Format CD, 12", 7" | Length 3:53 | |
B-side "Drag" (UK CD, 7")
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (UK CD) Released December 29, 1998 (1998-12-29) Recorded April 1997 (1997-04)–February 1998 (1998-02) Genre Alternative rock, power pop | ||
"Malibu" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole. It is the fourth track and second single from the band's third studio album, Celebrity Skin, and was released on December 29, 1998 on Geffen Records. The song was written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, lead guitarist Eric Erlandson and Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, who contributed to a number of other songs on Celebrity Skin.
Contents
"Malibu" was one of the Hole's most commercially and critically successful songs. The song peaked at number three on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart, and garnered a Grammy nomination in 1999. The song charted at number 264 on The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born list by Blender Magazine in 2005. The single features "Drag" as well as a cover of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" as B-sides.
Background and history
Love wrote the lyrics to the song based on her late husband Kurt Cobain's stay at a rehabilitation clinic in Malibu, California while receiving treatment for his heroin addiction prior to his suicide in 1994. The single also includes "Drag", an outtake from Celebrity Skin which was replaced by "Malibu". The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal field, losing to "Put Your Lights On" by Santana. The single was certified Gold in Australia in 1999, with sales in excess of 40,000.
Music video
Directed by Paul Hunter, the music video for "Malibu" was shot in the eponymous city on a beach. The video features burning palm trees and the band performing the song. Eric Erlandson is also seen waxing a surfboard, who joked "it's Marilyn Manson, I wasn't there." It also alludes to Baywatch and features lifeguards holding plastic dolls as Courtney Love walks into the ocean.
It also shows the band's new drummer, Samantha Maloney, who replaced the original drummer, Patty Schemel, who had left during recording sessions of the album.
Personnel
All credits adapted from Celebrity Skin's liner notes except where noted.