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.

Drown Soda
Hole Lyrics

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Ooh yeah, he wants to take you
Take you away from your life
Ooh yeah, he wants to take you
Take you away from your lies

Ooh yeah, he wants to take you
Get you away from my life
Ooh yeah, he wants to take you

Take you away from my life

Just you wait 'til everyone is hooked
Just you wait 'til everyone is hooked
Just you wait 'til everyone is hooked
Just you wait 'til everyone is hooked

Ooh yeah, he wants to take you
Take you by the hand
Ooh yeah, I want to kill you
Baby I know you'd understand

You gonna watch me
Watch me while I go down
Ooh yeah, you gonna watch me
I take you by the hand

Yeah, I want to kill you
Baby I know you understand
Oh yeah, you're gonna watch me
Watch me while I go down

Ooh, you're gonna watch me
Watch me while I drown
Ooh yeah, he wants to take you
Take you away from your life

Ooh yeah, I want to kill you
Tell you about my life
It's my lie and I believe in it
It's my lie and I lie in it

It's my bed and I believe in it
It's my bed and I lie in it
Sit in the corner and I drink drown soda
I want to bomb the whole state of minnesota

Bomb the whole state of minnesota

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Hole's song "Drown Soda" are haunting and disturbing, depicting a controlling and possessive lover who wants to take the singer away from her life, her lies, and even from the singer's own life. The repeated phrase "Ooh yeah, he wants to take you" sets a disconcerting tone right from the start, suggesting that the singer is being viewed not as a person with agency, but rather as an object to be taken and possessed by the singer's lover. The repetition of this phrase throughout the song reinforces the idea that the singer's desires and feelings are being ignored or even actively dismissed by the singer's lover, who seems to view her as his property.

The lyrics become even more disturbing as the song progresses, with the singer stating that he "wants to kill" the singer and that she will "watch [him] while [he] goes down" - a clear reference to self-destructive behavior. The level of control and manipulation depicted in the song is deeply unsettling, as the singer is depicted as being unable to resist or escape the singer's advances even as he expresses a desire to hurt her.

The final lines - "It's my lie and I believe in it/It's my bed and I lie in it/Sit in the corner and I drink drown soda/I want to bomb the whole state of minnesota" - further underscore the singer's sense of isolation and despair. The idea of drinking "drown soda" suggests a desire to numb oneself or escape reality, while the final line about wanting to bomb Minnesota suggests a desire for violent destruction and chaos. Ultimately, "Drown Soda" is a chilling and deeply unsettling portrayal of a toxic relationship and the ways in which one partner can exert control over another.

Line by Line Meaning

Ooh yeah, he wants to take you Take you away from your life
He desires to take you away from your current existence

Ooh yeah, he wants to take you Take you away from your lies
He desires to take you away from the falsehood that you portray

Get you away from my life
Remove yourself from my life

Just you wait 'til everyone is hooked
Wait until everyone is dependent on you

Take you by the hand
Hold your hand and take you away

Baby I know you'd understand
I know you would comprehend

You gonna watch me Watch me while I go down
You will see me as I fall

Yeah, I want to kill you Baby I know you understand
I want to cause harm to you, and I know that you would comprehend

Ooh, you're gonna watch me Watch me while I drown
You will witness my drowning

Tell you about my life
To describe my existence

It's my lie and I believe in it It's my lie and I lie in it
It's my deception, and I am convinced and exist within it