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"Rape Me" is a song by the American Rock band, Nirvana . It is the fourth song on, and the second Single (along with " All Apologies ") from their 1993 album, '' In Utero ''. HISTORY "Rape Me" was written by Nirvana singer / guitarist Kurt Cobain in an apartment in Los Angeles, California in 1991 , around the time the band's second album, '' Nevermind '', was being mixed. It was first performed live on June 18, 1991 at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, California , and subsequently played several times at Nirvana concerts during the next two years. These early live versions featured a dissonant, semi-improvised "anti-solo" (or "noise solo") after the second chorus, which was replaced by a bridge in the song's final incarnation. The song was first recorded in the studio by Jack Endino in October 1992 in Seattle, Washington . The band had wanted to debut it (along with " Tourette's ," then called "New Poopy") at the 1992 MTV Awards in Los Angeles a month earlier, but the network was wary of its title and lyrical content, and insisted they play a hit song instead. The band eventually played their then-latest single " Lithium ," but not before strumming "Rape Me"'s opening chords, which almost resulted in the performance being taken off the air. "Rape Me" was finally recorded by Steve Albini in February 1993 for ''In Utero'', and was released alongside "All Apologies" as the album's second single in late 1993. A Music Video was planned but never made, in part because MTV said they would not air it. Ironically, years after Cobain's death, MTV began airing a live performance of the song recorded on '' Saturday Night Live '' (see: "Other versions"). MEANING "Rape Me" drew the ire of many Feminists upon its release on ''In Utero'' in 1993, but Cobain, a proclaimed feminist himself, often claimed in interviews that it was an "anti-rape" song. He said it was a song of Poetic Justice , in which a man rapes a woman, is sent to jail, and ends up being raped there himself. Still, its title was Censored as "Waif Me" on Wal-Mart and Kmart releases of ''In Utero'', an intentionally comical name chosen by Cobain himself (he had originally wanted to call it "Sexually Assault Me"). The song is sometimes seen as a sequel to ''Nevermind'''s " Polly ," which Cobain narrates from a rapist's point of view. Cobain often pointed out that "Rape Me" was written before Nirvana's ascension to superstardom, and therefore could not have been a cynical comment on fame, as many suggested around the time of ''In Utero'''s release. Still, the song's bridge, which was written later on, does seem to contain direct references to Cobain's celebrity, which he famously struggled with. The line "my favorite inside source" is believed to be a reference to former friends who, supposedly, revealed personal information to the magazine '' Vanity Fair '', which ran an unflattering portrait of Cobain and wife Courtney Love in September 1992. The line "I'm not the only one" is believed to be Cobain's way of saying that his wife and daughter were being just as badly hurt by the negative media exposure as he was. OTHER VERSIONS A live version of "Rape Me," recorded on ''Saturday Night Live'' on September 25, 1993, appears on the compilation album, ''Saturday Night Live: The Musical Performances, Volume 2'', and on the DVD , ''Saturday Night Live: 25 Years of Music, Volume 4''. A demo version, with Cobain's baby daughter crying in the background appears on the band's 2004 Box Set , '' With The Lights Out '', along with a solo Acoustic home Demo listed as being from the same year, but most likely from 1991. Both versions also appear on the band's 2005 compilation, '' Sliver - The Best Of The Box ''. The ''In Utero'' version was re-released in 2002 on the band's "best-of" collection, '' Nirvana ''. COVERS "Rape Me" has been covered by the following artists:
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