All Apologies
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“All Apologies”
Single by Nirvana from the album In Utero
B-side	"Moist Vagina"
Released	December 1993
Format	CD
Recorded	Pachyderm Studio, Cannon Falls, Minnesota, February, 1993
Genre	Grunge
Length	3:50
Label	DGC
Writer(s)	Kurt Cobain
Producer	Steve Albini
Nirvana singles chronology
"Heart-Shaped Box" (1993) "All Apologies"/"Rape Me" (1993) "Pennyroyal Tea" (1994)

"All Apologies" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. It was released as the second single (along with "Rape Me") from the band's third album, In Utero (1993). It was included on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, at number 455¹. "All Apologies" was the band's third number one Modern Rock hit and reached number 32 in the UK.

"All Apologies" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Rock Song in 1995. The song was featured in the Six Feet Under episode "All Alone," both as the version from In Utero and the version from Unplugged in New York.

History

Usually seen as a swan song of sorts, "All Apologies" was actually written in 1990, four years before the death of its author, Kurt Cobain, and the subsequent dissolution of Nirvana.

The earliest known studio version of the song was recorded on January 1, 1991 by Craig Montgomery in Seattle, Washington. The song's lyrics and arrangement were refined several times over the next two years, with no two pre-In Utero live renditions sounding alike. The earliest versions of the song, including the 1991 studio version, even feature an additional verse and chorus.

The In Utero version was recorded in February 1993 by Steve Albini in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. It features Kera Schaley on cello. It was remixed, along with "Heart-Shaped Box" and later "Pennyroyal Tea," by Scott Litt prior to the album's release, with Cobain asserting that the vocals and bass sounded "mushy" in the unmastered Albini recording. As can be heard in the unmastered Albini recording, there are also many abrasive cello and guitar scratchings that would have destroyed the beauty of the song had the noises not been removed [1].

Release and reception

"All Apologies" was released alongside "Rape Me" as In Utero's second single, but since an accompanying music video was never made (as protest for the way that the group's label refused to allow them to film a video for "Rape Me"), it was promoted on MTV using footage from the band's then-recent MTV Unplugged performance. Everett True of Melody Maker made "All Apologies" the Single Of The Week, and wrote "It's the most supremely resigned, supremely weary fuck you to the outside world I've heard this year. 'All Apologies' has the most gorgeous, aching tune, an emotionally draining ennui."² In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at #455 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The Unplugged version, which features Lori Goldston on cello, appears on the band's 1994 album MTV Unplugged in New York. This version was also included on the 2002 "best-of" compilation album, Nirvana. An acoustic demo appears on the band's rarities box set, With the Lights Out released in 2004 and on the compilation album, Sliver: The Best of the Box released in 2005 . It is believed to have been recorded sometime in 1991 or 1992. [2]

Track listing

All songs written by Kurt Cobain

1. A. "All Apologies" - 3:50
2. A. "Rape Me" - 2:49
3. B. "Moist Vagina" - 3:34

Some versions of the single list "Moist Vagina" as "MV".

Chart positions

References

• Azerrad, Michael. Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Doubleday, New York: 1993, ISBN 0-86369-746-1
• Dark Side Of The Womb: Part 1 by the Stud Brothers, Melody Maker, August 1993.

Notes