Nirvana: Rape Me Meaning

Song Released: 1993

Rape Me Lyrics

Nirvana
Rape Me

Rape me
Rape me, my friend
Rape me
Rape me, again

I'm not the only one[4x]

Hate me
Do it and do it again
Waste me
Rape me, my friend

I'm not the only one [4x]

My favorite inside source
I'll kiss your open...

1. Righteous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 17th 2008 !⃝

   In Kurt's own Words - "go ahead, rape me, go ahead, because I know you are gonna get what you have coming!"
2. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 29th 2008 !⃝

   I think this song isn't literal I think it means to rape someone of their pride or happiness.
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 23rd 2008 !⃝

   The song is about the media fucking up ("raping") Kurt and his "drug career"... "I'm not the only one" means that the media wasn't only against him, but also against his family.
4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 6th 2008 !⃝

   This song is an anti-rape song. Kurt said it in an interview in 1993. It's also about one of his friends sexual abuse and how they dealt with it.
5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 5th 2008 !⃝

   He's using rape as a metaphor for being taken advantage of. Nothing more or less.
6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Oct 2nd 2007 !⃝

   I really think you guys should not have posted anything here.. Sorry but you are all wrong..
   
   I say this because before Kurt's death, I interviewed him for ROCK 108 and got out of him this:
   The song is about his record deal. He says rape me as in use me. He says I appreciate your concern because they say it's a good song and all but they can't take it.. So what I'm saying is this is why it took so long for the label to be published and submitted.
7. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Sep 28th 2007 !⃝

   If you read Cobain's journals and what he wrote for the treatment for the video that he wanted to eventually do, the song is about the irony that someone who rapes someone will eventually get raped themselves when they are in jail. The rapist becomes someones bitch.
8. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Sep 17th 2007 !⃝

   It could be about the media attention he got which is one the worst things he thought could happen to him and rape is the one the worst things that could happen to anybody so he's just comparing media attention to rape. But I agree it's about him feeling lower than everybody and that there better than him.
9. toxicchewtoy

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 11th 2007 !⃝

   This song is actually based on a rape case that happened in Seattle at the time. The rapist was reported to have played with the girl, letting her go so he could hunt her down and rape her again. She begged the man to let her go again (even knowing it would lead to rape) just on the off chance of her being able to get away.
10. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jul 28th 2007 !⃝

    Well, my interpretation is quite personal... for me, it has nothing to do with rape.. Since Kurt has a low esteem, it will develop from inferior complex into superior complex, as in delusion about oneself. The person would hide himself away, and if he realizes how thick the wall of pride he builds for himself (no one understand me; no point of telling them because no one gets it anyway etc.), like I did, I would like to change, but really don't know how, don't know whether I can do it myself... So "rape me my friends",but be warned you will "sink and burn" when you see what's inside of me... well don't even know why I'm writing this on a board I may never come back to (maybe this is the reason itself)..
11. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jul 20th 2007 !⃝

    Ok well Polly was written for Nevermind and as some of you may no that Polly is a anti-rape song. You may also know that two men rape a girl while they listen to that song and Kurt heard about it and wah-lah, Rape Me was written.
12. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    May 19th 2007 !⃝

    As I read in the Cobain Biography -
    It has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with rape. Its a metaphor for the way MTV and Sub-Pop treated him and the band.
    'Rape me, my friend'
    'Rape me again'
    'I'm not the only one, Ah'
    'My favorite inside source'
13. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Apr 3rd 2007 !⃝

    Yeah Kurt never raped a mentally challenged girl. You do realize he was just writing that, as if he did it. He didn't do that, you mentally retarded bastards. Who the hell gets away with raping a mentally challenged person? It doesn't happen, it's complete unrealistic. Assholes.
    
    If you people can pick up a book and read it, read it right!
    
    Why is anyone debating the meaning of this song when the man himself said the meaning?
14. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Mar 23rd 2007 !⃝

    This song is only properly interpreted when you listen to the tone he uses while singing it, due to lack of words to sufficiently express the emotion.
    
    What one guy said, it is true, Kurt Cobain did suffer quite severely from depression. Another writer said that it's all about karma, which is also pretty much true.
    
    My way of looking at it is, the term rape is used loosely here and can be taken both literally and figuratively. In the beginning, with the mellow tone, he's basically saying in his depression "I'm worthless, ruin me as you please, I don't care anymore" And then, as the song progresses and his tone becomes more forceful, he is expressing the fact that even if he wanted to stand up and defend himself against the abuse, the offender would simply push him back down, thus raping him AGAIN.
    
    As a victim of rape and a girl who suffers from manic depression, the song holds no significance in terms of physical rape to me, where as it would if that was what he was SPECIFICALLY trying to express. However, with my previously low self-esteem and depression, this song described exactly how I felt. But wouldn't you be surprised to know that this song actually sparked a moment that taught me a valuable life lesson and showed me my TRUE worth?
15. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jan 22nd 2007 !⃝

    Note this song is an ANTI-RAPE SONG. It's about his vulnerability to the media (You'll always stink and burn) during his battle of depression and the VANITY FAIR article(My favorite inside source). So he wrote it in a first person narative: a guy rapes a girl goes to jail then gets raped.

Latest Articles

• 
  A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park
• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)