Heart Shaped Box

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Lore & Background

Cobain explained that "Heart-Shaped Box" was written about children with terminal cancer. The song is generally also believed to be about his relationship with his wife, Courtney Love, of the American rock band Hole. The song's title was inspired by the collection of heart-shaped candy boxes Love kept in the front room of the Fairfax apartment she and Cobain lived in. Early versions of the song featured the word "coffin" rather than "box." According to guitar tech Ernie Bailey, the song also featured the working title "New Complaint." In a 1993 interview with Circus, Cobain explained that the chorus lyrics "Hey / Wait / I've got a new complaint" were a reference to how he believed he was often perceived by the media. In 2012, Love wrote on Twitter that "Heart-Shaped Box" was about her vagina, tweeting to Lana Del Rey, "You do know the song is about my Vagina right? 'Throw down your umbilical noose so i can climb right back,' umm ... On top of which some of the lyrics about my vagina I contributed." The tweets were deleted shortly after.

In Their Own Story

The attic light flickered, casting long shadows against walls plastered with faded posters. In the center of the room sat the wooden box, its surface worn smooth by decades of handling. It was heart-shaped, yes, but the edges were sharp enough to cut. As the rain hammered the roof, a single note seemed to hum from within the lid, a ghostly reminder of songs sung in small rooms before the world knew their names. The air grew heavy, thick with the scent of old wood and ozone, as if the box itself was breathing, waiting for someone brave enough to open it and face what lay inside.

Reader's Guide

"Heart-Shaped Box" was written by Cobain in early 1992 at the apartment in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles, California, he shared with his wife Courtney Love. In a 1994 Rolling Stone interview with David Fricke, Love recalled hearing Cobain work on the guitar riff: 'The only time I asked him for a riff for one of my songs, he was in the closet. We had this huge closet, and I heard him in there working on 'Heart-Shaped Box.' He did that in five minutes.' Cobain briefly set the song aside, then resumed work after he and Love moved to an apartment in Hollywood Hills. Nirvana's first attempts to work on it were unsuccessful; Cobain said he waited for bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl 'to come up with something but it just turned into noise all the time.' Eventually, during one jam session, Cobain said he 'came up with the vocal style instantly and it just all flowed out real fast. We finally realized that it was a good song.' The song was first performed live on January 16, 1993, at the Hollywood Rock Festival in São Paulo, Brazil. It was first recorded in the studio a few days later, at BMG Ariola studios in Rio de Janeiro. Producer Craig Montgomery recalled hearing the song during the band's soundcheck in São Paulo, saying that 'even then Kurt knew this was the single.' The final studio version was recorded in February 1993 by Steve Albini at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. According to Albini in a 2013 interview, 'Heart-Shaped Box' was the only song recorded during the sessions that required 'more than a couple of takes.' The song was remixed by Scott Litt at Bad Animal Studios in Seattle in May 1993. 'Heart-Shaped Box' was the final song performed at Nirvana's last concert, on March 1, 1994, in Munich, Germany. It was also the final Nirvana song to receive a music video before the suicide of Cobain in April 1994. The video, directed by Anton Corbijn, won two awards, including Best Alternative Video, at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards.

Did You Know?

• The song was written in five minutes while Cobain was in a closet, according to Courtney Love.
• Early versions of the song featured the word 'coffin' rather than 'box' in the title.
• The final song performed at Nirvana's last concert on March 1, 1994, in Munich, Germany, was 'Breed', not 'Heart-Shaped Box'.
• The music video for 'Heart-Shaped Box' won Best Alternative Video at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards.
• The song was one of only two tracks on In Utero remixed by Scott Litt due to Geffen executives' dissatisfaction with Steve Albini's original mix.