DESCRIPTION:
From '' Echo ''
Label: 4AD -- BAD 9007 CD
Format: CD, Maxi-Single, Digipak
Country: UK
Released: 14 Jun 1999

Tracklist
01 Echo
Drums - Carlo Nuccio
Edited By - Chris Staley
Producer, Mixed By - Trina Shoemaker
Written-By, Performer - Kristin Hersh
02 Pennyroyal Tea
Written-By - Kurt Cobain
03 Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey Written-By - John Lennon & Paul McCartney

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"Pennyroyal Tea" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. Featured on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero (1993), it was initially scheduled to be released as the third single in April 1994.
After Nirvana's front-man Kurt Cobain was found dead that same month, the planned release was abandoned.

History

According to Michael Azerrad's 1993 Nirvana biography, Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, "Pennyroyal Tea" was written by Cobain in 1990 in an Olympia, Washington, apartment he shared with Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl.
"Dave and I were screwing around on a 4-track," said Cobain, "and I wrote that song in about thirty seconds. And I sat down for like half-an-hour and wrote the lyrics and then we recorded it." The band played the song live many times in 1991 and 1992. However, it didn't receive studio treatment until 1993, when it was recorded by Steve Albini for In Utero.
A remix by Scott Litt appears on the censored Wal-Mart and Kmart versions of In Utero; this remix is also available on the band's 2002 best-of compilation, Nirvana, and is, incidentally, the same mix that was to appear on the single.

Other versions

A solo, stripped down performance of "Pennyroyal Tea" appears on the acoustic MTV Unplugged in New York album.
This was the only song during the MTV Unplugged performance that Kurt Cobain played solo, a decision made at the last minute due to the inconsistency endured in pre-performance practices with the band.
As revealed in the dialogue by Cobain right before he starts playing; Kurt asks, "Am I going to do this by myself?" To which other band members reply, "Do it by yourself!".
Also, Cobain's version from "Unplugged" features a brief instrumental section before the lyrical part began, something not present on the studio version. Additionally, on the 3rd verse ("I'm on warm milk and laxatives..."), he sings in a slow, depressed manner, before going to the normal speed for the refrain. An acoustic demo (recorded in 1993) appears on the 2004 Nirvana box set, With the Lights Out.
The box set DVD includes yet another solo rendition of the song, from a live concert at the OK Hotel on April 17, 1991.

Accolades

Ranked #8 in NME's "Top 20 Nirvana Songs" (2004)
Ranked #2 in Q's "10 Album Tracks That Should Have Been Singles, But Weren't" (2004)

Covers

American rock band Hole (fronted by Cobain's widow, Courtney Love).
American rock musician Kristin Hersh.
American alternative rock band The Flaming Lips.
Welsh rock band the Manic Street Preachers.
Korean rock band Jaurim.