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.

Beautiful Son
Hole Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You look good in my dress
I'll get your friends to clean the mess
You look good in my clothes
I can feel you where the doctor goes

My beautiful son
Yeah, I know

He had ribbons in his hair
And lipstick was everywhere
You look good in my dress
You look good in my dress

My beautiful son
Yeah, I know

You're barren like me
You're barren

My beautiful son

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Hole's song "Beautiful Son" tell the tale of a mother's love for her son, whom she refers to as beautiful. In the first stanza, the mother admires her son, seeing him in her dress and clothes. She also suggests that she helped clean the mess her son's friends made, implying a possible connection between them. In the second stanza, the mother describes her son's appearance, with his hair adorned with ribbons and lipstick stains on his face. She repeats her admiration for him and reminds him that he is "barren like me," underscoring her feelings of kinship with her son.

The song can be interpreted as a celebration of gender fluidity, with the mother embracing her son's fashion choices and stylings. There is a subtle message of acceptance and support for individuality, irrespective of societal norms. In a broader sense, the song can be seen as a coming-of-age story, a journey of self-discovery, and the challenges that come with it.

Line by Line Meaning

You look good in my dress
I am exerting control over you by dressing you up in my clothes and making you look pleasing to me.

I'll get your friends to clean the mess
I will manipulate others to tidy up the aftermath of our destructive behavior.

You look good in my clothes
I am objectifying you and using your appearance to fulfill my own desires and fantasies.

I can feel you where the doctor goes
I have a sense of power and possessiveness over you, as if I control your physical body and can access you in intimate ways.

My beautiful son
I am referring to you as my possession and source of pride, as if you are an extension of my identity.

Yeah, I know
I am aware of my own twisted perspective and actions, but continue to engage in them regardless.

He had ribbons in his hair
I am distorting gender norms and appropriating feminine adornment to further assert my control over you.

And lipstick was everywhere
I am emphasizing the performative aspect of our relationship, framing it as a theatrical display rather than a genuine connection.

You're barren like me
I am projecting my own sense of inadequacy and emptiness onto you, reinforcing the destructive cycle we are trapped in.

My beautiful son
I continue to view you as a prized possession, even as our relationship becomes increasingly dysfunctional and toxic.

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Courtney M Love, Eric T. Erlandson, Patricia Theresa Schemel

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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