Be a Man (song)

Last updated
"Be a Man"
Holebeaman.jpg
Single by Hole
from the album Any Given Sunday
B-side "Whatever It Takes (by P.O.D.)"
ReleasedJanuary 31, 2000 (2000-01-31) [1]
Recorded1997 (1997)
Genre Alternative Rock
Label Geffen
Songwriter(s) Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Billy Corgan
Producer(s) Michael Beinhorn
Hole singles chronology
"Awful"
(1999)
"Be a Man"
(2000)
"Skinny Little Bitch"
(2010)

"Be a Man" is the thirteenth and last single by alternative rock band Hole before their breakup in 2002. [2]

Contents

The song was co-written by Hole members Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson with contribution from frequent guest Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. Released in 2000 as a double A-side (the other track being from P.O.D.) this track also featured on the soundtrack to the film Any Given Sunday (1999). [3] It was the last single by the band for ten years, until "Skinny Little Bitch" in 2010.

Background

"Be a Man" was initially recorded during sessions for the band's third studio album Celebrity Skin (1998). The band, however, left the song off the album as they felt it was not cohesive with the rest of the record. [4] On December 2, 1999, the song was uploaded online as a free digital download. [5]

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor of Billboard referred to the song as "a slice of femcore" and praised Love's vocal performance. [6]

Music video

The video (directed by Joseph Kahn) for Be a Man features a blue-haired Courtney Love with a dress in the same color in a football field, interacting with, seducing and French-kissing the game players from the film as a rain starts. It is the first Hole video not to feature Eric Erlandson (the only member remaining in the band besides Love at that point), plus it also featured her naked in the video.

Track listings and formats

  1. "Be a Man" (radio edit) – 3:18
  2. "Be a Man" (album version) – 3:18
  3. "Whatever It Takes" (performed by P.O.D.) – 4:02

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel are adapted from the Any Given Sunday album liner notes. [8]

Charts

Chart (2000)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [9] 102

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hole (band)</span> American grunge band

Hole was an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1989. It was founded by singer and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. It had several different bassists and drummers, the most prolific being drummer Patty Schemel, and bassists Kristen Pfaff and Melissa Auf der Maur. Hole released a total of four studio albums between two incarnations spanning the 1990s and early-2010s and became one of the most commercially successful rock bands in history fronted by a woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Auf der Maur</span> Canadian rock musician

Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur is a Canadian musician.

<i>Celebrity Skin</i> 1998 studio album by Hole

Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before their dissolution in 2002. Hole intended for the record to diverge significantly from their previous noise and grunge-influenced sound as featured on Pretty on the Inside (1991) and Live Through This (1994). The band hired producer Michael Beinhorn to record Celebrity Skin over a nine-month period that included sessions in Los Angeles, New York City, and London. It was the band's only studio release to feature bassist Melissa Auf der Maur. Drummer Patty Schemel played on the demos for the album but was replaced by session drummer Deen Castronovo at the suggestion of Beinhorn. This issue created a rift between Schemel and the band, resulting in her dropping out of the tour and parting ways with the group, though she was still credited.

<i>Live Through This</i> 1994 studio album by Hole

Live Through This is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 12, 1994, by DGC Records. Recorded in late 1993, it departed from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodies and song structure. Frontwoman Courtney Love said that she wanted the record to be "shocking to the people who think that we don't have a soft edge", but maintain a harsh sensibility. The album was produced by Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie and mixed by Scott Litt and J Mascis. The lyrics and packaging reflect Love's thematic preoccupations with beauty, and motifs of milk, motherhood, anti-elitism, and violence against women, while Love derived the album title from a quote in Gone with the Wind (1939).

<i>Pretty on the Inside</i> 1991 studio album by Hole

Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 17, 1991, in the United States on Caroline Records. Produced by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, and Gumball frontman Don Fleming, the album was Hole's first major label release after the band's formation in 1989 by vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patty Schemel</span> American drummer and musician (born 1967)

Patricia Theresa Schemel is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998. Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, where she developed an interest in punk rock music as a teenager. She began drumming at age eleven, and while in high school, formed several bands with her brother, Larry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celebrity Skin (song)</span> 1998 single by Hole

"Celebrity Skin" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, released on August 31, 1998 as the first single from their third studio album of the same name. It is their most commercially successful single, being the only one to reach the top place on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. In October 2011, NME ranked it the 126th best track of the past 15 years.

<i>My Body, the Hand Grenade</i> 1997 compilation album by Hole

My Body, the Hand Grenade is the first and only compilation album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on October 28, 1997, through the band's European label, City Slang Records. It was also imported for sale in the United States, where it was released on December 10, 1997. The album was compiled with the intent of tracking the band's progression from their noise rock beginnings to the more melodic songwriting that appeared on their second album, Live Through This (1994).

<i>The First Session</i> 1997 EP by Hole

The First Session is an EP by American alternative rock band Hole, released on August 26, 1997, on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The EP features the entire recording of the band's first studio session on March 17, 1990, and also a twenty-page booklet focusing on the band's early career prior to the release of their debut studio album, Pretty on the Inside (1991). The EP marked Hole's final release on Sympathy for the Record Industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doll Parts</span> 1994 single by Hole

"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their second studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour. It was also the first single to be released following the death of bassist Kristen Pfaff in June 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malibu (Hole song)</span> 1998 single by Hole

"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 in December 1998, on DGC 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 four other songs on Celebrity Skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violet (Hole song)</span> 1995 single by Hole

"Violet" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was written in mid-1991, and was performed live between 1991 and 1992 during Hole's earlier tours, eventually appearing as the opening track on the band's second studio album Live Through This (1994). The song was released as the group's seventh single and the third from that album in early 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss World (song)</span> 1994 single by Hole

"Miss World" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's fifth single and the first from their second studio album, Live Through This, in March 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Softer, Softest</span> 1995 single by Hole

"Softer, Softest" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's eighth song and fourth and final single from their second studio album, Live Through This, in December 1995. The single was released just as the band finished their extensive touring in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Awful (song)</span> 1999 single by Hole

"Awful" is a single by American alternative rock band Hole from the band's third studio album, Celebrity Skin. Released in April 1999 by Geffen Records as a CD single, the song's lyrics explore how the media and modern pop culture corrupt young girls and how they should rebel against this. The line "swing low, sweet cherry" in the song is an allusion to the African American spiritual hymn, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".

<i>Nobodys Daughter</i> 2010 studio album by Hole

Nobody's Daughter is the fourth and final studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 23, 2010, by Mercury Records. The album was initially conceived as a solo project and follow-up to Hole frontwoman Courtney Love's first solo record, America's Sweetheart (2004). At the urging of her friend and former producer Linda Perry, Love began writing material while in a lockdown rehabilitation center in 2005 following a protracted cocaine addiction and numerous related legal troubles. In 2006, Love, along with Perry and Billy Corgan, began recording the album, which at that time was tentatively titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean.

"Turpentine" is a song by the American alternative rock band Hole. It was written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was one of the band's first compositions and remained unreleased for seven years before being released on the band's second EP, The First Session on August 26, 1997. Although not as well known as Hole's later songs, "Turpentine" is a notable song for the band as it is often cited as "the first Hole song."

"Garbadge Man" is a song by the American alternative rock band Hole, written collectively by the band's original line-up. It is the third track on the band's first studio album, Pretty on the Inside, released on September 17, 1991, by Caroline Records. Dealing with religious and personal issues, "Garbadge Man" was Hole's first song to have a music video, which was broadcast on 120 Minutes on MTV several times in the early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skinny Little Bitch</span> Single by Hole

"Skinny Little Bitch" is a song by the American alternative rock band Hole. It is the second track and lead single from the band's fourth studio album, Nobody's Daughter, and was released on March 12, 2010 on Mercury Records. Written by vocalist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Micko Larkin, "Skinny Little Bitch" was Hole's first single in a decade and first release not to feature founding member Eric Erlandson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beautiful Monsters Tour</span> 1999 concert tour by Hole and Marilyn Manson

The Beautiful Monsters Tour was a North American concert tour co-headlined by American rock bands Hole and Marilyn Manson. Launched in support of each band's respective third full-length studio LPs, 1998's Celebrity Skin and Mechanical Animals, the tour was planned to run from February 28, 1999, until April 27, with 37 shows confirmed. However, due to a highly publicized altercation between the bands' respective lead vocalists, the tour only visited arenas until March 14, for a total of 9 shows before Hole withdrew from the bill. The tour garnered a large amount of media attention and was billed by MTV as a "potentially volatile mix" due to the public feud between each band's outspoken vocalist.

References

  1. "ARIANet New Releases! – Available from 31st January 2000 > Singles (from The ARIA Report No. 518)". ARIA). Retrieved June 26, 2024 via Imgur.com.
  2. Van Horn, Teri (December 4, 1999). "Radio Rock Slow to Embrace Hole's "Be a Man"". MTV. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  3. "An Given Sunday - Original Soundtrack". AllMusic. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  4. "Rock Radio Slow to Embrace Hole's 'Be a Man'". MTV News. December 4, 1999. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  5. "Free Music: Hole". MTV News. December 2, 1999. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  6. Taylor, Chuck (8 January 2000). "Singles". Billboard . Vol. 112, no. 2. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (published January 8, 2000). p. 21. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  7. Be a Man (Australian CD single liner notes). Hole. Atlantic Records. 2000. 7567846312.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. Any Given Sunday (United States CD liner notes). Various artists. Atlantic Records. 2000. 83272-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. "Hole chart history, received from ARIA on April 7, 2024". ARIA. Retrieved June 26, 2024 via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column indicates the release's peak on the national chart.