Violet (Hole song)

1995 single by Hole

"Old Age"
"He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)"
"Whose Porno You Burn (Black)"
| written = Mid 1991
| released = 1995 2 8
| recorded =
| studio = Triclops Sound (Marietta, Georgia, U. S.)
| genre =
Alternative rock
grunge
punk rock

The cover artwork for the single features a Victorian mourning portrait of a deceased young girl which was acquired from the historical archives of Stanley Burns. A music video, released in 1995, features Love among numerous strippers performing in an early 20th century dance hall, contrasted with ballerinas and young girls dancing in an elegant theater.

Courtney Love began writing "Violet" in mid 1991, during a Hole tour before the release of the band's debut album, Pretty on the Inside; "Violet" lyrics appear on a flyer designed by Love to advertise a show at Jabberjaw, a rock club in Los Angeles, on August 7, 1991; she stated that she partly wrote the song at Jabberjaw. In a 1995 interview, she stated that she finished the song in the band's tour van outside St. Andrews Hall in Detroit, Michigan during the band's sound check. As Love recalled, "[It was] on Halloween we were opening for the Laughing Hyenas, and there were 40 people there. [I had heard] five songs from Nevermind, and I was so jealous of those songs that I had to try to top them. I could not believe that somebody I knew, somebody from our underground, had written a batch of songs so fiercely great." The band played the song live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 1, 1991 during the band's tour to promote their first album, Pretty on the Inside. Early versions of the song were played several times between 1991 and 1992 at other live performances. The first known studio version of "Violet" was recorded on November 19, 1991, at Maida Vale Studios as part of Hole's first radio session with BBC DJ John Peel. In October 1993, the band recorded the album version of the song as part of the Live Through This sessions at Triclops Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. The recording from the 1991 Peel session was included on the band's 1995 EP Ask For It, along with "Doll Parts", which was recorded during the same studio visit. On both Live Through This and the individual single, the songwriting is credited collectively to Hole, however according to BMI's website, "Violet" was written only by Eric Erlandson and Love.

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref. (Reference)United StatesFebruary 8, 1995CDDGCAmazon's catalogue listing for the CD single notes a release of February 8, 1995,