Melissa Auf der Maur and Billy Corgan have spoken about the influence that Courtney Love had on Kurt Cobain’s songwriting, and credited her with themselves “smarter”.
The Hole bassist caught up with The Smashing Pumpkins frontman on his podcast, The Magnificent Others, and spoke about the influence that her past bandmate had on the artists around her – as well as the misconception that her husband, Kurt Cobain, wrote a lot of her music.
In the interview, the two of them looked back at how, like most alt-rock bands of the ‘90s, Hole saw their fame skyrocket following the mammoth success of Nirvana’s 1991 breakthrough ‘Nevermind’, but also faced accusations that Cobain was the brains behind their 1994 sophomore album ‘Live Through This’.
“Even in 1991, nobody knew who [Courtney] was other than some rock critic people, but she had a vision of where she was going to go,” shared Corgan – a close friend and collaborator of Love – adding that it was when Hole released their 1994 record that everyone “could really see the influence of Kurt’s success”.
Addressing the rumours that Cobain wrote a large portion of the instrumentals for the record, he added: “People overly attribute Kurt’s influence, as if he was sitting there and telling her what to write. Everybody was under that sway — you couldn’t not be.
“[Nirvana] was the biggest band in the world, who kicked open the door to Pixies and Sonic Youth and all of these other bands. Everybody was on the world stage all of a sudden because of Kurt’s courage and incredible talent.”
Auf der Maur agreed: “She and Eric [Erlandson, guitarist] were already being underestimated as songwriters in ‘Live Through This’. Everyone said, ‘Kurt wrote that record’. I still say to this day, listen to ‘Doll Parts’ and ‘Miss World’ – it’s one riff and three chords repeated over and over.
“It’s about the power of the lyrics [that Courtney added]. I’ve always said that, if anything, she inspired Kurt’s lyrics,” the bassist added, citing the way that she saw Cobain’s lyricism change after meeting Courtney. “I was so pissed [to see her work diminished]. We should pledge to the people, Eric and Courtney wrote ‘Live Through This’.”
After adding that “Kurt’s influence is undeniable to everyone”, Corgan then chimed in to say that he asked Love directly in the mid ’90s about how much of ‘Live Through This’ was written by Cobain, to which the frontwoman clarified: “His only influence on the record was one chorus”.
Speaking about Love’s ability as a lyricist, Auf der Maur went on to say that working with the Hole singer “made us both smarter”, and Corgan agreed, sharing one piece of advice that Love gave to him to improve his The Smashing Pumpkins lyrics.
“She called me and said, ‘The person that I talk to on the phone or have tea with, why is that person not writing lyrics? Why are you hiding behind this hippie haze? Why are you writing in some sort of sentimental mode as opposed to talking about what you actually talk about in reality?’” he recalled.
“She’s the one who put that thumb on me. That’s why [1993’s] ‘Siamese Dream’ was such a watershed [moment], because I was like ‘OK I will do that’. She’s an ace lyric writer.”
Also in the interview, both Corgan and Auf der Maur looked at the intense scrutiny and backlash that faced Love after Cobain died by suicide in April 1994 – with her being criticised for “breaking up” Nirvana, and blamed by some for his death.
“There seemed to be a need to pin the blame on somebody,” Corgan said, while Auf der Maur added: “Absolutely, and we lived in a patriarchal hellscape… What they did to Courtney, they burned her at the stake.”
The two of them then looked back at how Love joined The Smashing Pumpkins on stage later in 1994 when they played at Lollapalooza, and Corgan said that he wanted to invite her to the festival to combat the narrative that was being created.
“The backstory of her coming on Lollapalooza was that she was still in mourning over Kurt’s tragic death [and] I saw this narrative lining up. They were going to turn her into a widow’s version of Yoko Ono,” Corgan said. “We’re talking about the way that people talked about Yoko after The Beatles broke up, [so] out of this weird loyalty, I told the band that Courtney was going to join us on tour, and she was going to get up during Lollapalooza and perform a song or two.”
“There was a sense that getting her back out in the world instead of behind a haze of mourning was valuable,” he added, while Auf der Maur said that the moment felt like it was “empowering a woman who was abandoned and left behind by – yes, a heroic icon – but [also] a man who left his wife and daughter.”
Hole’s classic line-up, with Auf Der Maur, Love, Erlandson and drummer Patty Schemel, has been on hiatus since 2002, but did return between 2009 and 2012 with some different members.
Since then, Love has frequently teased and denied a possible full comeback, and earlier this month sparked fresh speculation by sharing a mysterious video online. In that clip, Hole’s 1998 hit ‘Malibu’ played in the background of a post featuring Auf der Maur, and in the caption, Love wrote: “So do we tell the kids about the tour?”
Auf der Maur replied in the comments section: “It starts with eternal love…”
Later that week, Love clarified the meaning behind the teaser, saying that there would be “no Hole reunion”, but instead she and Auf der Maur would be “playing some shows, new songs” together. More details are expected to be announced shortly.
Last November, Auf der Maur announced a new memoir, Even The Good Girls Will Cry, out tomorrow (Tuesday March 17). It is described as a “part coming-of-age autobiography, part travel diary, part psychedelic scrapbook” and will also feature rare photos from throughout her career.
Seattle police recently responded to shoot down a new report about the death of Kurt Cobain, which claimed that he may have been murdered.
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