Polly (Nirvana song)

"Polly"
Song

"Polly" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. It is the sixth song on its 1991 album, Nevermind.

History

Dating back to at least 1988, "Polly" stands alongside "About a Girl" and "Been a Son" as one of singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain's earliest forays into unfiltered pop songwriting. It was originally titled "Hitchhiker", and later "Cracker", but was renamed "Polly" sometime in 1989. It was left off Nirvana's 1989 debut album, Bleach, because Cobain believed it was not consistent with the band's heavy grunge sound of the time. However, it found its way onto the band's second album, Nevermind, two years later, and remained a part of the band's regular setlist until Cobain's death (and Nirvana's dissolution) in April 1994. It also stands as Chad Channing's only contribution to Nevermind, having left the band before the recording of the album. It is a distinct song in that it is entirely acoustic (as originally recorded for Nevermind), which contrasts the more "clean-guitar-for-verses, distorted-guitar-for-choruses, quiet-loud-quiet" pattern Nirvana is famous for employing. The song has the least significant drum part of all of Nirvana's catalogue of songs- all the song has are cymbals at the start of each chorus section.

Meaning

According to Michael Azerrad's 1993 Nirvana biography Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, "Polly" is based on the true story of a female rape victim from Tacoma, Washington. The girl, 14, was abducted in 1987 by Gerald Friend as she returned from a punk rock show. Friend raped and tortured her with razors and a blowtorch. Cobain's only narrative flourish is that the victim manages to escape by flirting with her captor Gerald Friend, convincing him to trust her. This allows her to escape while he stops for gas.

Other versions

Apart from the stark, acoustic rendition which appears on Nevermind, nine other versions have been commercially released. These are:

• A live, electric version from late 1991, which appears as a B-side on import versions of the band's 1992 "In Bloom" single.
• An electric studio version recorded for the BBC's Evening Session in late 1991, which appears on Incesticide. This version is dubbed "(New Wave) Polly," perhaps because of its faster tempo.
• A live, acoustic version recorded during the band's MTV Unplugged performance in late 1993, which was subsequently released the following year on the band's posthumous MTV Unplugged in New York album. This version features Pat Smear on rhythm guitar, and Lori Goldston on cello.
• A live, electric performance from late 1991, which appears on the 1994 home video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!
• A live, electric rendition from mid 1991, which appears on the documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke.
• A live, electric version from late 1989, which appears on the band's 1996 live compilation, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah.
• A solo, acoustic home demo which appears on the 2004 Nirvana box set, With the Lights Out.
• An electric studio take from 1989, which also appears on With the Lights Out.
• An electric live version from 1992 which appears on the 2009 release Live at Reading.

There are countless bootleg versions that can also be found, with varying tempos and instrumentation.

Covers

"Polly" has been covered by the following artists:

• American experimental rock band Animal Collective as a B-side on their "The Purple Bottle" single.
• American musician Kirsten Krush.
• New Zealand rock band The Mint Chicks.
• A darker, heavy metal version by Utah underground band 420 Proof.
• Singer/songwriter Jay Brannan.
• Polly Moller & Co., an experimental electroacoustic group from the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Northern California underground band - "The 4-Sk!ns". Vocals: Martin Oropeza.
• Tenrar A Band, from Shrewsbury UK.
• Tritone, on a panned CD Tritone Covers Nirvana.
• Green Lizard, a modern rock band from the Netherlands, did a live cover.
• Heavy Mojo, a hip hop/metal band on the 2005 album It Is What It Is.
• Karel Marik, an accordion player for the 2001 lounge CD Cocktail Tribute to Nirvana.
• The Tallywood Strings and The Vitamin String Quartet both did string quartet versions of the song.
• Swordfish Orifice, a jam band from San Diego, California.
• The Playground, a rock band from Naples Italy on the album Crazy Life.

Accolades

• Ranked #18 in NME's "Top 20 Nirvana Songs" (2004)

In popular culture

• The song is briefly mentioned in a list of 20 songs named after females by Brian Griffin in the Family Guy episode "Ocean's Three and a Half" despite the fact that the song's title is not referencing the name of the girl.
• The song appears as a downloadable song in the video games Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 3. As the Expert drum part only has eight notes (the second least of any chart in the series), it is one of only three songs in the entire series (the others being "Silver" by the Pixies and "Her Majesty" by The Beatles) that can be cleared without touching the controller, only the cymbals and kick pedal.

References

• Azerrad, Michael. Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Doubleday, New York: 1993, ISBN 0-86369-746-1