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.

Phonebill Song
Hole Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

She's a bimbo playing on the damn phone

I can really fuck you up, yeah
'Cause I'm the demon buttercup
You have to spit to see the shine
I see the carcass in your eyes

Before I go to sleep

Get it away from me

See the demon whore has eyes
Well, everything you look at dies
I gotta run up the phone bill
Cause I'm a loser buttercup, uh-huh

Before I fall in too
Baby, I don't owe you

I could really suck you in
And you'll never see the light again
I gotta run up your phone bill
Cause I'm a loser buttercup, uh-huh

Oh, I just want more
Baby, I just get bored

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Hole's "Phonebill Song" depict a woman who is portrayed as a bimbo who spends a lot of time talking on the phone. The singer, who is likely her partner, is frustrated by her behavior, and sings about wanting to get away from her. The lyrics also suggest that the singer has some kind of power over the woman, as she mentions being able to "fuck you up." She refers to herself as the "demon buttercup," suggesting that she is a formidable force. The line "you have to spit to see the shine" is an interesting one, as it suggests that the singer is so powerful that they can make their partner see the truth.

The singer goes on to talk about the "demon whore" and how everything she looks at dies. This suggests that the woman is destructive in some way, and that being around her is dangerous. The singer then sings about running up the phone bill, which could be a metaphor for causing trouble or stirring things up deliberately. She refers to herself as a "loser buttercup," which is an interesting way of acknowledging her own shortcomings. The song ends with the singer expressing a desire for more, suggesting that she is not satisfied with her current situation.

Line by Line Meaning

She's a bimbo playing on the damn phone
There is a woman who is not smart and spends a lot of time on the phone.

I can really fuck you up, yeah
I have the power to hurt you badly.

'Cause I'm the demon buttercup
I am evil and dangerous.

You have to spit to see the shine
To find something good, you have to look hard and pay attention.

I see the carcass in your eyes
I can see sadness and despair in your eyes.

Before I go to sleep Get it away from me
I want to avoid thinking about something before I go to sleep.

See the demon whore has eyes Well, everything you look at dies
The evil woman can destroy the things she looks at.

I gotta run up the phone bill Cause I'm a loser buttercup, uh-huh
I will make expensive phone calls because I am a useless person.

Before I fall in too Baby, I don't owe you
Before I get too involved with you, I want to make it clear that I don't owe you anything.

I could really suck you in And you'll never see the light again
I can manipulate you to the point where you will never recover.

I gotta run up your phone bill Cause I'm a loser buttercup, uh-huh
I will make expensive phone calls because I am a useless person.