Heart Shaped Box - Definition and Overview

"Heart-Shaped Box" is the title of a hit song by the band Nirvana. It was the first single released from the album In Utero.

What the song is about is debatable. Nirvana songwriter and frontman Kurt Cobain claimed that the song was inspired by a television report about children suffering from cancer. However, it is believed by many that the song was about Cobain's shaky relationship with his wife Courtney Love. Love had reportedly once given Cobain a heart shaped box as a gift, which may have inspired the title. The songs lyrics do tend towards this latter interpretation, since they concern themselves with an unstable relationship between two individuals.

The song would later appear on two other albums by Nirvana: their live album From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah and their greatest hits album Nirvana.

Single

The following songs appeared on the single:

1. "Heart-Shaped Box" [LP Version] (Cobain) - 4:39
2. "Milk It" [LP Version] (Cobain) - 3:52
3. "Marigold" (Grohl) - 2:33

Chart positions

1993    Heart-Shaped Box        Modern Rock Tracks          No. 1
1993    Heart-Shaped Box        Mainstream Rock Tracks      No. 4