Rape Me

Kurt Cobain wanted to make a strong statement in support of women and against violence toward them. In his words, the song is a sort of poetic justice. A guy rapes a girl. He ends up in jail and is raped there. It's also believed that the song was in direct relation to his feeling of being raped by the media, in particular Vanity Fair and MTV.

In 1996, Walmart adopted a policy of not carrying any objectionable materials in their stores. While they continued to sell guns and cigarettes, they made many musicians alter their albums before they would sell them, resulting in "clean" and "dirty" versions of many albums. Nirvana had to change the title listed on the album to "Waif Me" before Walmart would carry it. The band could have made a stand by refusing to comply, but in many parts of America, Walmarts were the only places kids could get Nirvana albums.

The guitar in this song is basically "Smells Like Teen Spirit" backwards. Cobain thought that if a song was played backwards it would take on a new character.