Music / My Body, The Hand Grenade

My Body, The Hand Grenade is the only compilation album by American rock band Hole. Released on October 28, 1997, it features music recorded between 1990 and 1995, consisting of demos, B-sides and live performances. The album features musicians from the various lineups of Hole, such as Caroline Rue and Jill Emery (drummer and bassist for Pretty on the Inside) and Patty Schemel and Kristen Pfaff (drummer and bassist for Live Through This).

My Body, The Hand Grenade received mixed to positive reviews, being praised for the strength of each song individually but criticised for its lack of cohesion.

Tracklist:

1. "Turpentine" (4:00)
2. "Phonebill Song" (1:48)
3. "Retard Girl" (4:46)
4. "Burn Black" (4:56)
5. "Dicknail" (3:40)
6. "Beautiful Son" (2:30)
7. "20 Years in the Dakota" (2:54)
8. "Miss World" (demo version) (3:29)
9. "Old Age" (4:23)
10. "Softer, Softest" (from MTV Unplugged) (3:47)
11. "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)" (from MTV Unplugged) (3:44)
12. "Season of the Witch" (from MTV Unplugged) (3:42)
13. "Drown Soda" (live) (6:10)
14. "Asking for It" (live) (3:58)

My Body the Trope Grenade:

• Careful with That Axe: As is to be expected of Hole, there are several songs like this, mainly the ones written during the Pretty on the Inside era, such as "Burn Black" and "Dicknail."
• Call-Back: "20 Years in the Dakota" references the Pee Girl character from "Softer Softest", from their previous album Live Through This.
  Softer Softest: "Pee Girl gets the belt/Your milk makes me mind."
  20 Years in the Dakota: "The Pee Girl burns to be a bride/Your ever lovely suicide."
• Cover Version: "He Hit Me" was originally performed by The Crystals. "Season of the Witch" was originally by Donovan.
  • "Old Age" isn't quite one. Kurt Cobain wrote the general rhythm and recorded a demo with mumbled vocals, but never found any actual lyrics that worked, so he let Courtney have a go and she turned it into a full song.
• One-Word Title: "Turpentine" and "Dicknail."
• Rape and Revenge: "Dicknail" is about driving a nail through a paedophile's penis.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: "Dicknail" powerfully expresses Courtney Love's anger about rape.
• Revenge Ballad: "Dicknail", about mutilating a child molester's penis.
• Recycled Lyrics:
  • The line "Sugar runs from my arteries" from "Burn Black" was also used in "Good Sister/Bad Sister" from Pretty on the Inside. Both songs are commonly interpreted as being about Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland.
  • "My water breaks like turpentine" is used in both "Turpentine" and "20 Years in the Dakota."
• Shout-Out: "20 Years in the Dakota" shouts out: the Riot Grrrl movement, (who Courtney had had problems with), The Beatles, the song "Hey Jude" by the aforementioned Beatles, and the Dakota building, where John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived.

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