Often interpreted as a commentary on fame, “Rape Me” was written shortly before the release of the band’s breakthrough album, Nevermind, and intended to be a lyrically literal anti-rape song.[1] However, the song’s bridge was written several months later, and does contain lyrics that reference the struggles Cobain and his wife, Courtney Love, faced with the media following Nirvana’s mainstream success.[2] The song’s title and lyrics led to MTV blocking Nirvana from performing it at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards,[3] before it had been released, and also contributed to In Utero initially not being sold by American big-box stores Walmart and K-Mart.[4] … “Rape Me” is an anti-rape song, written from the point of view of the victim. As Cobain explained to Spin’s Darcey Steinke in 1993, “It’s like she’s saying, ‘Rape me, go ahead, rape me, beat me. You’ll never kill me. I’ll survive this and I’m gonna fucking rape you one of these days and you won’t even know it.’”[1] wikipedia
