Rape Me - Definition and Overview

"Rape Me" is a song by the grunge band Nirvana. It originally appeared on their 1993 album In Utero and later appeared on their 2002 greatest hits album Nirvana. It was released as the second track on the single "All Apologies" in December 1993 (sometimes billed as a double A-side.) A censored version of In Utero sold at Wal-Mart had the song's title changed to "Waif Me".

The band's frontman and songwriter Kurt Cobain often claimed that the song was an anti-rape song. The lyrics were supposed to be from the perspective of a rape victim. First performed on June 18, 1991, Cobain claimed it was intended as "an anti-rape song. A sort of poetic justice, where a guy rapes a girl, ends up in jail, and gets raped there." [1] (http://www.digitalnirvana.net/songguide/body.asp?songid=78)

Still, the lyrics have been interpreted to tell a different story. The line "My favorite inside source" in particular gave away the song's reference to the band's problems with media exposure. An "inside source" had revealed personal information about Cobain to the media before the song was written, inspiring the line. The song's chorus line, "I'm not the only one", is also believed to refer to the media's treatment of Cobain and his family; the others that the line refers to are Cobain's wife Courtney Love and his daughter Frances Bean.

When Nirvana performed at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV had wanted the band to play "Smells Like Teen Spirit", but the band wanted to play the then-new "Rape Me". MTV was appalled at the idea of a song called "Rape Me", and eventually agreed that the band could play "Lithium" instead. When the band began their performance, Kurt strummed the first few bars of "Rape Me", giving the MTV execs a solid shock before jumping into "Lithium".