3 Classic Rock Songs for People Who Say They Don’t Like Hole

Ever since coming onto the scene in the 1990s, rocker Courtney Love has been one of the most controversial figures in popular music. Whether it’s her unflinching songs, her marriage to the now-late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain or her needling of the media, Love is one of the supreme shock rocker in music history.

But despite her polarizing nature, Love is also a talented songwriter and her band Hole was essential to the rock pastiche of the 1990s. Here below, we wanted to dive into a trio of songs from the group that can sway anyone who says they don’t like the Los Angeles-born band. Indeed, these are three classic rock songs for those who say they don’t like Hole.

[RELATED: Where Are They Now?: Courtney Love]

“Celebrity Skin” from Celebrity Skin (1998)

Courtney Love and Hole could write some pretty dark, introspective songs. But, musically speaking at least, this was not one of them. This song is a pop radio hit, especially during the alternative rock-crazed 1990s. Love, who boasted blonde locks like Marilyn Monroe and Madonna before her, leaned into her celebrity aura on this track. If she was going to be made into a pop star and movie star than so be it. She turned it into a song that was all over the radio and it’s one that remains sticky and substantive today. On the track, she sings,

When I wake up in my makeup
It’s too early for that dress
Wilted and faded somewhere in Hollywood
I’m glad I came here with your pound of flesh
No second billing ’cause you’re a star now
Oh, Cinderella, they aren’t sluts like you
Beautiful garbage, beautiful dresses
Can you stand up or will you just fall down?

“Doll Parts,” from Live Through This (1994)

One of Hole’s most chilling songs, if Love was likened to an object of celebrity above, then this song turns her into a literal object. A doll, complete with limbs and parts that someone can own. Whereas the song above is a pop hit, this song is a sullen grunge track not unlike one her husband Cobain might have written (or that the two might have written together). On the track, Love sing-moans in dark beauty,

I am doll eyes, doll mouth, doll legs
I am doll arms, big veins, dog bait

Yeah, they really want you
They really want you, they really do
Yeah, they really want you
They really want you, and I do too

I want to be the girl with the most cake
I love him so much, it just turns to hate
I fake it so real, I am beyond fake
And someday you will ache like I ache
And someday you will ache like I ache
And someday you will ache like I ache
And someday you will ache like I ache
Someday you will ache like I ache

“Violet” from Live Through This (1994)

Another from the band’s 1994 LP, Live Through This, this song is something of a hybrid of the two above. Part loud, energetic rock song and part solemn, truth-telling angry grunge song. Love, a pretty face who had great prowess as a rock frontwoman, was unafraid to play with the idea of image. She knew who she was, especially when it came to the public eye, and she played with it readily. This song is a great example of that. On it, she sings,

When they get what they want, and they never want it again
And they get what they want, and they never want it again
Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to
Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to

And the sky was all violet
I want it again, but violent, more violent
Yeah, I’m the one with no soul
One above and one below

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage