"Pacific Coast Highway" is the fifteenth single by the

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 ...

group

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 ...

. It is the second single from the band's fourth studio album ''

Nobody's Daughter ''Nobody's Daughter'' is the fourth and final studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 23, 2010, by Mercury Records. The album was initially conceived as a solo project and follow-up to the Hole frontwoman Courtn ...

''. It was released as a digital download on April 6, 2010, and was added to

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

radio in the United States on May 5, 2010.

Background and history

"Pacific Coast Highway" was written by

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 ...

in a Los Angeles hotel on December 24, 2005. The song was later contributed to by the producer

Linda Perry Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for ...

and Billy Corgan. In 2009, when being recorded as a Hole song, various new additions were made to the song, most notably a solo and a final bridge, both of which were written by the guitarist, Micko Larkin.

Critical reception

The track was described by ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' as,

One of the earliest songs on the session, toughened up from the Perry era, this confessional song is nonetheless one of the record’s more plaintive moments, in the vein of ' Malibu'. Lyrically, it finally addresses the scars she still bears over her husband's death in the most brutal fashion: "I knew a boy who came from the sea/he was the only boy who ever knew the truth about me... I knew a boy who left me so ravaged/do you even know the extent of the damage? ... I'm overwhelmed and undersexed?/Baby what did you expect?/I'm overwrought and so disgraced/I'm too ashamed to show my face/And they're coming to take me away now/what I want I will never have/I'm on the Pacific Coast Highway/With your gun in my hand."

In its week of release it was the most added song to modern rock radio in the United States. An AOL exclusive acoustic performance video of the track was released as a part of the AOL Sessions, and "Pacific Coast Highway" peaked at #6 on the ''Billboard Top AOL Music Video chart in May 2010.

Track listing

*Digital single # Pacific Coast Highway - 5:13

Music video

On May 24, 2010, Courtney Love wrote on ''Twitter'' that a promotional music video for "Pacific Coast Highway" was in the works.Courtney Love,
"Backlash Blues" Nina Simo...
. Retrieved June 20, 2010.

Musicians and personnel

- vocals * Micko Larkin - guitars, additional producer * Shawn Dailey - bass guitar * Stu Fisher - drums *Jack Irons - additional drums *Jenni Muldaur - backing vocals *

Michael Beinhorn Michael Beinhorn is a North American record producer, composer, author and musician. He has produced albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Hole, Violent Femmes and Marilyn Manson. Career 1977-1983: Early Years, Material, Herbie Hanco ...

- producer * Owen Lewis - assistant producer *Noah Goldstein - engineer *Ryan Gilligan - additional engineer *Ian Shea - additional engineer *Pete Bischof - additional engineer *D. Sardy - mixing

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacific Coast Highway 2010 singles Hole (band) songs Songs written by Billy Corgan Songs written by Courtney Love Song recordings produced by Michael Beinhorn 2010 songs Mercury Records singles