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Pennyroyal Tea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Pennyroyal Tea" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Nirvana | ||
| from the album In Utero | ||
| B-side(s) | "I Hate Myself And I Want to Die"/"Where Did You Sleep Last Night" | |
| Released | 1994 | |
| Format | CD | |
| Recorded | 1993 | |
| Genre | Grunge | |
| Length | 3 min 36 s | |
| Label | DGC | |
| Producer(s) | Scott Litt | |
| Nirvana singles chronology | ||
| "All Apologies/Rape Me" (1993) |
"Pennyroyal Tea" (1994) |
"About a Girl" (1994) |
| In Utero track listing | ||
| "Milk It" (8) |
"Pennyroyal Tea" (9) |
"Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" (10) |
- This article is about the Nirvana song; for the herb, see Pennyroyal.
"Pennyroyal Tea" is a song by the American grunge band, Nirvana. It is the ninth song on their 1993 album, In Utero. It was scheduled to be released as a single in April 1994, but this was abandoned after the song's author, Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, was found dead that same month.
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Pennyroyal is a herb sometimes used as an abortifacient. Some have speculated that it was written, at least partially, about Cobain's stomach pains (later discovered to be caused by a pinched nerve). The lyric "I'm on warm milk and laxatives" may have been about Cobain's heroin abuse, since addicts sometimes consume laxatives in order to combat constipation resulting from use of the drug. Pennyroyal tea could also be a metaphor for Kurt's reasons for using heroin. "Sit and drink pennyroyal tea, distill the life that's inside of me" could refer to pennyroyal's use as an abortifacient, which is used as a metaphor for killing the problems that he was dealing with at the time.
An alternate explanation is that the song is just what it seems about at face value: a person "sitting and drinking pennyroyal tea." In Kurt Cobain's Journals, there is an entry where he explains (as much as possible for someone who said that his songs did not have a single meaning) the tracks on In Utero. The explanation simply reads: "an herbal abortive. it doesn't work, you hippie"
Few say that it is meant to be called "Penny Royalty" and it's about the share on money in recordings.[citation needed]
Pennyroyal Tea could also possibly be a sarcastic response to Kurt's status as a spokesman for a generation, quoting that he felt like penny royalty or cheap royalty.
According to Michael Azerrad's 1993 Nirvana biography, Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, "Pennyroyal Tea" was written by Cobain in 1990 in an Olympia, Washington, apartment he shared with Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. "Dave and I were screwing around on a 4-track," said Cobain, "and I wrote that song in about thirty seconds. And I sat down for like half-an-hour and wrote the lyrics and then we recorded it." However, the song didn't receive the proper studio treatment until 1993, when it was recorded by Steve Albini for In Utero. A remix by Scott Litt appears on the censored Wal-Mart and Kmart versions of In Utero; this remix is also available on the band's 2002 best-of compilation, Nirvana, and is, incidentally, the same mix that was to appear on the single (see below).
Director Anton Corbijn was asked to direct the video for Pennyroyal Tea. He refused stating that he felt he couldn't make a video better than Heart-Shaped Box. Jeffery Plansker then signed on as the new director. With Cobain's death though this was all scrapped. http://www.crimson-ceremony.net/pr3/prt/videoscript.html
A solo, stripped down performance of "Pennyroyal Tea" appears on the acoustic MTV Unplugged in New York album. An acoustic demo appears on the 2004 Nirvana box set, With the Lights Out. The box set DVD includes yet another solo rendition of the song, from a live concert in 1991.
"Pennyroyal Tea" has been covered by the following artists:
- American rock band Hole (fronted by Cobain's widow, Courtney Love).
- American rock musician Kristin Hersh.
- American alternative rock band The Flaming Lips.
- Welsh rock band the Manic Street Preachers.
Though most copies of the Pennyroyal Tea single were withdrawn and likely destroyed, some were sold first. It is also quite likely that the commercial single was withdrawn after his death due to the track I Hate Myself and Want To Die which could arguably be described as an unsuitable epitaph that their record company would be unlikely to release. Genuine copies can today sell for hundreds of dollars. The track listing is as follows:
- "Pennyroyal Tea" (Scott Litt remix)
- "I Hate Myself And Want To Die"
- "Where Did You Sleep Last Night (In The Pines)" (Leadbelly)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Pennyroyal Tea | Latvian Airplay Charts | No. 20 |
- Ranked #8 in NME's "Top 20 Nirvana Songs" (2004)
- Ranked #2 in Q's "10 Album Tracks That Should Have Been Singles, But Weren't" (2004)
- Azerrad, Michael. Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Doubleday, New York: 1993, ISBN 0-86369-746-1