Hole was an American alternative rock band formed by singer and guitarist C… Read Full Bio ↴Hole was an American alternative rock band formed by singer and guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson in Los Angeles, California in 1989. Influenced by Los Angeles' punk rock scene, and produced by Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, the band's debut album, Pretty on the Inside, attracted critical interest from British and American alternative press. Their second album, Live Through This, released 1994 by DGC Records, which featured less aggressive melodies and more restrained lyrical content, was widely acclaimed and reached platinum status within a year of its release. Their third album, Celebrity Skin, which garnered them four Grammy nominations, marked a notable departure from their earlier punk influences, boasting a more commercially viable, "mature" sound.

The band had a revolving line-up of bassists and drummers, their most prolific being drummer Patty Schemel, and bassists Kristen Pfaff (d. 1994) and Melissa Auf der Maur. In 2002 the group disbanded to pursue other projects. Eight years later in 2010, Hole was reformed by Love with new members, despite Erlandson's claim that the reformation breached a mutual contract he had with Love. The reformed band released the album Nobody's Daughter, which had originally been conceived as Love's second solo album. In 2013, Love retired the Hole name, releasing new material and touring as a solo artist.

Hole has been noted for being one of the most commercially successful female-fronted rock bands of all time, selling over three million records in the United States alone and having a far-reaching influence on contemporary female artists. Music and feminist scholars have also recognized the band as the most high-profile musical group of the 1990s to discuss gender issues in their songs, due to Love's aggressive and violent lyrical content, which often addressed themes of body image, abuse, and sexual exploitation.

Hole went on to become the most commercially successful female-fronted grunge band in history, selling over 3 million records in the United States between 1991 and 2010. In spite of Love's often polarizing reputation in the media, Hole received consistent critical praise for their output, and was often noted for the predominant feminist commentary found in Love's lyrics, which scholars have credited as "articulating a third-wave feminist consciousness". Love's subversive onstage persona and public image coincided with the band's songs, which expressed "pain, sorrow, and anger, but [an] underlying message of survival, particularly survival in the face of overwhelming circumstances." Music journalist Maria Raha expressed a similar sentiment in regard to the band's significance to third-wave feminism, stating, "Whether you love Courtney [Love] or hate her, Hole was the highest-profile female-fronted band of the '90s to openly and directly sing about feminism."

While Rolling Stone compared the effect of Love's marriage to Kurt Cobain on the band to that of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, they noted that "Love's confrontational stage presence, as well as her gut-wrenching vocals and powerful punk-pop songcraft, made her an alternative-rock star in her own right." Author Nick Wise made a similar comparison in discussion of the band's public image, stating, "Not since Yoko Ono's marriage to John Lennon has a woman's personal life and exploits within the rock arena been so analyzed and dissected." The band has been cited as a major influence on several contemporary artists, including indie singer songwriter Scout Niblett, Brody Dalle of the Distillers and Spinnerette, Sky Ferreira, Lana Del Rey, Tove Lo, Tegan and Sara, and the British rock band Nine Black Alps. The band ranked at #77 of VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists.

Asking For It
Hole Lyrics

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Every time that I sell myself to you
I feel a little bit cheaper than I need to
I will tear the petals off of you
Rose red, I will make you tell the truth

Was she asking for it?
Was she asking nice?
If she was asking for it

Did she ask you twice?

Every time that I stare into the sun
Angel dust and my dress just comes undone
Every time that I stare into the sun
Be a model or just look like one
Wild eye rot gut do me in
Do you think you can make me do it again?

Was she asking for it?
Was she asking nice?
If she was asking for it
Did she ask you twice?

If you live through this with me
I swear that I would die for you
And if you live through this with me
I swear that I would die for you

Was she asking for it?
Was she asking nice?
If she was asking for it
Did she ask you twice?

Was she asking for it?
Was she asking nice?
If she was asking for it
Did she ask you twice?

Ah ah ah ah

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Hole's song "Asking For It" expose the issue of victim blaming and rape culture. The first verse begins with the vocalist, Courtney Love, describing how every time she sells herself to someone, she feels cheaper than she should. She then uses the metaphor of a rose to describe how she will rip off someone's petals to make them reveal the truth about something. The chorus questions whether a woman who may have been sexually assaulted was "asking for it" and if she did, does that justify the act.

The second verse continues with Love portraying a destructive lifestyle of sex, drugs, and glamour. She mentions how staring into the sun makes her feel as though she is on angel dust and that her dress comes undone. Love then refers to the pressure of the modeling industry and questions if someone could make her go through the destructive cycle again. The chorus repeats the same questions about whether a woman was "asking for it" or if she was asking for it multiple times.

The final lines of the song switch from the third person to first person, with Love pledging to die for someone who lives through the experience with her. The song ends with the chorus repeating the same questions and the vocals trailing off with an "Ah ah ah ah."

Overall, "Asking For It" brings attention to the harmful mentality that some people have towards victims of sexual assault, blaming them for their own mistreatment. The use of metaphors and imagery in the lyrics also adds to the emotional impact of the song.

Line by Line Meaning

Every time that I sell myself to you
Whenever I allow myself to be used by you

I feel a little bit cheaper than I need to
I feel like I'm worth less than I should be

I will tear the petals off of you
I will expose your innermost secrets and make you vulnerable

Rose red, I will make you tell the truth
I will force you to confess the truth about yourself

Was she asking for it?
Was she really interested in what happened?

Was she asking nice?
Did she express what she wanted in a polite way?

If she was asking for it
If she was really asking for it

Did she ask you twice?
Did she make sure you understood what she wanted?

Every time that I stare into the sun
Whenever I do something that could be harmful to myself

Angel dust and my dress just comes undone
I become vulnerable and exposed to the world

Be a model or just look like one
I'm expected to maintain a certain appearance or be judged and criticized