All Apologies
Categories: Nirvana singles | Nirvana songs | 1993 songs | 1993 singles
| "All Apologies" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:AllApologiesSmall.jpg | ||
| Single by Nirvana from the album In Utero | ||
| Released | 1994 | |
| Format | ??? | |
| Recorded | ??? | |
| Genre | Grunge | |
| Length | 10 min 13 s | |
| Label | DGC | |
| Producer | Steve Albini | |
| Chart positions | ||
| Professional reviews | ||
| Nirvana singles chronology | ||
| "Heart-Shaped Box" (1993) | "All Apologies" (1994) | "Pennyroyal Tea" (1994) |
"All Apologies" is a song by the American rock band, Nirvana. It is the twelfth and final song on, and the second single (along with "Rape Me") from, their 1993 album, In Utero.
Contents |
History
Usually seen as a swan song of sorts, "All Apologies" was actually written in 1990, four years before the death of its author, Kurt Cobain, and the subsequent dissolution of Nirvana. The earliest known studio version of the song was recorded on January 1, 1991 in Seattle, Washington; the song's lyrics and arrangement were refined several times over the next two years, as evidenced by a handful of shambolic and different-sounding live performances. It was finally recorded for In Utero by Steve Albini in February 1993.
In a Rolling Stone interview later that year, Cobain told David Fricke that he wished he had put more songs like "All Apologies" (and In Utero's "Dumb") on previous Nirvana albums. It was released alongside "Rape Me" as the second single from In Utero, but since an accompanying video was never made, it was promoted on MTV using footage from the band's then-recent Unplugged performance. As a result, the acoustic Unplugged rendition is perhaps even more familiar to casual fans than the electric one; indeed, this is the version found on the band's 2002 "best-of" album, Nirvana. An acoustic home demo appears on the band's 2004 box set, With the Lights Out, as well as on the 2005 compilation album, Sliver: The Best of the Box.
Meaning
Like many Nirvana songs, "All Apologies" is defined not so much by a specific meaning as by the mood and atmosphere it communicates. The aforementioned January 1991 studio version features a decidedly upbeat arrangement and even a tambourine, suggesting that Cobain at first saw it as simply a catchy pop song, in the vein of perhaps an early Beatles single, or an R.E.M. song circa Green. By the time it was recorded for In Utero, however, the song had adopted a darker tone, giving a certain finality to lyrics such as the chorus refrain of "In the sun I feel as one - married/ burried." Still, even the final version of the song ends on what can be considered an uplifting note, with the chanted refrain of "All in all is all we all are" sung over the song's feedback-laden guitar riff in a manner reminiscent of the "Jai Guru Deva" mantra which closes John Lennon's "Across the Universe."
It's worth noting that Cobain dedicated "All Apologies" to his wife Courtney Love and daughter Frances Bean during Nirvana's appearance at the Reading Festival in 1992.
Covers
"All Apologies" has been covered by singer Sinéad O'Connor, jazz legend Herbie Hancock, and Christian rock band dc Talk. The dc Talk version replaces the lyric "Everyone is gay" with "Jesus is the way."
Trivia
- "All Apologies" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1995, but lost to Aerosmith's "Crazy."
Single
The following songs appear on the single:
- A. "All Apologies" (Cobain) - 3:50
- A. "Rape Me" (Cobain) - 2:49
- B. "Moist Vagina" (Cobain) - 3:34
Some versions of this single list the title of "Moist Vagina" as "MV."
Chart Positions
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | All Apologies | Modern Rock Tracks (US) | No. 1 |
| 1993 | All Apologies | Mainstream Rock Tracks (US) | No. 4 |
| 1993 | All Apologies/Rape Me | Official French Singles Chart | No. 20 |
| 1993 | All Apologies/Rape Me | Official Irish Singles Chart | No. 20 |
| 1993 | All Apologies/Rape Me | Official New Zealand Singles Chart | No. 20 |
| 1993 | All Apologies/Rape Me | Official UK Singles Chart | No. 32 |
| 1993 | All Apologies/Rape Me | Official Australian Singles Chart | No. 58 |
| 1994 | All Apologies/Rape Me | Hot 100 Brazil | No. 94 |
| Nirvana |
| Kurt Cobain | Dave Grohl | Krist Novoselic |
| Aaron Burckhard | Chad Channing | Dale Crover | Jason Everman | Pat Smear |
| Albums and EPs |
| Bleach | Blew | Nevermind | Hormoaning | Incesticide | In Utero | MTV Unplugged in New York | From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah | Nirvana | Sliver: The Best of The Box |
| Box Sets |
| Singles | With the Lights Out |
| Singles |
| "Love Buzz" | "Sliver" | "Smells Like Teen Spirit" | "Come As You Are" | "In Bloom" | "Lithium" | "Heart-Shaped Box" | "All Apologies" | "Pennyroyal Tea" | "About a Girl" | "You Know You're Right" |
| Other Related Articles |
| Grunge music | Generation X | Courtney Love | Heavier Than Heaven | Kurt & Courtney | Last Days | Tom Grant |
| Categories |
| Category:Nirvana | Category:Nirvana albums | Category:Nirvana singles | Category:Nirvana songs |