Teenage Whore

Recording and composition

"Teenage Whore" was written by bassist Jill Emery, lead guitarist Eric Erlandson, drummer Caroline Rue and vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love in 1991 and was one of the first songs written by Hole's second line up, featuring Emery, after the departure of original bassist Lisa Roberts and additional guitarists Mike Geisbrecht and Errol Stewart.

It was recorded over a period of four days in March 1991 during sessions for Pretty on the Inside at Music Box Studios in Los Angeles. It was produced by Sonic Youth musician Kim Gordon and Gumball frontman Don Fleming.

The musical composition of "Teenage Whore" follows the status quo of Pretty on the Inside, which is most often noted for its extreme abrasiveness, though it is also noted for its sophisticated use of melodic structure which is buried under arrangements. Spin addressed this, saying: "at first [the song] comes across like a ranting noisy rage, but underneath is a surprisingly lush melody." The song's main verse riff follows an E-G-F chord progression, with the bridge composed of a layering of diminished fifths and muted strings, evoking a "sonic uncleanliness."

As with the majority of the band's songs, the lyrics to "Teenage Whore" were written by Love, and deal with a negative self image and real or imagined perception of oneself as a "whore", which is reinforced by the narrator's mother.

Release

"Teenage Whore" was issued as a single through Hole's European label, City Slang, in September 1991 to promote Pretty on the Inside, and entered the UK Indie Chart at number 1. It was available on 7" vinyl on pink, clear and transparent green vinyls, with "Drown Soda" as a b-side, and on 12" vinyl and compact disc with "Drown Soda" and "Burn Black" as b-sides (both of which had been recorded during alternate recording sessions, at Fun City Studio in New York City, and Radio Tokyo in Los Angeles, respectively). This marked the band's first CD release, as all of their prior singles had been released solely on vinyl.

"Burn Black" had previously been issued as a b-side on the band's previous single, "Dicknail", which had been released on Sub Pop Records in March 1991, when the band began recording Pretty on the Inside. On The Chart Show, the song's title was censored, with the word "whore" being replaced with dots.

Critical analysis

Music columnist Everett True referred to "Teenage Whore" as "the most unsettling thing I've heard since Patti Smith uncovered "Piss Factory" ... only it's way more personal." In the 1995 book The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion, and Rock 'n' Roll, music scholars Simon Reynolds and Joy Press reflected on the track, writing: ""Teenage Whore" turns the lowliest member of rock society, the groupie, into the ultimate (anti) heroine. Love rasps out an unclassifiable alloy of growling defiance and retching disgust, while Hole's torturous music grinds out her humiliation and hatred with a creakiness that betrays how long this howl has been lurking in the back of the throat." Cultural theorist Jan Jagodzinski also reads the song as the narrative of a groupie and representing a "desublimated ugly aesthetic of the abjected mother." In The Rough Guide to Rock, the song is noted as "coercing the listener into Love's anguish" as well as representing the band's early stylistic choices and aesthetic, characterized by "drone" and featuring "poetic turns of phrase."

In popular culture

The song was later featured on the official soundtrack of the film S.F.W. (1994). The song is also mentioned playing on a car stereo in a scene from the play Slipping by Daniel Talbott, featured in Awkward Stages: Plays about Growing Up Gay (2015).

Comedian Jen Kirkman references the song in her book I Know What I'm Doing–and Other Lies I Tell Myself: Dispatches from a Life Under Construction (2016).

Track listing

Musicians and personnel