For My Sunday Song #465, we are talking a song from a band I never got into, however, I loved this song. That song is “Celebrity Skin” and the band is Hole. Fronted by Courtney Love, Hole was an alt rock/grunge band from the 90’s. The album, titled ‘Celebrity Skin’, was released on September 8, 1998 and the title track was released as a single on the same day. Back in a time where you didn’t have 5 singles out before the album even came out…the good old days. The song only went to #85 in the Hot 100, but went all the to #1 on the Alternative Rock Chart even going to Platinum status selling over 1 million copies.
The song was written by Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson and Smashing Pumpkins own Billy Corgan. The song was inspired by the year the band took off so Courtney could pursue her Hollywood acting career. It highlights the struggle of maintaining an image in the public eye. It talks about how superficial and hollow that image really is. One minute you are the talk of the town and the next you are yesterday’s news. It even takes a line from Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s poem, “A Superscription” which is “Oh, look at my face / My name is might-have-been”. Heck even the name of the song “Celebrity Skin” is taken from a porno magazine that shows pictures of naked celebrities.
Musically, that opening riff is killer and was contributed by Billy Corgan…and it sounds like something he’d play. The song itself is a slight change of direction for Hole as it is a lot more polished and even a little poppier, but the subject matter still reflects a darkness they are used to exploring. The crunchy guitars from Eric, the thumping bass from Melissa Auf der Maur and heavy drum beat from uncredited Deen Castronovo (Journey) really drive the song forward. Courtney’s vocals are great as she has a little grit to her voice giving it a needed edge for the darker tones, but the chorus she is silky smooth and giving a light & fluffy sound to accentuate the ridiculousness of the celebrity image. A short song as it is under 3 minutes, but it is powerful and effective and a nice kick in the teeth. With the big hooky chorus, I was all in. Still never got in to the band though.
Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Celebrity Skin” by Hole”
2 Loud 2 Old Music 