Vorlage:Refimprove Vorlage:Infobox single
"Pennyroyal Tea" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. Featured on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero (1993), it was initially scheduled to be released as the third single in April 1994. After Nirvana's front-man Kurt Cobain was found dead that same month, the planned release was abandoned.
History
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." The band played the song live many times in 1991 and 1992. However, it didn't receive 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).
Meaning
The herb pennyroyal is sometimes used as an abortifacient. In Cobain's Journals, which was published posthumously in 2002, there is an entry where he explains the tracks on In Utero. The explanation given for "Pennyroyal Tea" simply reads: "herbal abortive... it doesn't work, you hippie."
In an interview in the October 1993 issue of Impact, Cobain gave greater insight into the song, saying that it was about a person suffering from severe depression:[1]
- "When I ask Cobain if 'Penny Royal Tea' is about indigestion, he half-laughs. 'Penny royal tea is a herbal abortive,' he says. 'I threw that in because I have so many friends who have tried to use that, and it never worked. The song is about a person who's beyond depressed; they're in their death bed, pretty much.' Cobain's own bout with serious stomach pain was well documented last year. 'Yeah, it did rub off on the song,' he admits. And I couldn't help noticing the 'Canadian' reference to a Leonard Cohen afterworld. 'That was my therapy, when I was depressed and sick. I'd read things like Malloy Dies [sic] by Beckett, or listen to Leonard Cohen, which would actually make it worse,' he laughs."
The single
Though most copies of the "Pennyroyal Tea" CD single were withdrawn from the market following Cobain's death, some were sold. Original copies have become collectors items and can sell for thousands of dollars.
- "Pennyroyal Tea" (Remix)
- "I Hate Myself and Want to Die"
- "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (MTV Unplugged Version) (Lead Belly)
The third track is not included on the vinyl release of the single.
The book In Utero by Gillian G. Gaar states that Cobain had no input into the artwork for "Pennyroyal Tea", which was scheduled for release in April 1994; the track had been remixed by Scott Litt at Bad Animals on November 22, 1993. Playing off the song's title, the sleeve pictures a cup of tea on a table, next to an ashtray filled with cigarette butts and a rooster-shaped cream pitcher, with a few animal crackers scattered around. "We got it done and I don't know that Kurt was around to approve it or not," says designer Robert Fisher. "I think it might just have been shot to management to approve or something."
Personnel
- Kurt Cobain: lead vocals and guitar, backing vocal on "Pennyroyal Tea", acoustic guitar on "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"
- Krist Novoselic: bass, acoustic bass on "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"
- Dave Grohl: drums, backing vocal on "I Hate Myself and Want to Die"
- Pat Smear: acoustic guitar on "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"
Music video
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 ultimately scrapped and no music video was ever released. It would have been the band's second music video off of In Utero as MTV informed Nirvana they would not air a "Rape Me" video and in protest Nirvana opted not to make an "All Apologies" video, which was a major hit.
Other versions
A solo, stripped down performance of "Pennyroyal Tea" appears on the acoustic MTV Unplugged in New York album. This was the only song during the MTV Unplugged performance that Kurt Cobain played solo. Kurt however does not play the guitar-solo in the "MTV Unplugged" version of Pennyroyal Tea. The full band plays during the rehearsal for Pennyroyal Tea with Pat Smear on backing vocals available on the DVD release. An acoustic demo (recorded in 1993) appears on the 2004 Nirvana box set, With the Lights Out. The box set also includes a live version from a concert at the OK Hotel on April 17, 1991.
Accolades
Covers
"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 rock musician Jared Leto.
- American alternative rock band The Flaming Lips.
- Welsh rock band the Manic Street Preachers.
- Korean rock band Jaurim.
References
- Azerrad, Michael. Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Doubleday, New York: 1993, ISBN 0-86369-746-1