"Awful" is a single by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), 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 m ...

from the band's third studio album, '' Celebrity Skin''. Released in April 1999 by

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

as a

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

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

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

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 known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

spiritual hymn, " Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".

Background and history

Described as "funny" but also "kind of sad" by the writer herself, vocalist and 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, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...

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 (band), Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited ...

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 a founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002. He has also had several musical s ...

implied that ''Celebrity Skin'' producer

Michael Beinhorn Michael James Beinhorn is a North American record producer, composer, author, and musician. He has produced albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Hole, Korn, Kensington and Marilyn Manson. Career 1977–1983: early years, Material, Her ...

drove Schemel to a nervous breakdown.

Music video

The music video for "Awful" was directed by Jeff Richter 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 The Cow Palace (originally the California State Livestock Pavilion) is an indoor arena and events center located in Daly City, California, situated on the city's northern border with neighboring San Francisco. Because the border passes through t ...

in March 1999 during the '' Beautiful Monsters Tour'' 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 language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

's ''

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...

'' 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 ''

'' 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 ''

'' festival on January 26, 1999, except "Celebrity Skin", recorded at

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

's ''

'' 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