"Closing Time" (also referred to as "Drunk in Rio" and, incorrectly, "It's Closing Soon") 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 mainstream or commerci ...

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/rhythm 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 ...

, 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, ...

and Love's husband,

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.' ...

frontman Kurt Cobain.

Origin and recording

The song's origins are obscure due to lack of official information, however, the earliest known recording of the song dates back to January 1993, at which time Hole were writing new material for their second studio 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 ...

'' (1994). The in-studio performance was recorded in Studio B at BMG Ariola Ltda., a recording facility in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Brazil, on January 21, 1993. The session was a

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content start ...

studio session, produced by Craig Montgomery, for

for their forthcoming album, ''

In Utero ''In Utero'' is the third and final studio album by American rock band Nirvana. It was released on September 21, 1993, by DGC Records. After breaking into the mainstream with their second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), Nirvana hired Steve Albin ...

'' (1993) and lasted for three days. On the third and final day of the session, Love and Schemel joined the band in-studio and were given the opportunity to practice and record new Hole material during Nirvana's session breaks. At least three other Hole songs are known to have been recorded; " Miss World," which featured Cobain on bass, " Softer, Softest," "She Walks on Me" and "I Think That I Would Die," which featured Nirvana touring guitarist

Big John Duncan John Duncan (born August 14, 1958), better known as Big John Duncan, is a musician and guitarist. He is best known as the guitarist for The Exploited during their classic lineup of 1979 – 1984.Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discogr ...

on bass. Towards the end of the session "Closing Time" was recorded. This recording, circulating unofficially in bootleg trading circles, featured Love on vocals and lead guitar, Cobain on bass and Schemel on drums and lead to the song being referred to as "Drunk in Rio," due to fact that all three musicians were intoxicated when recording."Do you want to hear a song that me and Kurt and Patty wrote when we were drunk? It's really poppy. Do you wanna hear it? It's called 'Closing Time.' Do you wanna hear it? I wrote the good parts." Love, Courtney. Extracts from a transcription of a

concert on March 10, 1995 at Capri Music Theatre in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. In 1995, Love forwarded a copy of the studio version of "Closing Time" to

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Origin and recording

Composition

Related projects

References