's really dumb." All releases of the single list the songwriting credits collectively as Hole, however BMI's website shows that "Dicknail" was written by Courtney Love and

Release

"Dicknail" was originally released on February 28, 1991, on Sub Pop as a 7" single, although Hole had never signed with the label; many of Hole's contemporaries, however, had also released singles through Sub Pop, including Babes in Toyland and

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

. Although "Dicknail" was Hole's only appearance on Sub Pop, it has nevertheless been reissued as a part of several collections of early Sub Pop music such as ''Revolution Come and Gone'' and '' The Birth of Alternative Vol. 1'', alongside songs from contemporaries such as Nirvana and

The Afghan Whigs The Afghan Whigs are an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. They were active from 1986 to 2001 and have since reformed as a band. The group – with core members Greg Dulli (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick McCollum (lead guitar), and John Cur ...

. The B-side, "Burn Black," appears on '' The Birth of Alternative Vol. 2''.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called "Dicknail" "a lumbering, screeching train wreck", adding, "Give Courtney Love credit for tackling the subject of child molestation in such brutal, unflinching detail, but "Dicknail" is so musically abrasive and unpleasant that its message gets lost in translation."

Mike Gunderloy ''Factsheet Five'' was a periodical mostly consisting of short reviews of privately produced printed matter along with contact details of the editors and publishers. In the 1980s and early 1990s, its comprehensive reviews (thousands in each issue ...

of ''

Factsheet Five ''Factsheet Five'' was a periodical mostly consisting of short reviews of privately produced printed matter along with contact details of the editors and publishers. In the 1980s and early 1990s, its comprehensive reviews (thousands in each issue ...

'' gave the single a positive review, calling it: "Gurly rock that makes

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

look like the cheesecake she really is. Both sides of this single present good, solid riffing with interesting time changes that flows very nicely, despite the appearance of being very damaged rock. If

Throwing Muses Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originall ...

lived on the west coast, they might have approached this."

Artwork and packaging

First pressings were part of Sub Pop's "Single of the Month" series with grey, light green or pink marble vinyl and wraparound pressings. Later copies were issued with card pressed on green, purple or blue vinyl. The artwork on the front cover of the single features a photograph of a pre-pubescent Courtney Love naked in a bathtub, with the band logo superimposed over it.

Track listing

All songs written by

and

. US 7" single (SP93) #"Dicknail"3:39 #"Burn Black"4:56

Credits and personnel

Hole *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

– guitar *

Jill Emery Hole was an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1989. It was founded by singer Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. It had several different bassists and drummers, the most prolific being drummer Patty Sch ...

– bass *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Production * Michael James – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

– mixing

References

External links

''Dicknail''
at

{{authority control Hole (band) songs 1991 singles Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Courtney Love Songs written by Eric Erlandson 1991 songs Songs about sexual assault