Gay4Grunge: My Top 15 Hole Songs

Much like Nirvana, Hole's catalogue is pretty succinct. There were three studio albums in the 90s, which all sound very different from one another. The group's 1991 debut Pretty on the Inside is as raw and noisy as Grunge gets and honestly for me it's a detriment to that album. Pretty On the Inside lacks hooks or melody of any kind and as a result I just can't get into the record. The group's sophomore album Live Through This came out the same week Kurt killed himself and it's always been shrouded in the shadow of Kurt as a result. Nonetheless, Live Through This became Hole's breakthrough album to the mainstream with MTV playing all the music videos from the album as well as spawning 5 radio hits that all charted top 40 on the Alternative Rock chart. There's a reason for this, because while Live Through This holds on to some of the rage and rawness from Pretty on the Inside, the group imbues all their songs on Live Through This with delectable hooks and melodies that make it much more compelling to listen to. In a lot of ways Live Through This remains Hole's most essential album and as well as one of the most definitive Grunge albums of all time. For those reasons and more Live Through This has the most songs on this countdown and it honestly feels right. 

That said, I do love the group's 1998 album Celebrity Skin. Here most of the rawness is gone with only flashes of genuine anger on a few deep cuts, but the record is stacked with hooks and invitingly glossy production. For most fans new to the group who come from a more pop background, Celebrity Skin might be the best Hole album to start with because it's easily their most accessible album even if it lacks the power of Live Through This. I think Live Through This and Celebrity Skin are the core of Hole's legacy and what they are most remembered for overall. Live Through This gets the slight nod above Celebrity Skin for me, but I will say that I think the group of singles off Celebrity Skin are the best batch of singles off any of Hole's 4 studio albums. The 4th studio album by Hole, Nobody's Daughter, came much later in 2010. Hole had been broken up for a solid decade and they didn't reunite either for Nobody's Daughter. For all intents and purposes Nobody's Daughter is a solo Courtney Love album dressed up as a Hole album. Nobody's Daughter is a far cry from Celebrity Skin and Live Through this, but it has its moments and those moments will be featured on this list. At the very least Nobody's Daughter has a couple songs I listen to, which is more than Pretty on the Inside. 

Since then, it's been all quiet on the Hole front with Courtney Love only releasing a few solo songs to TV and movie soundtracks. Over the years there have been lots of teasing and rumors of a Hole reunion on social media, including a reunion of the Celebrity Skin lineup, but nothing ever comes of it in the end. Honestly, I don't think a Hole reunion is ever going to happen. At most they may get back together to play a few gigs, but I don't see it going any further than that. That means that these four albums stand as Hole's legacy. It's probably rare for someone to love all four albums equally since they are all so different from each other, but if you're a fan of 90s Alternative or female fronted rock bands, there are probably at least a few Hole songs you can get into. This list I think shows off the more accessible side of the group while still displaying some of the group's rawness and anger. Alright let's jump in.  

 15. Samantha (2010)

Samantha is one of the few songs off Hole's final album Nobody's Daughter that jumped out for me and honestly, it's probably because of these lyrics:

 "f*ck people like you 

who f*ck people like me"

That's classic Courtney if you ask me. It's one of the few times I felt the Courtney of the 90s was present on Nobody's Daughter and that's why it's my second favorite song off that album. 

14. Reasons to Be Beautiful (1998)

Courtney says that Hole's 1998 album Celebrity Skin was not a widow's record, but she does sing about Kurt on a few songs including this one. This song seems to be her plea to Kurt to not give up and take his own life. Instead, she wants him to rise above all the BS:

"And they say in the end

You'll get bitter just like them
And they steal your heart away
When the fire goes out you better learn to fake

It's better to rise than fade away
Hey you were right
Named a star for your eyes
Did you freeze, did you weep?"

Some of these lyrics are a direct reference to Kurt's Suicide note where he quoted Neil Young saying it's better to burn out than fade away, but Courtney thinks that's bullshit, which is something she actually said while reading Kurt's suicide note back in 1994. Kurt & Courtney were only together for a few short years, but they are forever tied to one another. The public's fascination with Kurt and Courtney continues to this day and this song is one of the few times Courtney addresses her relationship with Kurt, which makes it feel pretty essential as a result. 

13. Playing Your Song (1998)

This is the other song off Celebrity Skin where Courtney sings about Kurt, but this one is much more biting and vicious. Playing Your Song almost feels like the Hole of Live Through This as Courtney sings with such anger and disgust in her voice. She has every right to on this song, where Courtney attacks the cult of personality that sprung up around Kurt and then went into overdrive after he died. I could almost quote the whole song, but here are some choice moments:

"Hey you so bored and cynical

It's fucking wonderful
They sold you out
And, oh, they've bought and sold it all,

It's gone
They've taken it and built a mall
And now they're playing your song
Ooh, their innocence tastes like candy, yeah

Get so fat on it, it's a tragedy, yeah
Ooh, I can help you come to me, yeah
Just bring your innocence to me, yeah
Hey you, don't you dare blame me."

 Courtney gets right to the heart of the matter here where she is saying that so many people are profiting off of Kurt's death and they are turning him into a capitalistic figure for teens everywhere to consume and purchase. Kurt is now everything he hated about the music industry and culture in general, but there's nothing he can do about it now that he's died. Courtney also says there's nothing she can do either and tells the haters not to blame her for the sanctification of Kurt Cobain. Playing Your Song is the best indictment I've heard in pop music about Kurt being turned into a commodity for youth culture and rebellious teens. Like many of Courtney's songs, this one resonates more and more over the years, especially when I see Nirvana t-shirts for sale at Target and Hot Topic. 

12. Plump (1994)

First off Plump has a great chugging guitar riff that jumps out of the speakers as soon as the song begins. That riff in some ways reminds me a bit of the riff in Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song, which does not surprise me because Courtney Love is a big fan of Led Zeppelin. It also one of the album most memorable lyrics when Courtney sings: 

"Like a liar on a witch trial 

You look good for your age" 

Live Through This is easily Hole's most feminist album and throughout Courtney peppers in lyrics such as this to remind you that the subjugation of women has been happening for as long as the patriarchy has been intact. 

11. Jennifer's Body (1994)

Jennifer's Body is one of the more graphically disturbing songs on Live Through This where Courtney sings about a girl named Jennifer who was kidnapped, tortured, dismembered and killed. It's a song that speaks of the atrocities women face from male aggressors all the time and the male aggressor in this song is extremely toxic and violent. 

"He keeps you in a box by the bed

Alive, but just barely
He said, "I'm your lover, I'm your friend
I'm pure,” and he hits me again
With a bullet, number one
Kill the family, save the son
Himself

The line that always gets me is Kill the family, save the son. It's another demonstration of how the patriarchy views women as disposable at best and sinful at worst and how we place greater value on having sons rather than daughters. It kind of reminds me of the Nirvana song Been a Son though that was from the point of view of the parents and this is from the point of view of a serial killer. For younger readers you probably recognize the song title more than the song itself since it was used as the title for the 2009 horror film Jennifer's Body, which is an interesting film about women's bodies and the male gaze in general. It's another example of how Hole's best music still resonates and inspires others years after it was released. 

10. Skinny Little Bitch (2010)

The last single of note from Hole came off the 2010 album Nobody's Daughter. That album was a solo Courtney Love album disguised as a Hole album, but for this one song it felt like Hole again. Skinny Little Bitch has that bite and edge we love about Courtney and here she's taking potshots at the tabloid fixtures of that time. Courtney is saying these girls may be wild, but they've got nothing on her and they better watch themselves if she's around. I remember a friend from college heard the song before me and sent it to me to listen to and she loved it. She said it sounded like the older crazier Courtney from the 90s, which is the best Courtney to her. Nobody's Daughter was a disappointment overall, but I still listen to this song from time to time. 

09. I Think I Would Die for You (1994)

On an album as dark as Live Through This, I Think I Would Die for You feels like one of the most haunting songs on the album, which is saying something. The song has a slow creepy fade-in that sets the mood immediately. Courtney sings about losing her baby and wanting it back, which has led some people to believe this song is about the controversy surrounding the Vanity Fair article where it was said that Courtney took drugs during her pregnancy. Still no matter what it's about, I Think I Would Die for You hits hard every time I listen to it and peaks at the moment when Courtney sings "It's not yours" and then screams “F*CK YOU!" Few people can deliver the f word the way Courtney can and it once again feels like a moment of Courtney lashing out at the patriarchy and not letting anyone else tell her what to do. 

08. Softer Softest (1994)

The final single off Live Through This is a ballad but with some edge because it's Courtney Love. This song seems to talk about childhood and being punished with beatings when you did something wrong. Throughout the song she repeats the mantra "Pee-girl gets the belt" which gives the song an even more disturbing undertone. Later on, Courtney revisits the idea of the Salem Witch trials and how women are demonized through such things:

"Burn the witch, the witch is dead

Burn the witch
Just bring me back her head"

Once a woman is labelled a witch, she is no longer human in the eyes of men. Therefore, you can attack her, dismember her and kill her if you please because the men in charge have determined she is no longer human and therefore must be destroyed. Once you really start paying attention to Live Through This you realize just how dark and disturbing it is and we're not even close to being done with this album. 

07. Asking For It (1994)

Asking For It has long been one of my favorite songs on this album due to its atmospheric production and slow build up, but I didn't understand what this song was about until much later. Asking For It refers to the saying men use when justifying sexual harassment or sexual assault on women. You know when a guy says "Well she shouldn't have been wearing that dress, she was asking for it" or "The way she looked at me told me she was asking for it '' that's what the title of this song means. When Courtney sings the chorus it's in response to such a man where she sings:

"Was she asking for it? 

Was she asking Nice?

Did she ask you for it?

Did she ask you twice?

The part where Courtney sings "Did she ask you twice" is so bone chilling, because the implications of that alone means this woman was probably assaulted more than once by this guy. This is a song about consent or lack thereof for women, because men think women owe them something so they just take what they want when they want it and they don't think twice about it either. If anyone questions their behavior afterwards, they'll just say "What?! She was asking for it!" 

06. Miss World (1994)

One of the themes of Live Through This is how much we as a society put stock into how women look. The better a woman looks the more they will be rewarded, with beauty pageants being the ultimate validation from the patriarchy.  The album art for Live Through This shows a woman winning some sort of beauty pageant and looking happy and crazy all at once. The lead single to the album was Miss World and it played up the beauty pageant angle in both the song and music video. In the video it looks like we are at some sort of school prom and Courtney has just been declared the prom queen, which leads to clapping and adoration from the rest of the student body because this is the dream all girls want right? In the song itself it gets darker as Courtney sings from the point of view of a beauty pageant winner who should have everything, but ultimately has nothing because nobody cares about her as a person anymore:

"I'm miss world, somebody kill me

Kill me pills
No one cares, my friends
My friend

I'm miss world, watch me break and watch me burn
No one is listening, my friend
Now I've made my bed, I'll lie in it
I've made my bed, I'll die in it"

All people will talk about is her beauty and they will criticize her the moment her looks start to fade. Miss World feels trapped and dead to the world as a result and she feels she fell into a trap of her own making by signing up for this. It's a song that explains why living up to gender expectations in our culture is an impossible task and sometimes the more you try to live up to it the more damage you're just inflicting on yourself.

05. Doll Parts (1994)

Doll Parts was the second single off Live Through This and it was also the biggest hit from the album. When people think about Hole this song probably comes to mind quickly for most people. Here Courtney dismembers herself as she describes her different body parts as parts to a toy doll. Dolls of course are grooming for girls at a very young age and the dolls that girls grow up with give them a sense of what's expected of them when they reach maturity. 

Courtney in a lot of ways is putting up a performance in the song, where she even sings "I fake it so real I'm beyond fake." The performance has become real life and there's no clear line between fantasy and reality anymore. Another great line is the one everyone remembers most which is "I want to be the girl with the most cake." Courtney wants so ravishly here, but it also again goes back to childhood where being a good little girl meant you were rewarded with things like extra cake at a birthday party. The idea of rewarding and punishing children, but especially girls, for living up to their gender roles is so entrenched in our culture and it really leaves a mark on you for the rest of your life. I know it left a mark on me when I was younger. I was definitely not living up to gender expectations as a child most of the time, but whenever I did live up to the role of a boy, I was usually complemented for it and rewarded. Like Softer Softest, Courtney reaches back to childhood to try and understand why she is the way she is now and why it's been damaging for her as a result. 

04. Awful (1998)

Ok the last few tracks were pretty heavy, but don't worry because now we're hitting the 3 perfect pop singles off Celebrity Skin. Awful is one of the purest pop moments in Hole's entire career and it honestly could not have been included on any other album but Celebrity Skin. I can see why some old school fans would be turned off by this, but for 12-year-old Dougy songs like this got me in the door with Hole. I know other people who love it including a good friend of mine who used to have his own music review site and my husband who says it's his favorite Hole song. This song is rarity for Hole, because not only is it so poppy but it also puts you in a good mood whenever it comes on. There's no rage or rawness here, just a melodic feel-good pop song. 

03. Celebrity Skin (1998)

The lead track off Celebrity Skin reintroduced Hole and Courtney Love to the world and what a glamorous reintroduction it was. Both the song and music video were very high gloss and it seemed like Courtney was living out her best movie star/rock star fantasies all at once with this one. Again, I can see where older fans might have felt betrayed by this huge change, but it worked like a charm for me when I was in middle school. That said, Courtney hadn't lost her ability to be biting as this song is still a damning commentary on the shallowness of fame and how you can lose your sense of self if you try too hard to be famous. 

"When I wake up in my makeup

Have you ever felt so used up as this?
It's all so sugarless, hooker/waitress
Model/actress, oh, just go nameless!
Honeysuckle, she's full of poison
She obliterated everything she kissed
Now she's fading somewhere in Hollywood
I'm glad I came here with your pound of flesh"

Still, what you remember the most from Celebrity Skin are those crunchy guitars and melodic vocals. While Melissa Auf der Maur joined the band in 1995, she didn't get to record with the group until Celebrity Skin and her addition is felt very strongly here. Melissa is able to deliver sweet melodic harmonizing with Courtney and it sounds so good. I honestly think Hole's pop makeover succeeded in large part due to Melissa, who was able to bring a more pop sensibility with her playing and especially with her vocals, which were much sweeter than Courtney's. It's clear Courtney and Melissa had a great working partnership together and it's a shame they never recorded together again after this album. Nobody's Daughter probably would have benefited immensely from having Melissa on it, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. At least we still have Celebrity Skin. 

02. Violet (1994)

Maybe because it's the first Hole song I heard, but I think of Violet as the definitive Hole song. It's got the signature grunge formula of quiet verses and loud verses which is done to perfection here thanks to Courtney's vocal delivery. During the verses Courtney's vocals sound very girlish and a little timid, but once that chorus hits her voice becomes a volcano that destroys everything in its path. This is what helped Hole stand out because even if they were utilizing a lot of Grunge trappings, no could deliver a song the way Courtney did at Hole's peak. Lyrically it's also one of Hole's most on point songs and the lines that always come to mind for me is:

"And they get what they want

and then they never want it again"

This is the idea that men feel women's bodies are theirs for taking, but after they've had a woman, they throw them in the trash can and slut shame them. Violet is also probably my favorite Hole music video for the way it plays with images of women in sex work and in art and the blurring of the lines between the two. It also shows how women's bodies are seen as something to consume through the male gaze throughout history by giving the video a vintage turn of the century look and feel. Of course, at the end of the song Courtney takes control when she sings "And I get what I want and then I never want it again." She is now the one in control, she is the one with the power and she has turned the tables against the men and the male gaze especially. Violet seems to be the go-to song whenever movies want to pull a song from Hole whether it's in Jennifer's Body or Bridesmaids. 

01. Malibu (1998) 

Celebrity Skin (the song) got me in the door with Hole, but it was with the release of Malibu that I became a fan. Malibu is a perfect sun kissed pop song perfect for summer days at the beach. Fleetwood Mac is one of Courtney's biggest influences and you can hear it most prominently here. Also let's go back to Melissa Auf der Maur who's harmonizing on Malibu is absolutely gorgeous and helps lift the song up even higher. Melissa was an invaluable addition to Hole during this era and she's the one that helps transform these pop songs into something that is irresistible. Still Courtney gives a great performance as well and really the whole band sounds great on Malibu. Malibu really feels like the work of a band who knows how to play to their strengths. I loved this song when I first heard it in 1999 and I have never stopped loving it since. This has long been my go-to song for Hole and one of my favorite songs of the 90s period. This is probably the least Grungey song Hole ever did, which is funny because I'm starting to see a pattern here on Gay4Grunge where my favorite song by a lot of the Grunge bands turns out to be one of their least Grungey songs. What can I say, I love Grunge but I'm even a bigger sucker for poppy melodies and Malibu expertly delivers poppy melodies beautifully.